Career

In this week's "Your Job Will Come" podcast, WalletPop's Aaron Crowe talks with career counselor Alan De Back about his new book "Get Hired in a Tough Job Market" and some out-of-the-box job search tactics.

One of the top tactics is to get off the computer and expand your network. So get out and take someone out for coffee!

Lots of people mourned when Portland, Ore. coffee shop and brightly lit, family-friendly cafe, Sydney's, announced it was closing this Friday due to losing its lease. "Irreconcilable differences," the owner said. Why? Everyone asked. It was so popular with parents whose children attended the Montessori school across the street, reporters for the local Oregonian newspaper, and the sort of stylish folk on laptops who live in the trendy industrial-chic neighborhoods nearby. David Vanadia was sad, too, but for more complex reasons. As web contractor for the cafe, he'd not been paid.

As the last day of business approached and the cafe had failed to find a new location, Vanadia became more and more concerned. He emailed the cafe's manager, who assured him -- having spoken with the owner -- he would be paid. After the suggestion of trade, Vanadia offered to take the coffee shop's PA system in lieu of payment; its worth was a fraction of what he was owed, "but I'd have something," he said. After a few more days without reply to his offer, he changed the web site to a simple letter explaining that he was owed money by the cafe's management.

In what can best be described as shooting yourself in the foot, the freelance-for-hire Web site Elance has selected a winner in its contest for a grand prize of $10,000 to help pay health insurance premiums for a year -- a guy who works full time and already has health insurance through his employer.

The contest, as I wrote in September, was to do some sort of essay (vidoes won the next three spots in the contest) on the topic of what the "New Way to Work" means. The contest was meant to highlight how important freelancers are becoming to the economy.

In 2007 Tim Ferriss published a book, originally called Drug Dealing for Fun and Profit, that no publisher would touch. At the insistence of the eventual publisher, he changed the title to The 4-Hour Workweek. in doing so he kicked off a movement that landed his how-to manual for escaping the 9-5, living anywhere and joining the New Rich on the NY Times Bestseller list.

In this week's "Your Job Will Come" podcast, Aaron Crowe talks with Wendy Enelow about how to turn military experience into a civilian job.

Enelow is the co-author of the second edition of Expert Resumes for Military-to-Civilian Transitions.

Former military members have many skills that transfer to civilian life, including promptness, team building and innovating. Enelow talks about how to make them shine on a resume.

Tired of getting nowhere in sales at a cemetery and essentially unemployed, Gail Neal decided to expand her job search.

Neal, who lives in Detroit, Mich., where 15.1% unemployment makes it one of the most difficult places in the country to find a job, was working for commission at a cemetery outside Detroit and wasn't selling anything for almost a year before she decided to change her job-searching methods.

Unemployment isn't a disease that needs a 12-step program, but let's face it, being broke and trying to feel festive around the holidays don't exactly go hand-in-hand. Which is why a California business coach got my attention.

Deborah Gallant normally commands big bucks for telling people what they need to do to start up a business or grow the one they already have. She has first-hand experience dealing with professionals who got the axe in the recession during the past year: Her husband was laid off from his big-deal job in finance 16 months ago and is still looking. She also coaches people who are frustrated with their job search. And she does that for free. Heck, she's even helped me for free.

Gallant runs a free group hug every Tuesday morning called the Conejo Jewish Support, held at Temple Adat Elohim in Thousand Oaks, CA. You don't have to be Jewish to attend and nobody expects you to actually cry or bare your soul. She arranges free speakers about different aspects of the job search, serves free coffee and has one rule: When you get a job (notice, she says "when" not "if") donate a few bucks from your first paycheck to the coffee kitty. The woman is Santa with a New York accent.

College head coaches are free to come and go, but the NCAA denies college football players the same freedom. We were reminded of this travesty this week when Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Brian Kelly jumped ship for the greener pastures of Notre Dame.

Football coach Kelly, who led the Cincinnati Bearcats to an undefeated season and the chance to play Florida in the upcoming Sugar Bowl, had signed a five-year deal with Cincinnati in 2007, which was adjusted just this year to add time and money to the more than $1 million a year he was being paid. His new five-year contract with Notre Dame is rumored to bring him $3 million per year, not that it will have any impact on how long he decides to stay or the school decides to keep him if he doesn't produce a winner.

Someday, we'll all be telling our grandchildren how job hunters used to print out one-page resumes and send them via mail carrier to employers. Or how we e-mailed resumes that were pages long.

Not Hal Thomas, who landed a job with just one tweet:

So The results of a new Bloomberg poll about spending and job creation really comes as no surprise, considering the unemployment situation. 60% of Americans support government spending on job creation. And a full two-thirds of Americans want to pay for it by raising taxes on the wealthy.

And it's no wonder.

I popped into the hardware store the other day to summarily mow down the rack of replacement twinkle lights with an Uzi 9mm. It's a long story that involves the lights in the star ornament we traditionally mount at the top of our tree. But, suffice to say, next year we're transitioning to LED lights once and for all. 29,000 hours of life in an LED, along with never having to buy another packet of twinkle bulbs, is worth the higher price tag.

WalletPop's Aaron Crowe talks with Scott Ginsberg, author of "Stick Yourself Out There" and "Get Them to Come to You" about how to be an approachable job candidate, in this week's "Your Job Will Come" podcast.

Among the the tips are cleaning up your name search on Google and making everything around you part of your image as a job candidate.

Sure, everyone has a story, but more often than not, they also have a pitch -- a money-making idea, a personal plea, a pet cause or even just a message to get out there. In today's world of Twitter, iPhone video and instant Internet infamy, everyone with something to push should be ready at a moment's notice to get the word out.

That's why WalletPop has started to put people to the test. Our challenge: Can you pitch in 30 seconds or less? We've been gathering up some of the results so that you can judge for yourself. Who would you give money to or follow or even just find out more info about? See for yourself and then give us your feedback.

Getting a Christmas gift for your unemployed friends or family members can be a difficult decision, especially if they're low on money and have been out of work for awhile.

Do you go with a fun gift they'll enjoy, such as an iPod, or something practical to help them in their job search, such as a gas card to help them get to job interviews or a free resume makeover? What about straight-up cash?

I'll leave the fun gift ideas to others. If you really want to help someone who is unemployed with a Christmas gift, help them find a job. That's what job seekers want -- a job.