Job seekers head back to school, try temp work

In a tough economy, experts say temporary jobs can also be a cheaper way for companies to get workers than hiring full-time employees.

Eileen Carroll earned a degree in architecture technology but couldn’t find a job. She returned to school study civil engineering at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh.

“In my personal world, I am still hurting, but I have hope,” she said.

Wayne Bell worked in construction, but with the jobs in that field only trickling in, he opted to attend Wake Tech to study construction management technology.

“Jobs in the field have diminished greatly,” Bell said.

Despite his field of study, the father of three said he is open to working in another field to make ends meet.

“I may get a job working for pharmaceutical company. You never know,” Bell said.

Jobs in the computer, medicine and bio-technology industries are popular, said Dawn Borden, of Computer Task Group, who helps companies fill information technology jobs.

“We, on average, have 10 to 20 jobs on a weekly basis,” Borden said.

Borden said her company did “quite a bit of hiring in December and January.”

In the Triangle, the unemployment crept a bit higher in February to another record high of 9.4 percent, the North Carolina Employment Security Commission reported Wednesday.

The rate in January was 9.3.

According to the ESC, the Combined Statistical Area work force – people working and those seeking work – grew by nearly 4,000 to 868,756.

Employment grew to 787,415, up by almost 4,000.

The number of those seeking work increased to 81,341 from 80,758.