Christopher Penn had a great job working for an online academic services website until he got laid off. He also did a lot of blogging, tweeting, and online networking. He put the word out to all his avenues of communication and landed a new position in less than 3 months.

The average search is taking anywhere from 3 to 6 months depending on level and position. Christopher did well and I attribute that to his use of social media and social networking.

After finding a new position, he let everyone in his network know where he landed. But more than that, he offered help to others in the same boat. He has continued to make good on that offer in his blog http://is.gd/eO1ue and newsletter.

He offers to forward to his network of 5000+ connections on linkedin.com any job postings. He also will post jobs on his Marketing Over Coffee forum, http://is.gd/eO2fA .

I call that paying it forward. All the people he helps now will be of even greater help to him at a later date. 

It appears that the economy will get worse before it gets better as a double-dip recession is now on the table. The numbers don’t look good nor do the projections.

“Data for the United States has been decidedly weak over the past couple of months, with private-sector job growth lagging expectations and the unemployment rate stuck at 9.5 percent. That has fed concerns the economy could be at risk of a renewed recession or face a debilitating bout of deflation as the bleak jobs market pressures incomes and prices,” according to a Reuters articles posted in Yahoo news today
 (http://is.gd/ef3fD ).

This is more than a cyclical downturn. Yes, the economy crashed but as companies rebound and recover their focus is on making money wherever they can, not to bring jobs back to America. Then can just as easily sell Coke and Pepsi to India as Indiana, why would they be worried if consumers are employed in the United States? Further, manufacturing costs are lower off-shore.

The dilemma we face today is scarce employment opportunities. The adjustment is going to continue to be painful as competition increases for each position, expectations for a better future decrease, and basic survival demands continue.

We all need to respond to change with flexibility and a positive view. But adjusting our perspective in a consumer-driven economy to appreciate a simpler life is the greatest challenge.