Bailouts & Stimulus, & Spendulus, Oh My!

Whatever you want to call it, many of us are financially struggling or growing more and more concerned about our personal financial instabilities. I wont go into the politics of this bill that seems to have passed today, but I anxiously await, like so many others, for something to show us we have finally bottomed out.

Job data this month certainly did not indicate anywhere near a bottom and showed almost 600,000 more unemployed. Wow! That is staggering. In the past year, over 3 million jobs have been lost with about half of that occurring in the last 3 months.

If you are a job seeker, be patient. Realizing that patience only lasts so long, try to understand that you are not alone. There is lots of public information about how you can help yourself land that next job, including some information in my own blog posts. The trouble is, while I think you should try new things and stay the course in finding your next job, it could take time. More time than many of us can afford.

We will get through this. We will be a better country when this passes. That I feel strongly about. However, those who do nothing and don't realize that your career needs to constantly be in check will be the last to come out of this mess.

During a down time of unemployment, while seeking a job, spend some valuable time addressing your resume; get some quality professional references and letters of recommendations lined up and ready; join some quality professional networks like LinkedIn.com; connect with a successful recruiter in your area and in your industry. These are just some of the things that I have written about in my previous blog posts.

One of the items that I have left out seems to be the most obvious. Ask your own personal network if they know of job openings. Sites like Facebook.com are great for creating the ability to do things like this. For example, I am new to Facebook.com but have about 200 friends already. These are typically people from high school, college friends, family, general friends, neighbors and co-workers of current and past. When you add these up, you can see it can be easy to connect with lots of people.

Using the "Wall" in Facebook.com you can simply post a comment that you are looking for a new job and would appreciate your Facebook.com friends to keep their eyes and ears open. You might be surprised that someone in your own personal network may know of something or may find out something in the short term.

It's all about the Internet, regardless of how you connect to your next job in my opinion. Notice I didn't use the word "only" in that last sentence. Sure there are other variables besides the Internet, but I can assure you that the Internet is a huge factor with job connection for many.