Friday, October 16, 2009

Preparing For a Resurgence of Jobs

For as long as economic data has been tracked, there has always been a percentage of unemployed, even within a healthy economy. But today, the percentage of people who are unemployed or underemployed has surpassed a dire threshold, creating a catastrophic situation for government bodies ranging from local municipalities to the national level worldwide. Even worse for individual workers, this perfect storm peaked at a time when many families were already balancing dangerous debt to asset ratios.

At some point, despite how staggering the unemployment numbers, and despite the constant deluge of related data and economic predictions, the most basic reality comes down to one question: “How is this affecting my family?” And that this point, indeed the recession is affecting every family, if not directly, then indirectly in a multitude of ways.

Job hunting in this economy is different than in previous recessions. Not only have millions of people found themselves looking for work or additional income for the first time in a decade or more, the number of underemployed workers has grown exponentially.

Reliable job resources for both primary employment and supplemental income are in demand more than ever before. For those looking to work from home, several really great job portals exist. One of my favorites that I talk about regularly in my seminars at Kaplan University and to many of you on Twitter is FlexJobs.com. Others that I also like include: AllFreelanceWork.com and Guru.com.

Economists talk about a jobless recovery, but for families struggling to pay the mortgage or cover health insurance, the only recovery that matters is a recovery that includes a resurgence of good-paying jobs.

Will you be prepared when that resurgence arrives?

COMING SOON: Creating Job Security Resource Guide - 2010 edition and Creating Job Security, The 2010 All-In-One Workbook available through The Graduate Group (http://www.graduategroup.com/)