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Instead of dropping off resumes and making their "30-second pitch" at job fairs, central New Jersey's Jews will use a more informal strategy next month to try to alleviate decades-high unemployment.

Temple B'nai Shalom in East Brunswick will host "ParnasaFest" from 7-9:30 p.m. Sept. 10, a free networking event that brings together recruiters, hiring managers, and individuals from various professions to mingle with attendees. "Parnasa" means livelihood in Hebrew.

Unemployment is up to 9.2 percent in New Jersey as of June, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a dramatic jump from a 5.2 percent rate in June 2008. Dave Weinberg, a community manager at a technology firm outside Washington, D.C., founded ParnasaFest in February to help Jewish communities around the world deal with the ongoing recession.

At job fairs, participants seek out a few organizations, meet recruiters, and quickly drop off their resumes, leaving "no time to learn about a person," Weinberg said. ParnasaFest begins with schmoozing after attendees sign in and put on nametags. The mingling is interrupted by a raffle during which every person in the room introduces themselves, resulting in what Weinberg calls "targeted schmoozing" for the rest of the program.

"We tell people: 'don't wear a suit, don't bring a resume'," said Weinberg, who has also worked for Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, Yeshiva University, and the Orthodox Union. "You will meet people at these events who you will help or receive help from in ways that you never thought were possible."

Though resumes aren't welcome, business cards are recommended for networking purposes at the event.

The collaborating partners for the program are the Jewish Federation of Monmouth County, Jewish Family and Children's Service of Monmouth County, the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County, Jewish Family and Vocational Service of Middlesex County, the Jewish Federation of Mercer County, and Jewish Family and Children's Service of Greater Mercer County.

After the organization's first networking event in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan was attended by 80 people, ParnasaFest held sessions in New York, Toronto, Detroit, Baltimore, and other cities that drew between 150 and 250 at each program, Weinberg said.

As opposed to ParnasaFest in New York City, Weinberg expects that most of the unemployed attendees at the central New Jersey event won't be 20-somethings coming off their first jobs out of college, due to the demographics of the region. Therefore, many people who lose their jobs in the area have the added concern of supporting their families, Weinberg said.

"The challenge of this area is that it's a more established community," he said.

Unemployment is also a unique challenge locally because New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the country, noted Debra Levinstein, program director at Jewish Family & Children's Services of Greater Mercer County.

"New Jersey has a dense population, so we have more people who are looking for jobs in a contracted job market," she said.

At ParnasaFest, people will support each other by sorting out their similar situations without the pressure of "gotta get a job," Levinstein said.

"If you bring people together, it can only help them," Howard Gases, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Monmouth County, said.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County already held three employment events this year geared toward honing interview skills and sharpening resumes, said Gabriela Sadote Sleppin, director of community relations. The federation observed the tremendous value of networking at the programs, she said, and hopes ParnasaFest will serve as a platform for more non-threatening interactions between the unemployed and the employed.

"People shared information about leads, about how to better network," she said of the federation's previous events. "They just gave each other a lot of support and a lot of tips."

Weinberg said he knows of at least a dozen people who have received new jobs and many others who have earned interviews as a result of ParnasaFest, noting that the impact of the programs is even greater when harder-to-measure criteria such as the quality contacts attendees make are taken into account.