Perhaps you are the person that busted your duff through college and grad school, indebting yourself to monstrous student loans in hopes of landing a lucrative career with plenty of ‘bells and whistles’ in terms of stock options, 401k, and a salary that’s worthy of your knowledge and work ethic. Or, maybe you are the lucky one that was born with a gift that landed you a position in a tech firm with the same perks. In either case, you work the position for a few years and realize that the once large aspirations you had for yourself have been reduced to a 4 x 6 cubicle that enslaves you from 8-4:30 daily. Yes, misery loves company; in our still recovering economy, the unemployment line loves your company, too, and will not hesitate to force you to join that line.

Unhappiness in the workplace, along with measly salaries, make up a large portion of job shifting in our country today; if you feel that you are in a position with good pay yet a miserable atmosphere, staying there may be your only option until something falls into your lap – besides, the children have to eat – so, until the time when your wild card turns up, here are five ways to avoid career misery and change the atmosphere where you work enough to survive:

Make Your Desk Home

You have to be at a desk 2,080 hours a year on average, so why not make it home? You’d be surprised how small intricacies, such as a plant, funny photographs, soft music and even your children’s aspiring Crayon art can give you the right amount of inspiration to make it through the day, and remind you just how many people would die for your job. Small mementos like decor from home can give you inspiration to show up at work without dread or regret, even if your mind is still thinking of other options

Remember Why You Applied

You didn’t open up a Cracker Jack box and find a note stating ‘Interview at Lucent Technologies, 10 a.m. Monday’; there is some primary motive for your application to the job you have now, most likely related to income. You didn’t have to take the job you have now, yet the offer was lucrative enough to lure you in. Remember back to the day you applied, and keep in mind the numerous resumes on the interviews desk that could have been selected instead of yours.

Communicate Effectively

Most issues at work stem from a lack of communication with co-workers or upper management; most people go into ‘fight or flight’ mode when dealing in situations that truly twist their skin, causing the bulk of issues to go unaddressed or outburts to happen that are costly to their job – or, in extreme cases, freedom. Nip all small issues in the bud, no matter if it’s the position of the stapler on your desk or the soda machine jamming as having the freedom to express discord in the workplace can empower longevity as well as give off a sense of comfort that you may not have had before.

Understand Your True Worth

Getting the infamous raise at work is obviously a goal every employee wants to master, yet sometimes gets confused with actual worth of position or work involved. If you went to grad school for business management and obtain a position that requires no managerial knowledge, do not expect managerial pay. Sure, your degree may state the education you have, but it didn’t force you to take a lesser job. Positions pay based on delivery and role, chiefly; if you are putting out great stories, products, or marketing pitches and have consistent on-time delivery, then perhaps your worth to the company will rise due to your output; if you are responsible for answering a phone and typing some information into an AS400 system, do not expect the company to look deeply into your position since they have probably calculated a turn-over for your department anyway. Gauge what you are doing, the expertise you have accumulated, your own attendance, and see if you should even bother to approach the management for more money quite yet. Knowing your true worth will alleviate complaining about something like money when you are not quite ready to ask for it anyway, or will get nowhere asking too soon.

Skilled and unskilled workers tend to create misery out of workplaces seemingly for no reason worth mentioning. If you apply for a job and receive an interview, make sure you ask for the tour of the plant or office. See all of the positions and even you’re soon to be position within the company ahead of time, because should you accept an offer from the company, you can rule out complaining about the conditions or atmosphere as you knew of this ahead of time. Same standard should go with pay; discuss this ahead of time in detail, including future performance raises and COLA increases.

Career misery is often an avoidable situation if you simply keep your work area colorful, build rapport with your co-workers, and communicate freely across the company. Remember, you applied for the job, and no matter how much you’d hate to realize this, 200 people are in line behind you that would be glad to take less pay and bitchy bosses just to have food for their kids and a roof over their heads.

