"Don't believe what people say. There are jobs out there."

"There's this new norm of 10 percent less of everything."

And a new norm for movers and shakers trying to make ends meet.

Fox is still running his company, Fox Media Lab, and he's still throwing irons into the proverbial fire. He's even working on a book.

But sometimes he does so during his overnight shift as a concierge.

Or while waiting for a fare.

"I've said, 'I'm in a cab, I've got to get back to you.' They don't know I'm driving it," the father of four from Natick said of talking with prospective clients.

"For me, I'm not worried about it. In my DNA, I'm an entrepreneur. I'm going to make a comeback. ... But there is a whole class of people that have lost their job and don't know how to make a comeback. In some cases, there is no comeback" to make because the job market has changed so much since the first rumblings of economic meltdown. "Those positions are gone."

Statistics can tell you how many American banks and mortgage companies went belly-up and how many were "too big to fail."

Fox can tell you about how his property went into foreclosure after WaMu, Washington Mutual, went down.

You can read the full article about Joe Fox and how he is surviving his job search in the Milford Daily News.

"mysteries are hidden in plain sight"

Jason is reading Dan Brown's latest book and shares this insight:

The stories are everywhere. The mysteries are hidden in plain sight.

This is his message, and it’s a great one. It makes for a well written book, and an even better philosophy for exploring life.

So go ahead: look something up. Think about something today you haven’t considered in a long time. Invent a backstory for a total stranger you see on the street.

Read the full posting by Jason Seiden here
http://jasonseiden.com/find-the-stories-hidden-everywhere/


What book are you reading?


I do hope you are reading a book! You need to keep the mind active and you can't spend every hour of the waking day directly on your job search. Note: I said "directly"! 


Part of the reason I recommend informational interviews is to gather information, put together the patterns and bingo! You'll have an insight you can use in your search.


So go pick up a book, do not pass Go, do not collect anything but your thoughts and gather yourself into a comfortable position to read for a bit.


You will find it rewarding.

"keep the bigger reward closely in mind"

Starting Is Easy- It’s Maintaining That’s Hard

by Chris Brogan

I couldn't agree more! And that is not due to the fact that Chris and I know each other and have worked together on the PodCamp Boston series. 

Many years ago I wrote:

The hardest thing
is the getting up
out of
the soft easy chair

walking to the hall
to reach for my
shirt and shorts

once that far
yesterday's lingering sweat
takes over

http://quietpoet.blogspot.com/2009/01/hardest-thing.html




The poem gets to the same point that Chris is making. You need to be able to maintain and that is the hard part. 


For me, maintaining my running schedule is hard. I don't like to run early in the morning. My body doesn't like that. It is dark. It is cold (especially now as we get closer to winter). 


But I do it because it is necessary, because it is the time I can do it to handle the remaining priorities of my day.


Yesterday's sweat, lingering on my running shirt and shorts, takes over as it reminds me of what goodness comes from running. And when I run, the rest of the worries of the world don't matter. The run happens in an 'other' world.


What big reward do you have in mind?


How are you going to get there?

"hedge your bets and make sure you don’t get stuck"

... in terms of interviewing and job satisfaction, there are few things as important as doing serious due diligence on a company’s culture before signing on the bottom line with them, especially if you've got a nagging suspicion something might be amiss.

Here are some tips for conducting this kind of research:

•  Pay close attention to how the company treats you during the “courtship” process; if they deal with you respectfully, show up to meetings on time, and get back to you like clockwork when they say they will, that’s a pretty good sign that the company has a healthy, employee-centered culture

•  Watch the body language and facial expressions of the receptionist and other people you encounter in the office.  Do they seem happy?  Busy?  Friendly?  Stressed out?  These non-verbal clues can’t usually be faked and will speak volumes about the work environment!

There are additional tips on the posting by Matt Youngquist, click through on the link below to check it out.

http://careerhorizons.wordpress.com/2010/11/13/culture-shock-companies-behaving-badly/

Pattern recognition

In today's dynamic world, I find one way to succeed is by observing. Yes, just looking around at what is happening. Occasionally, in the observation of what is happening you'll detect a pattern. Detecting patterns can be good. They could be the indication of something to explore further.

For example, you over hear a conversation on a train about a book. Someone telling another person about this great book they just read. How amazing it was. You file the reference.

A day or so later, or maybe the same day. You see the book somewhere. Could be in a book store (yes, go figure!) or on a sign. Somewhere that catches your eye. You file the reference the second time.

Another day or so goes by, maybe a week or more, you hear on the radio someone reviewing the book. What they say adds to what you heard before, makes it sound all the more interesting. You file the reference but now since is the third time, you put it on your book wish list.

You can replay these steps with almost anything. When you have heard IT mentioned three times, you should move it to your to do, to read, to view, to 'something' listing.

It has become a pattern that not only have you recognized, you need to take action on!



If this pattern recognition catches your attention and you haven't read William Gibson's book Pattern Recognition, trust me - don't wait for two more confirmations, you're already there!

how to deal with "I think you are overqualified"

The folks at Jobfully have a video series on job search related topics. They are short, concise, informative and useful!

What more can you ask for?



Consider subscribing to their blog

Consider subscribing to their YouTube channel

If you have a Twitter account, you can follow them on Twitter.

Informational Interviews

When I landed and looked back on what I had done and what I might do differently the next time, one key suggestion was to do more informational interviews. The ones that I did brought great value. I should have done more and will next time.

Ronni Ann devotes a full posting on Getting the Most Out of Informational Interviews.

I figured it’s time to talk a little about how you can get the most out of an informational interview, since informational interviews can play a key part in any good job search.

From the Work Coach Cafe Career Dictionary:

An informational interview is a meeting or phone call with someone you hope will offer some leads to help you find a job. You may in fact wind up meeting someone who knows directly about a job opening either in his or her company or through someone he knows…but more likely you will be looking to get information from your informational interview to help you find leads and/or names to call where you could use your informational’s name to help you get through to someone who does have or know of an actual job.

Read the full posting by Ronni Ann here:
http://www.workcoachcafe.com/2010/10/18/informational-interviews-how-to-get-the-most-out-of-your-informational-interview/