BIRMINGHAM, AL (WIAT)  Frustrating and defeating could certainly describe the efforts of many these days when looking for a job. With unemployment numbers hovering stubbornly above nine percent, one Birmingham man takes a very unusual step which leads to an extraordinary outcome.

Brian Schoonover has been unemployed for a year. He moved to Alabama thinking he could tap in to the state's automotive industry with nine years experience as a processing engineer and a biomedical engineering degree.  Schoonover says he has found a lot of companies are now willing to pay for relocation to get the talent here because the talent pool is flooded. He also says he's run into problems due to the amount of time he's been unemployed, "employers want to know why you haven't had a job in a year."

Schoonover decided not to accept this reality as his new "normal."  He knew he was good at math so he decided to tutor at The Foundry. One of his students, Kat Godwin, says he has taught her more than just math. "It's not just all about math and it was, you know what, you're smarter than what you think.  That day he told me that, I went home and cried because no one had told me that in a long time. That's awesome, cause I am." 

Unemployment in the Birmingham Metro area stands at 8.9%.  For the last six reporting months, the rate has fluctuated from 8.4% to 9.7%. Regarding veterans in Alabama, 7.7% of veters looking for a job are out of work. That compares to a national average of 8.7%.

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