About The Author

Greg Henderson, a California-based businessman with over 11 years in SEO/SEM, provided this piece based on personal endeavors and education in search engine optimization with a concentration on content optimization for the social media future. His current projects include a site RecordsProject.com, and abackground check site SnoopStation.com.

Below is a list of items that should be on your “to do” list when considering making a move to a different city or area to pursue better economic opportunities.

One: Make a list of potential employers within that area that you plan to relocate to. Do significant research on each of these businesses, not just viewing their website, but at the very least, perform an extensive internet search that involves recent company news and any financial information on each business on your list. Signing up for Dunn & Bradstreet to do a brief investigation through their extensive web based resources should be part of that process.

Two: Contact several realtors in the area to get information on the housing market as it relates to your particular needs. Are you going to be renting initially or will you be looking to make a home purchase when you arrive in your new city. Realtors can discuss with you the housing trends along with passing on to you information on the various neighborhoods within the particular area.

Three: By going on the internet and doing some quick digging you can establish what the cost of living is for any geographic area. Each city and geographic area has cost of living index information readily available via the internet. For example, if you are choosing to move to Cheyenne, Wyoming the cost-of-living index would be much lower than, say, if you are living in Honolulu, Hawaii – where I currently reside. Keep in mind, along with a lower cost-of-living index in Cheyenne, Wyoming, lower wages will also be part of the equation. Conversely, moving from Cheyenne to Honolulu will mean adjusting to a much more significant cost of living but may not mean that your current pay scale will be increased proportionately. Something to think about!

Four: One of the biggest reasons why my wife and I reside in Honolulu is the very low crime rate; therefore, we feel it is a great place to raise our young daughter. There are certainly safer areas in the country, but most do not have the climate and culture that only Honolulu offers. You must think this through carefully, as where ever you choose to reside to pursue new employment opportunities, the local crime rate should be a factor in that decision.

Five: To get a feel of the local business climate, which will be a good indicator of the job market, contact the local chamber of Commerce. See if they have any information they can send your way concerning business growth, rate of business taxation, and any pertinent information that may impact the local business community. Most Chamber of Commerce organizations have a book of members that serves as a list of “who’s who” in the business community – you may want to see if you can get a copy of this. Using this particular list can be a starting point in your job search!

Six: If possible, as it may not be depending on your financial situation, take a trip to the area that you are interested in moving to in order to learn about that particular community. You will want to visit all the potential employers that you listed above and introduce yourself; keeping in mind that most employers will not hire any potential employee without said employee residing in their immediate area. Take some time and drive through the neighborhoods that you may be interested in renting/buying a home in. Speak to small business owners to get a feel for the community and to make some business contacts for future networking. Get out of your car and walk the streets to get a sense of what the community feels like as you are surrounded by the businesses and the residences as you explore the area.

In addition to all of the above, you may want to look into purchasing a book that has been available over the last 15 or so years – this book is titled: Places Rated Almanac by David Savageau. Trust me when I say this, this book will more than provide an incredible amount of information on well over 200+ cities across the country, but will also provide an excellent starting point to help you pinpoint a few areas to focus your efforts in. If your local bookstore does not carry this particular book go to Amazon.com as they carry the latest edition in their inventory.

To summarize, making a move to a new city to pursue better employment opportunities is a huge, let me repeat that, a huge decision! It not only impacts yourself but also impacts your immediate family, so make sure you do your research and follow through on every part of this research before you finalize a decision and make a move to find new employment.

Good luck!

Dave

Dave LaShier, of GET EMPLOYED</a ,is a seasoned business professional, HR Executive and business owner. Need a job? Not sure what the next step should be? Visit our job search information website and receive free information about methods and strategies to find a new job FAST! Visit: www.get-employed.org

Executive Recruiters are providing a service for a fee paid for by a business client who is seeking a very specific individual with skill-sets unique to the client. The client pays a fairy large fee, usually around 20 to 30% of the first years’ wages of the position he/she is recruiting for. The higher the salary and/or more unique the position is to fill the higher the percentage fee will be.

If you are out of work and seeking a method to get employers to notice your skills you can certainly do better than going to your local recruiting firm.

