I don't like Mondays...

I've been sitting in a tech class relearning what I already know while listening to the instructor drone instructions from the front of the room because the text books haven't yet arrived. Bored? Oh, yeah!

And after class, I get to go to another job fair over at the Mariott. The last one led nowhere. I'm not expecting too much from this one either. Many of the same companies are represented, supposedly there to fill what turns out to be the same jobs for which they had "openings" the last time. I'm tempted to ask some of them, loudly enough for others to hear, why this is so. If tens of thousands of Information Technology workers are jobless in this state (NY), why are job openings that have been announced since last October (at least!) still not filled?

Has anybody else found themselves logging on to, say, careerbuilder.com and trying to apply to "new" postings only to be informed by the site that "you already applied to this job" some months past? What is going on here?

I know I'm not the only one with such concerns. A couple of friends who are also laid off are describing the same experiences when we get together to compare notes. Is it some kind of cruel joke, or something more sinister? Perhaps an attempt to make the economic "recovery" look more hopeful than it is?

I should mention that this particular job fair is sponsored by the local newspaper, which is published in the capital of the state.