One of the most poignant lines in Max Ehrmann's Desiderata is the advice that one should "Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time."

While the past few years have made that advice seem old-fashioned, the recent economic downturn has breathed new life into it. All of a sudden, people without jobs are waxing rhapsodic about the jobs they used to have, and people who are still employed are realizing just how lucky they are.

While it is probably too early to discuss the American economy's path to recovery, it never hurts to consider which industries are most likely to be hiring in the coming months. One major influence might be Barack Obama's much-vaunted plan for an alternative-energy economy. By stimulating growth in a variety of sectors, the alternative energy economy could, effectively, be a blueprint for the up-and-coming job market.

As Circuit City seeks bankruptcy protection, and DHL U.S. Express announced plans to lay off 9,500 workers, I can't help but think back to decisions the companies made six months to a year ago that foreshadowed these moves Monday. For Circuit City, it was laying off workers that I think helped lead it to bankruptcy, and for DHL it was a merger that eventually led to jobs being lost. Either way, workers were harshly affected.

Circuit City has had its share of poor decisions over the years, but at least customers knew when walking in that it had some of the most knowledgeable sales people in the industry who were willing to help. I don't know much about electronics, but after going into a Circuit City store, I knew a lot more and could make an informed decision.

But a year ago, the company laid off thousands of its experienced salespeople. Sure, it saved money with fewer workers and the cheaper employees who remained, but it easily looked like a dumb move at the time by anyone who had done business there.

It's getting increasingly competitive in the job market these days. With current unemployment figures ranging anywhere from 5% to 7.5%, depending on who you believe, the search for a decent, well paying job has become an undertaking which can quickly lead to disappointment. Job hunting is a different and exciting challenge these days. It is a far more specialized process now, than it has ever been before.

Because I have been invited by my employer to pursue our open position for an Industrial Production Manager, I have had an opportunity to get a special view of the hiring process, from both sides. Today's Human Resource Managers are a savvy bunch. They are highly trained and quite sophisticated. They have new tools and a multitude of new information sources. I'd like to share with you a few of the insights this opportunity to compete for position has provided for me.

These days, simply having a sharp resume isn't enough. Although a well prepared resume is essential, presentation alone won't win you an interview. Today's HR Managers are placing less emphasis upon what you have accomplished, while placing more emphasis upon how you'll fit in. In other words, they want to know more about what you can do for them than what you did for your previous employers or in school. Today's resume writers must adopt an in depth strategy of forward thinking. Quality resumes must now present a picture of future success.

Gone are the days when you could expect job hunting success by writing up one good resume and then carpet bombing a host of potential employers.

My boss has approved the purchase of Blackberry phones for the entire group. We all need to be accessible anywhere; and late at night as our remote team bounces through its family and social life, emails fly back and forth. There's a big uptick after kids are put to bed, and another blast right around midnight right before team members head to sleep themselves. We're always on, and the dark circles under some of our eyes attest to the strain. Is this healthy?

Probably not, and more and more people are starting to protest their boss' strongly-worded requests that we be available after our workday is over. (Not our team. We love our work! Really! You're reading this, Brad, aren't you?) It's especially testy in jobs managed by unions, whose purpose it is (after all) to look out for their members' best interest. This month ABC News and its writers have been in a big kerfuffle over answering email after hours; the Writers Guild of America, which represents the writers, has been demanding that employees receive time-and-a-half for using their Blackberries.

The WGA spokesman quoted in a New York Times article said that a few minutes of looking at emails wasn't the issue -- it's more about writing material and coordinating guests, and the like, insisting that, "people are entitled to time off the job. BlackBerrys can be liberating ... But they can also shackle people to their jobs."

ABC responded by taking Blackberries away from three of its employees (real mature, guys, take your ball and go home, won't you?), and the two parties came to a resolution June 24th (it wasn't detailed). But there are big issues at play here.