What does an “executive recruiting firm” do? Like I mentioned above, they seek out and recruit top talent for a fee. Normally, if you are in a job niche that this particular recruiter would recruit for, then I would recommend submitting you resume/CV. However, if you are in a field that is not in hot demand, then more than likely you are wasting your time and his.

For example, if you are a manager of a paint store would it be wise to submit your resume to Robert Half? Probably not, as they specialize in the accounting profession and on an extremely rare occasion would be seeking to “place” a paint store manager.

Well, you ask, what about the staffing agency down the road? They seem to be looking for all kinds of positions to fill – why don’t I kick my resume to these folks? Great, go ahead and give them a call, send your resume and then be prepared to.. wait…and wait..and wait even longer. Why? Because you would be one of the thousands who submit a resume for their database and never receive a call from them.

With executive recruiters you would need to match precisely what they are getting paid to look for. If you don’t, you will never get their attention.

Trust me when I say this: if you have a talent that an executive search firm is currently seeking then they will find you. While it is not a bad idea to have your resume on file at several search firms it is not the most practical why for you to find new career opportunities to interview for.

Need more free info on how to find a job fast? Visit http://www.get-employed.org

This makes it all the more important that you make the most out of every opportunity to find a job. Where as at one point, there were more jobs than there were potential employees, the opposite is now true; for every job advertised, companies are getting dozens, if not hundreds of applications. It is becoming harder and harder to make yourself stand out from the crowd when it comes to the recruitment process.

Job fairs are a phenomenon which exists for two real purposes; the first is for companies to advertise that they are looking for people to fill positions, but increasingly now job fairs are also being used almost as a screening process for potential applicants.

Job fairs are big business these days, and as such they attract massive amounts of attention, particularly in this current climate and the high number of unemployed people looking for work.

Once upon a time it was sufficient simply to attend a job fair. This is no longer the case. At any given job fair there will be literally thousands of people turn up all looking for a job. Simply attending a job fair is a waste of time; you need to shine at a job fair in order to make the most out of the opportunity to meet your perspective employer.

What follows is a rough guide to ensure that you get the most out of job fairs. There are basic guidelines that you should follow in order to enhance your chances of getting that job that you want.

The first thing that you need to do is to make sure that you look the part for your job fair. Now of course, the job fair is not an interview, but the old saying of ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression’ is entirely true. Whist some companies may outsource their job fair staff; most will use members of their Human Resources department for this type of event. What this means is that the person you speak to at the job fair will likely be involved in the decision of whether or not to hire you. It is because of this that it is essential that you dress and look the part when you turn up at a job fair.

This means that you dress like a professional, you conduct yourself like a professional and that you are a professional. You need to look and act at a job fair like the type of person that a company would want to hire. You need to look and conduct yourself every bit as professionally as you would want to at a job interview.

The second rule of attending a job air is to formulate a plan of attack.

Information regarding which companies will be exhibiting at a job fair should be freely available before the event itself. This information is crucial to your strategy for the job fair.

Before the event itself, you need to go through the list of exhibiting companies and decide which ones you would want to work for. At any job fair, this is likely to be between five and ten companies. Keep a note of the companies you most want to speak to in your pocket at the job fair so that you can score them out as you speak to them, this will ensure that in the business of the fair, you will not miss out any companies that you want to work for.

In addition to this, you should select the companies that you most want to impress, and do a little research on them. Learn about what they do, what makes them different from their competition and how they were formed. It is not enough simply to turn up at a job fair, in order to make the most out of a job fair, you need to make an impression on the companies that attend.

The final guideline for making the most out of a job air is to think about and write down any questions that you would want to pose to the companies’ representatives. You should write them down because in the heat and hustle of a job air, it can be all too easy to forget what questions you really want to ask.

Asking questions shows interest and a level of enthusiasm. As has been previously stated, it is not enough simply to turn up at a job air, in order to make the most out of a job air you need to make an impression on the companies’ representatives. Asking intelligent and insightful questions will demonstrate that you are someone that they would want to employ. In addition to this, it is a great time to get a better understanding of what the company do and what they are looking for.

