Garage owner helps PSGCNJ member land dream job

By Barbara Perone

If he hadn’t had a casual conversation with a garage owner, Kevin Sorensen may have never landed his dream job.

“You never know where your next job will come from,” says the PSGCNJ member. He explained that he’d been out of work for two years after being laid off from a company where he worked for 20 years – an all too familiar story these days.

Eventually, he had to cut expenses, so, he moved his family from New Jersey to Pennsylvania. After living in Pennsylvania for a few weeks, Kevin took his car to a local garage for repairs. He met the owner and they got to chatting. They talked about his employment predicament and other things, like Kevin’s interest in astronomy.

Surprisingly, a few weeks later, the garage owner called Kevin. He told him about a local entrepreneur who was building advanced astronomical telescopes and looking for a part time helper. Kevin contacted the entrepreneur to inquire about the job.

At the time, the man said he only wanted someone to help him move some things into his building. Nevertheless, he seemed delighted with Kevin’s potential. Soon, the entrepreneur began teaching Kevin the proprietary methods of telescope making and hired him as an Optical Systems Technician.

Right now, the pay and hours of Kevin’s new job are a bit sketchy. He and the entrepreneur are still working out contract details. While he’s waiting, Kevin says he continues looking for full and part time work. It helps that his new boss understands his situation, since he had to take a second job himself just to build his new telescope business.

Unlike his former job, where he was under a lot of pressure, these days, Kevin says he actually looks forward to going to work because “it doesn’t even feel like work.”

Now that he’s working again, Kevin’s had a chance to look back and reflect upon his involvement with PSGCNJ. He says a labor attorney told him about the organization and he appreciated the referral.

Through PSGCNJ, Kevin says he learned how to engage in today’s job market, which he admits has changed radically since the 1990s. By joining various committees, Kevin says he kept his job skills “lubricated” and his mind active. He credits “networking and personal contacts” with helping him get the attention of Hiring Managers.

Finally, he reminds others that they don’t necessarily have to use specialized recruiters to find employment – because sometimes a mechanic may be the key to helping you find the job of your dreams.