We have already covered recession proof jobs and recession proof demographics, but now you can find recession proof cities to live in. Forbes has compiled a listing of the top ten cities to weather out a recession in. The study looked at 50 different metro areas in the U.S. and based the ranking on many factors including unemployment data, non farm job growth and median home prices. Forbes didn't just look at static data to determine these top cities, they also looked at projections based on a November 2007 study regarding metro areas and the current economy adding more value to the list overall.

Just because these ten cities from San Jose to Raleigh are predicted to weather a recession well, doesn't mean you should call up U-Haul and plan you move just yet. If you are already settled down in a city with a job and your house isn't going into foreclosure anytime soon the move may be more trouble than it is worth. On the other hand if you are looking for a fresh start or you just graduated these cities might be the best places to focus your search for a slice of the American dream.

If we were going to pick up and head to any of these metro areas to get through the recession it would definitely be San Antonio. Not only is it a spectacular city, the housing market is doing well and it has good employment numbers. The biggest downside to picking up and moving to a recession proof city is that you will likely be paying more for a house in the strong local market and taking a hit trying to unload your current home in small-town USA.

The next time you go on a job interview, you might want to start out by checking the bathroom.

When considering a job, most people focus on their pay, benefits, and retirement plan. They consider the personalities of their prospective employers, how well they click with the other employees, and the work that they'll be doing. However, according to a recent survey by Blumberg Capital Partners, office environment is a major influence on almost every aspect of employment.

For example, 69% stated that the condition of their office affects their productivity and motivation, and 80% stated that the condition of the office affects how they view their employers. This perception not only affects the quality of work, but can also affect how long an employee stays at a job. Some 33% of workers claim to have accepted or left a job based on "the condition of the building and/or the amenities offered."

Raising children can be a challenge. It can be an even bigger challenge in a single income household. But perhaps the biggest challenge to successfully raising children is when one parent is required to do it alone. Aside from all the regular chores and details of child rearing there is one important question which must always be considered by families and single parents alike; Where is the money going to come from?

I'm very lucky in the fact that while my wife is a stay at home mom, something I consider a personal luxury for me, she's a very industrious woman and has never lacked personal drive. She has always been able to contribute to our financial health while at home wearing the badge of mom. However, she has me around for backup and she has found various income opportunities which haven't required her to meet an employer's arbitrary schedule. The situation is quite different when there is just one parent in the home. What exactly can single parents do to provide financial stability for their household? How do they cope? Where can they go?

A recent article by Forbes provides some employment suggestions for single parents. It highlighted some flexible career options, including sales, real estate, and health care. I'd like to expand on some of those suggestions and add a few of my own. Please don't consider any of these ideas to be gender specific. I believe that these ideas apply to single dads as well as single moms. After all, we all have to buy groceries to buy.

Blogs are becoming a must-have outlet for advertisers and, with that development, recreational bloggers with an interesting message are finding themselves earning pretty impressive paydays on a part-time basis.

Easy to use advertising systems like Google AdSense are allowing people to set up a blog with advertising in just a few minutes. Create high-quality content that pops up in prominent searches and gets linked on more prominent blogs, and you could be well on your way to a substantial supplementary income. Best of all, you need almost no technical expertise and, with sites like BlogSpot and WordPress hosting blogs for free, you don't need any capital either.

If you overextended yourself financially this holiday season and are looking for a low-risk business venture to try to add some extra income this year, don't try multi-level marketing. Try blogging!

A couple books that might help you get started if you have a hobby or other interest that you think could make a compelling blog: Start Your Own Blogging Business and Blogging For Dummies.

More from WalletPop!

Anya Kamenetz has written an excellent series dedicated to answering the question: "Is college worth the cost?": Read part 1 and part 2, which delves into the issue of graduate school.

Kamenetz gives a great overview of the issues and parrots the oft-cited statistic that people with bachelor's degrees still earn an average of about $1.2 million more than high school graduates over a 40-year career.

Here's the problem. Think about the college graduates you know and compare them to the non-college graduates. On average, is the fact that one has a diploma and the other doesn't the biggest difference? I would argue that college graduates are, on average, smarter, more ambitious, and more focused than their peers. That has nothing to do with the fact that they went to college.