Well, it finally arrived. On Friday the Labor Department reported that the official unemployment rate for October rose to 10.2%, from 9.8% in September. We knew this was coming and that it was just a matter of time. Hundreds of thousands of people are unemployed and job opportunities just arenft available.OK, now that wefve broken that barrier, where do we go from here? What do we do now?One of the bigger problems that...

OK, did you survive the past year? We all know 2009 was a devastating year economically for the US. The good news is that 2010 may see recovery in some sectors. The bad news is that the high unemployment rate will continue to be with us for quite some time.While there may continue to be fewer job openings, companies still do business and they still need talented employees to help them better compete during the coming yea...

I recently interviewed Career Coach Randy Block about the generation gap between Baby Boomers and Gen-X hiring managers.Turns out the generation gap works in both directions per a recent AP article from Martha Irvine. She noted that the Gen-Xers are feeling squeezed between the Boomers who won’t go away and the up and coming Gen-Yers. According to Robin Erickson, manager at Deloitte Consulting, once this recession eases on...

If you’ve thought before about working a temp job, here’s some further ammo for considering it.Today the US unemployment rate rose to 9.8%, the highest this country has experienced since June 1983. That’s 15.1 million Americans now out of work.According to the US Labor Department, another 263,000 jobs were lost last month, higher than expected.Additionally, if those who were already laid off and have had to settle for part...

Are your prospects dimming because you’ve been out of work for 3 months, 6 months, even longer?I talk with job seekers every day about their resume and job hunting strategies. Many are in this same boat and rightly concerned. As the economy continues to tank, I predict that the out-of-work gap period will only grow longer for many job hunters, making the search even harder for them.In the past, when a job hunter was out of...

Using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn has been front and center on many job hunters' "To Do" lists these days. Most likely, you've made some forays into these areas already. While some are reporting success by incorporating these sites into their job search strategy, if you have little experience using these sites, you might not know where to begin.Before you jump into the social media fray, firs...

The odds are good that during this economic recession, increasing numbers of experienced executives will find themselves transitioning from a large corporation to a small firm. If you’re accustomed to working for a big box, you might find it uncomfortable to consider a small shop. But if your job has been downsized or outsourced, motivation to secure another job can outweigh hesitation about working in a much smaller compan...

If you’re watching the hit TV show “So You Think You Can Dance”, you’re in good company. Winning its Wednesday nighttime slot, this popular reality TV show is full of lessons for job hunters because you’re viewing one huge job interview. The winner receives a whopping $250,000.00 in prize money and the title “America’s Favorite Dancer”.Nigel Lythgoe, an executive producer of the show and one of its colorful judges, offered...

Have you admitted to watching the “The Bachelorette” on TV this season? If you have, you already know that this competitive reality dating show involves Canadian "bachelorette" Jillian Harris in her quest to find her soul mate. Cute, determined and spunky, she soldiers on each week weeding out a field of 25 potential male candidates through a succession of group and individual "dates" as she determines the winner - her po...

There are over 14 million people out of work with unemployment is at it's highest in 34 years. Competition for jobs in this recession has never been more fierce.I speak with candidates every week during my resume writing workshops. Too often I encounter a defensive, apologetic attitude among my listeners. Many spend too much time worrying about finding a job and not enough about their true place in this newly evolving ec...