OU caters to job seekers

The Sasson V’Simcha catering hall on Coney Island Avenue has seen many weddings. On Feb. 17, it hosted a matchmaking event of a different nature, as some 700 job seekers packed the hall for interviews.

“I look at the job sites for work, but 98 percent of them do not reply,” Brooklyn resident Marc Rosenbaum said. “It’s not like in the old days where you had a name. Today, it’s very impersonal.”

The face-to-face opportunities brought the part-time online advertiser to the fair, as he candidly described his family’s needs. “I work in sales and it’s not enough to support my family. My twin boys have a bar mitzvah in a few months.”

Job seekers were required to pre-register, submit their resumes, and check in with security at the door.

“This is definitely a step up from the last job fair, it is more tailored to the jobs we have,” said Dovid Becker of the Joel Paul Group, an employment agency. “We’ve found the OU job board useful. It has jobs on all levels.”

At each table, firms provided a list of available positions with the number of employees needed. Becker had nine positions available at the fair, including development associate, public relations assistant, and executive assistant.

“We work with nonprofits on an executive level, and find them the people. We are headhunters,” Becker said.

The job fair hosted 49 employers, ranging from a Brooklyn car rental firm seeking customer service reps, to hospitals seeking physicians. Numerous Jewish nonprofits and agencies were also on hand seeking web designers to boost their online presence.

“I know the OU and they have good talent,” said Boruch Igal Hatanian executive of Frumster.com a leading matchmaking service. “We have an immediate opening for a web developer.”

Frumster CEO Ben Rabizadeh said that there is no comparison between shiduchim and hiring. “For computer programming it’s about intelligence, but for customer service it’s personality. Each job has a different person in mind.”

Examining the website of a competing Jewish matchmaking site, Rabizadeh noted the importance of good web design. “When a site is designed properly, people are more serious, and this could lead to more marriages,” said Rabizadeh.