Wait, is it my hair or something else?

A couple of months ago, I was invited to attend a workshop on reemployment strategies. Although attendance was voluntary, it was required if I wanted to continue receiving biweekly unemployment income.

So, on the morning of the workshop, I filed into the conference room of the local employment/unemployment office along with about 10 other presently unemployed job seekers. We all seemed to exhibit the same level of enthusiasm for attending the midweek, "voluntary" gathering. A mix of unemployed professionals were present: engineer, accountant, administrative assistant, marketing, public relations, etc. Although not asked to give our ages when doing the personal introductions, the attendees skewed toward the older, more experienced side of the age ledger based on appearances. 

The workshop was part of the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) program, which, I later learned, provides “customized services to proactively assist claimants deemed most likely to exhaust their Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits."

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