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Hitting The Street In Search Of A Job

Tribune photo by JULIE BUSCH

Kathy Maloney lined up two interviews while handing out 100 resumes at the corner of Humphrey Street and North Dale Mabry Highway on Tuesday morning.

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By KEITH MORELLI

kmorelli@tampatrib.com

Published: October 8, 2008

TAMPA - Kathy Maloney, out of work since May, resorted to selling stuff at a nearby pawnshop Monday night to get cash to feed her dogs. Tuesday, she took her plight to the street.

Standing at Humphrey Street and North Dale Mabry Highway, the 54-year-old former national dart-throwing champion handed out 100 resumes. Her face-to-face style may have paid off. About an hour after she started, she had gotten three bites.

Two potential employers scheduled interviews, and one gave her a card, telling her, "Call me."

In an economy in which more people lost their jobs in September than ever before, Maloney is at the end of her rope. She is facing eviction, and already lost her car to the repo man. She has gotten help from social services to cover rent, and has even tapped friends for whatever they could spare.

She said she has tried putting her resume online and made countless calls and attended job fairs. None of it worked.

"I'm out here marketing myself," said Maloney, who in the mid-1980s made up to $50,000 a year and traveled the globe tossing darts.

That was a long time ago, though.

On Tuesday, reaction to her streetside job search was mixed.

"Some are very, very touched by it," she said. "Some won't read my sign. It's about 50-50. These are hard times. Half the people took my resume; the other half didn't have jobs themselves."

She remained upbeat, though.

"This is going to work," she said. "This is what I'm good at."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760.

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