Nine people laid off by The Stroh Brewery Co. and ALTEC International sat around a U-shaped configuration of tables in a conference room Tuesday, sharing stories about their search for a job, or the classes they are taking.

Then, members of the Stroh-ALTEC Job Club leafed through a workbook and watched a videotape on how to market themselves to prospective employers. It was the weekly meeting of the club, whose members gather from 8:30 to 10 a.m. every Tuesday at the Wisconsin Job Center in La Crosse.

During both parts of the meeting, the laid-off employees received tips from Don Harkness, a job -training specialist with the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO's Labor Education and Training Center; and from Bob Davis, senior advocate with the La Crosse-based Western Wisconsin Private Industry Council.

Harkness left the brewery last summer after 33 years so he could help soon-to-be-laid-off brewery workers find new jobs or resume their education. Besides his work with the job club, he provides one-on-one assistance as a caseworker with former brewery workers.

The former G. Heileman Brewery closed in August, the same month the job club began. It became the StrohALTEC Job Club two months ago, after large layoffs at ALTEC.

"You learn something every time you come here," Ruth Spacek, 60, of La Crosse, said after last week's meeting. She was laid off Nov. 12 after nine years with ALTEC. She had hoped to work for the manufacturer of industrial heat exchangers until she retired.

"You can hear from other people who are trying to find jobs around town," Spacek said. "I never had to sell myself like I have to now. There are all these different skills you have to have." She is taking computer classes to increase her skills.

"It's a lift during the week," said Russ Ottum, 52, of Westby, who also was laid off by ALTEC. "I'm finding out there's a lot of people in the same boat I am." He also has gotten some leads on job openings by attending club meetings. Ottum, who has a bachelor's degree in business, hopes to find a management job.

"You get some tips by attending," said Gary Stelzig, 57, of La Crosse, who was a computer programmer at the brewery until he was laid off in November. Stelzig, who worked for the brewery for 31 years, is taking computer classes to increase his knowledge while he searches for a job in computer programming.

"There's also the interaction with other people, the networking," Stelzig said of club meetings. He also hears of job openings by attending.

"I like the interaction," said Dave Paulson, 45, of La Crosse, who was laid off at the brewery on Aug. 13 after 21 years. "It makes you aware that you're not in this alone."

Paulson said attending club meetings gives him information about employers with job openings and their pay scales. He also likes learning jobseeking skills from videotapes, speakers, Harkness and Davis. Paulson, who has attended club meetings for two months, has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and has taken some computer classes since he was laid off. He is searching for a new job.

Paulson and other laid-off brewery workers often visit in the hallway after club meetings, as do laid-off ALTEC workers. Talking to former co-workers "is something that you miss," Paulson said.

At this week's meeting, Harkness said, a speaker will discuss buying health insurance. "The week after that, we'll have a speaker on BadgerCare," he said. Each meeting features a videotape or a live speaker, such as a Trane Co. human resources official who recently talked about writing resumes and cover letters.

The weekly meetings usually draw about 15 people, Harkness said. Usually, he said, they are attended by 11 or 12 laid-off brewery 'employees and three or four laidoff ALTEC employees.

"Certainly, there's the element of learning job-search techniques," Davis said of the value of job clubs. "Equally important is the interaction. It's a lonely feeling to be unemployed."

Job clubs typically last nine months to a year, Davis said. "That's partly because if you've got a common group, you should be working yourself out of business" as people find new jobs. But no date has been set to end the Stroh-ALTEC Job Club, he said.

Davis said WWPIC has been involved in the past with other job clubs that formed after major layoffs at various employers or when a group of people with common interests decided to form a job club. On average, a job club may be created in La Crosse every other year, Davis estimated.