How To Get A State Job During A Hiring Freeze

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - The man who played "Mister Freeze" in the movie "Batman and Robin" may have left the building, but the hiring freeze for state workers still looms over the dome.

Or does it?

"I want you guys to get your foot in the proverbial state door and I don't care what door opens to you," said Michelle Allen, an instructor at The Learning Exchange.

Meet the woman with the key to help unlock that door, to thaw the freeze to get people state jobs.

She's helping people like Chris Stoops, who recently got a job with the DMV.

"It's a great feeling to be working," said Stoops.

The feelings are the same for Ken Paglia, who's about to start a job with Caltrans.

"It's a numbers game," said Paglia.

And, the number he dialed up paid off big time.

"The truth is the state will always be hiring," said Allen.

Stoops and Paglia both turned to Allen, a former state worker turned independent consultant and part-time instructor for The Learning Exchange in Sacramento.

There's a reason her "How To Get A State Job" class is filled to capacity - the success stories are getting around.

Aaron Marshall and Steve Arrington want to reach the same mountain.

"I've been wanting to work for the state honestly for a long time," said Marshall.

He likes his chances, and here's why: When it comes to state jobs, "There are usually always at least 2,400 to 3,500 at any given time," said Allen.

Even though the hiring freeze remains in place, roughly 80,000 state jobs are not dependent on the state's dismal general fund and exemptions to hire more workers are happening all the time.

Gov. Jerry Brown has made it clear that there is a hiring freeze, but he also has been granting thousands of state hiring freeze exemptions.

Published data, confirmed by CBS13 with the Department Of Finance, shows in the first seven months after ordering the freeze that the governor approved 73 percent of requests from state agencies to hire more workers, bypassing the exemption.

That crack in the door is allowing Allen to kick it wide open for people who come to her with the burning question: "What's the process of getting a state job? Nobody seems to know that," said Allen.

She does.

Lesson number one: "Apply for everything, be very consistent and persistent," said Allen.

Paglia was.

"It was worth taking that step," he said.

The step was taking every test available. That's the first thing you need to do, take, pass and place to be a candidate for that state job, even if the position isn't ideal.

"It probably isn't going to be your dream job," said Allen. "People don't pay me to lie."

But they do pay her to give them the inside scoop, and the confidence to beat the freeze.

"I would say that it's definitely possible to get a state job," said Allen. "No matter who you are."