Dave LaShier is a seasoned business professional, HR Executive and business owner. Need a job? Not sure what the next step should be? Visit our job search information website and receive free information about methods and strategies to find a new job FAST! Visit: or click this on this link: GET EMPLOYED</a <http://www.get-employed.org

The better way of approaching the job search is to treat the job search as if it were your new full-time job. I’m not saying to work the job search eight hours a day, but to spend a good three to four hours each and every day on securing a new career position that is worth eight hours of your valuable time five days a week.

Not having a job that creates an income and provides a sense of purpose in one’s life can cause the following:

? Depression
? Loss of job skills
? Loss of self respect
? A shrinking savings account
? Possible tensions arising in your marriage and relationships
? Loss of purpose in life
? Financial stress of not having an income
? Uncertainty of what the future holds for you and your family
? Life’s plans put on hold

By focusing your time in securing new employment you will bypass most, if not all, of the above mentioned problems associated with unemployment. For example, set the hours of 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. aside every day to focus on your job search. Get dressed as if you were to be going to a job each day and focus on selling you and your skills to those employers who you feel would be the best place to re-start your career.

Every day you now have a plan and purpose to stay engaged with your continued success. It is your choice! So make sure you make the right choice!

For more information on how to find a job fast go to www.get-employed.org or click this link: GET EMPLOYED</a <http://www.get-employed.org>

So the question is, who would you include in your network of professional contacts? Who would these people be? .and how can they really help you in securing a new career opportunity? So let’s take a quick look at a list of good sources of contacts that you can tap into to discover potential career opportunities that have yet to be advertised anywhere else.

Friends and Relatives

This goes without question. Relatives can be your wife, your brother, your parents, or your second cousin twice removed – it can be anybody. Anyone who has any insight into the job market as it relates to your current job search. For example, this can be a friend or relative who works at the local dairy, and at this dairy there is an accounting position that will be available in three months. This translates to you being made aware of the future job opportunity well in advance of any other applicants. By getting your resume to your friend, or relative, and having them pass it on to the hiring manager before any other applicant is most beneficial. Then having you follow-up with a quick phone call saying: Hi Mr. Hiring Manager, my name is..And I am very interested in learning more about this potential opportunity. This certainly gives you a leg up over any other perspective applicant.

Vendors and Previous Coworkers

These folks will more than likely be your best source for any potential job opportunities that have yet to be advertised anywhere else. Coworkers and vendors have the inside track when it comes to dealing with the businesses that they have professional relationships with. Using our example of the accountant looking for work it would not be unusual for a vendor to be aware of an opening for an accountant at a particular business due to their normal business dealings with that prospective employer. Same with current or previous coworkers as they will be very much aware of any potential openings yet to be advertised.

Informational Interviews

One of my favorite approaches to networking for a successful job search is performing informational interviews with people within your field who may (or may not) be seeking to fill open positions within their organization. The purpose of these informational interviews is to develop a new relationship with someone who works within your industry and with whom you have no prior professional or personal relationship, established. This person will become someone who hopefully, down the road, will be able to pass your information on to someone who may be looking to fill a position that you may be qualified for; or they may be aware of a position in another firm that you may be able to submit your resume to. They may also be someone who could pass on additional information in regards to the industry you’re working within that may be helpful in your job search. It is very important that once you perform an informational interview that you consistently, appropriately and politely follow-up with these people to ensure that they remember who you are. Most importantly, you must show appreciation for the time they took in sitting down with you to discuss your perspective job search by sending a thank you note or any token of your appreciation.

