![\"\"](\"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/53bank-logo-300x92.jpg\" "\\"Print\\""){kind=logo}
Barb\u00a0Rose\u00a0was unemployed for six months and so behind on her payments to\u00a0Fifth Third Bank\u00a0that every day was a struggle to get out and try to find work. The challenge was that much greater since at 63,\u00a0Rose was at the older end of the job market.<\/p>\n
Laid off from her secretarial job in 2012, the South Florida woman hadn\u2019t had much success landing the position she needed to pay down her debt until she learned of Fifth Third Bank\u2019s Reemployment program. Three months later, she accepted a job at the Lehigh Acres branch of Coldwell Banker, a position which combined both her real estate background and secretarial skills.<\/p>\n
Rose\u00a0attributes the help she got from the NextJob coach that was made available to her through Fifth Third with giving her the leg up she needed in her job search, particularly in revamping her resume.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt made a world of difference \u2014 when I saw my resume even I was impressed,\u201d said Rose\u00a0with a laugh.<\/p>\n
The program offers assistance through one-on-one coaching, online training and weekly webinars. On average, of participants out of work for 22 months or longer about 40 percent had found jobs through the Reemployment program within six months.<\/p>\n
While a job reemployment program might seem a little out of the purview of a banking institution, Fifth Third \u2014 with 11 branches in the Jacksonville area \u2014 does call itself \u2018the curious bank.\u2019<\/p>\n
Said\u00a0Jon Wyville, executive vice president and executive creative director of Leo Burnett, the agency that helped create the campaign for the regional bank, \u201cMost advertisers promote themselves. Fifth Third is actually promoting its own customers to help them \u2014 and others \u2014 get jobs. The curious bank is more than just a tagline. it\u2019s how this bank behaves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, there\u2019s also benefits to the bank, which has been able to cut down on some foreclosures since it began offering the program in 2012, at that time just for customers who were behind on mortgage payments.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people have kept their home because of this program,\u201d said\u00a0Brian Evans, Jacksonville city president for Fifth Third.<\/p>\n
After seeing some good results in its partnership with NextJob, an Oregon-based national job placement firm,\u00a0Fifth Third Bank\u00a0expanded its Reemployment program to all its online banking customers in 2013. Now, to launch the program out to the general public, Fifth Third has created a social media campaign that showcases three actual job seekers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt helps get the profiles of these candidates out there and also creates awareness around the campaign,\u201d Evans said.<\/p>\n