Job-seekers attend a Southlake Focus Group

Last week I covered a focus group for the unemployed at Whites Chapel United Methodist Church. Harold Reed, a co-moderator of the group, has been unemployed for 21 months. He has been told that he is overly qualified for positions, however, he has secured a one-year teaching certification in Texas and is looking for junior high school and high school teaching jobs. 

Harold Reed, Co-Moderator of a Southlake Focus Group, poses for a portrait with a doughnut, which are brought in by those who have landed a full-time job - doughnut holes represent contract jobs, during a group meeting with hundreds of job seekers at Whites Chapel United Methodist Church Thursday, July 22, 2010. Reed, a corporate trainer who's been out of work for 21 months, was a chemistry teacher in Oklahoma but has secured a one-year teaching certification in Texas and is looking for junior high school and high school teaching jobs. Special to the Star-Telegram/Brandon Wade Harold Reed, Co-Moderator of a Southlake Focus Group and a corporate trainer who's been out of work for 21 months, addresses hundreds of job seekers at Whites Chapel United Methodist Church Thursday, July 22, 2010. Reed has secured a one-year teaching certification in Texas and is looking for junior high school and high school teaching jobs. Special to the Star-Telegram/Brandon Wade Marla Gibson addresses the hundreds of job seekers attending a Southlake Focus Group with her story of landing a full-time job with National Hospice MedEquip in Richland Hills, at Whites Chapel United Methodist Church Thursday, July 22, 2010. "Networking gave me confidence to get out and meet people," Gibson said about how the focus group helped her find a job.