Out of work and out of luck. That's how a number of Mainers who've lost their jobs in the last couple of years feel.

Many of them are finding it takes time in the classroom to get back into the workforce.

As TV5 continues to answer the question "Where are the Jobs?", consider this - going back to school to find another job.

It use to be an option for unemployed Mainers. Now, some consider it a requirement.

Since 2002, enrollment at community colleges throughout the state has soared 62-percent. And the trend doesn't look like it's taking a dip anytime soon.


Martin Landry of Abbot spent nearly 20 years at True Textiles in Guilford.

Last fall, he traded mill work for class work.

"I really wasn't happy there for awhile. They'd cut our hours back for the last ten years. They hadn't given raises or anything. But it was the only place around that you could work and at least make a living wage."

When the company laid off another round of workers, Landry - who's 40 years old - sensed what the future would hold for him.

So he volunteered to be laid off and got into a program that sent him back to school.

The high school graduate is now at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor, learning new skills that will earn him a degree in Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating.

"College is necessity if you want to have a good paying job when you get out in the work field. You have to do it."

Liz Russell, Director of Admissions, sees a lot more students like Landry these days.

"Their jobs have been eliminated or their companies have been downsized or the skills that they've used in the past aren't needed anymore, so they're really looking to retrain."

Russell says the faces of community college students have always been different from those at four-year colleges. That's even more true today.

The average age of students in the Maine Community College System is 27.

One third of them are over 24.

And nearly two-thirds of students have taken a break between high school and higher education.

Going to school is just one step for out-of-work Mainers to get back into the work force.

The journey usually begins at a place like the TriCounty CareerCenter in Bangor - a one-stop center for job seekers.

"We don't get the person the job. What we do is get the person ready to sell themselves to their employer and secure that job."

Ed Upham, who works for the Department of Labor, says in the last 18-months to two years, he's seen the number of people at the career center soar 30 to 40-percent.

Here, they can get help with resumes, interviewing skills, training programs or college courses.

Staff also help the unemployed answer a lot of questions.

"Who's doing the hiring and what kind of skills do I need to get those jobs. And maybe I need to even answer what kind of job do I want now that I have a choice to go on to a new career or different career or expand the career I was in?"

Landry answered all of those questions before he enrolled at EMCC, in a program where the average age of his classmates is 38.

He's confident his time here will put him back to work.

"100-percent job placement. Everybody in here gets at least two job offers, so there's no worries you know."

"It's not that scary at all. Once you get started in it, you realize that you can do it. You just have to look at it as an opportunity."

Landry considers himself fortunate because he was able to choose to leave True Textiles and, as part of the government's trade assistance program, get into classes at EMCC.

Many out-of-work Mainers aren't that lucky.

But time in the classroom can still be a good option for them, too.

In part four of our series, we'll meet a former shoe maker and boat builder, turned full-time students

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