Job Fairs

Many people attend job fairs in hopes of finding a new position that will fulfill their current career needs. If memory serves me correctly the last job fair I attended had well over 5000 people in attendance. Many of the perspective employers who had booths set up for these fairs had few positions to offer but more than enough interested applicants. The job fair really is best suited for the individual who desires to create relationships with the HR representatives from each of the companies who have booths set up at these fairs. Once you attend a job fair it is important to make sure that you have the business card of the representative of the company so you contact them for future career opportunities listed at their firm. Now you have a name, phone number and e-mail address so you can keep in constant contact with them in the event that a position that fits your skill sets becomes available at that particular firm.

LinkedIn

Over the past 5 to 8 years, social networking has become a very critical component of any professional’s job search strategy. By joining websites like LinkedIn you gain access to thousands, no, tens of thousands, of professionals in your designated career specialty. You have an opportunity to network and inform all these individuals across the entire United States of your interest in securing a new position. Likewise, you are in a unique opportunity to lend assistance to someone else seeking employment information as they contact you for any opportunities that you may be aware. Whether it be LinkedIn or FaceBook or twitter, all these social networking sites give you an advantage that was not available to the average person 10 years ago. While I do not put a lot of stock in the social networking sites for an active job search campaign, I definitely think it is well worth your time to investigate each of the sites and determine if they are best suited for your individual job search situation.

Networking in itself is only the start. In the nutshell, networking is an opportunity to create and leverage relationships so that over time will prove fruitful and beneficial to your job search efforts.

Dave LaShier is a seasoned business professional, HR Executive and business owner.
Need a job? Not sure what the next step should be? Visit our job search information website and receive free information about methods and strategies to find a new job FAST! Visit: or click this on this link: GET EMPLOYED</a <http://www.get-employed.org

Washington sat atop the list of the Job Market Competition index, with six job listing for every one person seeking work.

Jacksonville, Florida was the only other city on the list to have more job postings than job seekers. Baltimore came in third with an even ratio of postings to seekers.

With President Obama’s big stimulus package that’s increasing the size of government, it’s not surprising that Washington made it to the top of the heap. Former tech powerhouses like San Francisco and Seattle now have three unemployed people for every job listing – not a favorable ratio if you’re pounding the pavement looking for work.

Here’s the list of the top 10 cities to look for a job along with their corresponding ratio of job postings to unemployed:

1. Washington, DC (6:1)
2. Jacksonville, FL (3:1)
3. Baltimore, MD (1:1)
4. Salt Lake City, UT (1:2)
5. New York, NY (1:2)
6. San Jose, CA (1:2)
7. Hartford, CT (1:2)
8. Oklahoma City, OK (1:3)
9. Austin, TX (1:3)
10. Boston, MA (1:3)

So who’s at the bottom of the list? Not surprisingly, Detroit. With a cratering local economy made worse by the Big 3 carmakers downsizing, Detroit has a whopping 18 unemployed people for every job posting. Good luck finding a job in the motor city.

Here’s the ten worst cities to find a job:

41. Buffalo, NY (1:6)
42. Orlando, FL (1:6)
43. Sacramento, CA (1:6)
44. Rochester, NY (1:6)
45. Chicago, IL (1:7)
46. Portland, OR (1:7)
47. Los Angeles, CA (1:8)
48. Riverside, CA (1:9)
49. Miami, FL (1:10)
50. Detroit, MI (1:18)

The successful applicant will report back on their adventures via weekly blogs, photo diary, video updates and ongoing media interviews. Sounds rough, doesn’t it?

As if living above the Great Barrier Reef wasn’t cool enough, the successful candidate will also be paid a fat salary package and will receive return airfares from the nearest capital city, rent-free accommodation and transport on Hamilton Island, travel insurance for the contract period, computer, internet, digital video and stills cameras access, plus travel to a number of the other Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. The six-month contract starts on July 1st 2009.

In May, officials will select 10 finalists to travel to Hamilton Island for an interview process, which will include sailing, snorkelling and psychological testing. An eleventh finalist will be chosen by the public, from a pool of 50 of the best applicants, whose videos will be posted online.

All interested candidates are required to create a 60 second or less video application in English explaining why they are the best person for the job. Interested in applying? You’ll find an application form and a place to upload your video at www.islandreefjob.com.