South Metro-Field Services

Call it what you want, the Dept of Labor or the unemployment office, if you live in SW Atlanta and get fired or laid off, you are gonna end up here.
You can now initiate your unemployment claim online, but even doing so, a few days later, you receive a letter telling your to report to a field office.
Be patient, I’ve come here and the line is out the door. I suggest if possible, go in late afternoon as everyone and their daddy is there when the doors unlock at 9am.
There use to be a time when people would at least look job ready at the unemployment office. Those days are gone. In these four months I’ve been unemployed, I’ve seen people here that look like they just left the club. I’m talking ripped up jeans and super-​tight body dresses. I’ve seen people that look like they just got outta bed and forgot they had on their hello kitty pajama pants and flip flops.
If you need help with your resume, they offer these service. I will say that the staff is not the most friendliest, but every now and then you run into a person that will be helpful and give you a pleasant visit. You can use a computer for job search or resume for up to 45 minutes. If its slow, they will extend the computer time, but if its busy, about 40 minutes into your time, the desk clerk will come up and let you know you have 5 minutes before your time expires.
If you have to use the fax machine, it is SLOWER THAN SLOW. I had to fax a document to a prospective employer, after over 30 minutes, I still had not received confirmation that the fax had gone through and other people had formed a line to fax documents of their own.
You cannot take food or drink of any sort into the building. I had a water bottle, and the security guard made me throw it away, when I asked him why water was a problem, he said, no food or drink, we have a water fountain. Now I wonder, when was the last time I drunk out a water fountain.

I’ve been «lucky» enough to be able to visit both metro Atlanta Departments of Labor. The first was when I lived in the Poncey Highlands and visited the Toco Hills location. My review for that is posted. In the years hence, I’ve moved to Grant Park, moved jobs and, well, have been laid off again too. It’s the Circle of Life.
It’s not quite fair to compare the two locations since, not only are they dislocated by geography, they’re dislocated in time as well. And times, well, they’ve been a-​changin’. In short, there’s a recession out there folks. Layoffs abound and Georgia’s been especially hard hit. So I feel for the folks at the DOL; they’ve definitely got their work cut out for them. So expect my review to be empathetic and uncharacteristically kind.
Coming from points east, the best way direction to take towards this office is westward and exiting off of MLK. You’ll then pass, almost metaphorically, a large cemetery, one which, if this is your first layoff, seemingly holds all your hopes and dreams.
The DOL is on the left (again, coming from points east) and shares a strip mall with the Social Security Office, making this plaza the Governmental Office of the Damned. Not much has changed since I was laid off years ago. There is still paperwork to complete. There’s that archaic system where you provide your information via desktop. For an office drone, completing the paperwork takes about 10 minutes. It’ll obviously take longer (and does) for those who aren’t keyboard jockeys. Once everything is done, you can still apply for your unemployment insurance online.
For this go around, the only hiccup I encountered was that I never received a letter informing me that I needed to start the «classes.» Due to unprecedented «growth,» a sample of total unemployed persons is selected to take the DOL’s re-​employment classes aka SOAR. I made the cut. Yay.
Because I missed the initial «Come to class» letter, I received another vaguely informing me to come to the DOL. I did and discovered what happened. I was re-​scheduled for another class. Unfortunately, because of the timing, I was unable to certify my status for a week and therefore wasn’t able to get the insurance. I didn’t lose it per se since an extra week is appended to my «account» of 26 weeks. Fortunately I have savings and losing a week wasn’t that big a deal, but for others, this would be a big concern.
I don’t mean to be sore at SOAR, but the classes were, to be honest, fair to middling. They’re understandably targeted to help those unfamiliar with technology, HR, or even the basics of a job search. It helps some. For others, learning to «dress professionally before an interview» is of limited utility. However, I enjoyed the «Networking for Professionals» circa 1992 video. Made me feel like I was back in my high school Driver’s Ed class, watching people in horribly dated clothes do obviously idiotic things.
Just don’t forget to bring your green sheets i.e., your search log. I never completed mine, instead just printing the spreadsheet I used to track my job search and stapling it to the green sheet. (Wait, you ARE tracking your job search in a spreadsheet, right?) To tell the truth, I don’t think they really follow up on anything you put on there. They just want to see that you’ve provided them the right number of completed lines, which is a whopping one entry per week.
Finally, everyone is assigned one of eight job counselors. Consider the volume they’re working with, they do a relatively good job of following up. Keep in mind, they’re still a governmental agency so if you ask them for modern things like an electronic copy of, say, a «Return to Work» form, you might as well be asking them to beam it directly into your living room via a Star Trek-​style transporter. Despite their limitations, though, they still try to work with you if you ask for it, and they show a surprising amount of compassion, if not the most indepth knowledge of HR practices.
With all that said and knowing the challenges this DOL Career Center faces (and continues to face) everyday, I’ll go ahead and give them 4 stars. Good luck to them and to anyone who should need their services.