WILKES-BARRE - Eighteen months ago, Frank Pasquini was hard at work at a full-time, well-paying job.
Today, Mr. Pasquini is one of 4 million Americans in an unfortunate category of the "long-time unemployed," jobless for more than a year.
Mr. Pasquini, 63, was director of capital resources at the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry and managed a $2.5 million fundraising campaign. Before that, he was the vice president of advancement for King's College for 15 years.
Since the chamber eliminated his job in November 2011, he has applied for scores of jobs, interviewed for several and has exhausted his unemployment benefits. Just in the past week, Mr. Pasquini applied for six more positions. Almost every job he has been interviewed for has gone to a younger applicant, he said.
"It adds substantially to one's stress," he said.
Mr. Pasquini said one place he has received support and networking assistance has been the weekly meetings of "Job Club" at Pennsylvania CareerLink Luzerne County in Wilkes-Barre. Like Mr. Pasquini, the club's nine to 14 members are searching for work.
The club provides support to people looking for work at a time when the unemployment rate in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area is 9.8 percent, the highest unemployment rate in the state.
Club members team up with each other to search for jobs, hoping their combined efforts will make the search faster and more efficient than if they tried to do it alone.
CareerLink specialist Susan Prywara coordinates Job Club meetings. Speakers talk to members about using websites like LinkedIn, a social networking site geared toward companies and industry professionals, and www.jobgateway.state.pa.us.
Club member Blake Chiarucci, 36, of Pittston, has been looking for a job for a "very frustrating"eight months.
"Most people want you to apply through the Internet. I have found none of the people want to meet me until they have all the proper Internet applications and profiles," he said. "It's very hectic because for every job posting, I'm finding there's about 80 to 100 applications."
Mr. Chiarucci, a Job Club member for five months, says members have contributed job leads and shared experiences. "It's like we're helping each other," he said. "It's not nice to see people in this position, but it's nice to know that you're not the only one."
Contact the writer: dallabaugh@citizensvoice.com