News of layoffs is happening daily, with the latest being Citigroup announcing 53,000 more job cuts and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. saying it will lay off thousands more. They join the 10.1 million Americans already unemployed, a 6.5% unemployment rate. At least they're getting a little notice before Christmas arrives.

Even if they saw it coming, getting laid off is a jolt. It not only means losing an income, but can also be at least a temporary loss of self-esteem. I was laid off on June 27 at a newspaper in the San Francisco Bay Area -- a paper where I had been an editor for 13 years, so I know first-hand what it's like to lose a job. It was the first time in my career that I had been without work.

While the shock and sleepless nights ended after a few weeks, it took a little longer for the sick feeling in my gut to go away. It was the feeling and constant worry about how to pay the bills and ensure my family can stay afloat and in our home. Some days I still have those fears, although a few part-time jobs have helped ease my mind as I look for full-time work.

My first job out of college, I was an office worker inside a movie studio near Hollywood, and as a 22-year-old who had just weeks before been a student at Indiana University, I was as excited as I could be. That said, my job was nothing particularly special or interesting. A chimpanzee could have done it -- or a chimpanzee with a driver's license, anyway. I drove to a few houses around Los Angeles, dropping off television scripts that I kept wishing I had written, but mostly, I did a lot of filing.

That is, for about a week. Then, when I had cleaned the office and organized the filing cabinet, it became clear that there wasn't a lot for me to do. I sharpened my boss's pencils and watered his plants. I washed out his coffee mug. It was 1992, and I had no computer to hide behind, and so I just wandered the office, trying to straighten things up. But everything was immaculate, and with the phone almost silent, I rarely even needed to answer the phone.

I was polishing a picture frame on the wall when my boss -- an assistant to one of the owners of the television production company, and so I was an assistant to an assistant -- came up to me and delivered the bad news: I was out of a job. Not because I was a bad employee. I simply wasn't a busy employee.

Strange jobs are probably common, but I had to laugh and wonder about job discrimination the other day when I came across an odd job description for the regular, everyday job of copy writer. The ad on Craigslist seemed straightforward enough, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a bit of discrimination.

A part-time, experienced channel editor/copywriter is needed for a social networking web site in San Francisco that focuses on hair loss lifestyle. Editors are needed in various categories, again, as they pertain to hair loss lifestyle. The categories include: Entertainment, travel, news and fashion (hats?).

Here's the part that caught my eye: "Preference given to those who live a hair loss lifestyle." So a bald writer will get preference over me, a man with a full head of hair? Is that fair? I understand that the company wants to hire someone who can best get their message across and knows what they're talking about, and as someone with a Don King type of hairdo if I let it grow for two months, I laughed out loud at the euphemism for being bald. But is putting that request in a job announcement akin to asking for writers who are white, female and have long, brunette hair?

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.

I recently handed in my 401(k) and health insurance, along with my corporate laptop, for a taste of the freelance lifestyle. This weekend I spent several hours happily trolling the aisles of Wordstock, a local celebration of writers and books, frequented (naturally) by writers galore. I was chatting with a friend who runs a quarterly magazine, offering ideas for one of her upcoming issues, when another freelance writer walked up. He, too, had recently left a "regular" job for the on-again, off-again world of freelancing.

"How's it going?" he wanted to know. "Great," I said, a little surprised at the realization. "I have too much work."

"Me too!" he said happily. "I've heard that a lot."

While it's certainly sad for workers who are offered the door in exchange for cheaper, less permanent freelancers, it's all good for those of us who have chosen this life with some deliberation. (Note to self: Always make the jump before everyone else figures it out!) We're here to fill in the blanks suffered by managers who have been forced to lay off so many employees that their work can no longer be accomplished by a dwindled staff, and those smaller companies seeking to expand without a lot of messy commitment in the way of payroll and benefits packages.

So it's a word to the wise: if you've been wishing to make the leap to freelancing, and not having the gumption, maybe now's the time. With a liberal administration coming into office, maybe you'll even get some relief on the health insurance front... at least, it's worth dreaming.

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.

Of the many things that I find overrated, the single most highly overrated item has to be the college grade point average (GPA). Yep, that two-digit number that we slave over for four years, carefully weighing which classes we can skip and which justify an all-nighter, is, in the long run, worth less than a meal in the student union. I suppose many of you are already up in arms because of my devaluation of a college GPA, but take a minute and write down your cumulative GPA. Then write down how many jobs you've gotten as a result of your GPA. Go ahead... I'll wait. If the sum of these two numbers is less than 6 then I'm sorry, but I believe my case is made.

I wouldn't expect you to take my opinion that college GPAs are overrated. A 2006 survey by Collegegrad.com found that only 6% of employers think that a job candidates GPA is the most important piece of information about an individual. The survey found that the interview and work experience were ranked higher than GPA when determining an applicant's aptitude.

Don't miss the rest of our series on Overrated people, places and things!

Still not convinced that your GPA isn't the most important asset you picked up in college? Maybe Jon Morrow's account of why he wishes he didn't get straight A's in college will help you better understand why your GPA doesn't count for that much. In his experience, employers were far more concerned with what he did in school overall than just how well he did in the classroom.

Even though your college GPA is overrated, that doesn't mean you should necessarily skip college or zonk out in the classroom. If anything, this should serve as a wake up call to get involved in leadership roles on campus or to take internships in your field to make yourself more marketable. Don't kill yourself for a 3.3 GPA by memorizing formulas and definitions; instead, spend more time focusing on how the lessons you learn in class relate to real life. These actions will make finding a job after graduation easier for you than for Joe Schmo 4.0 with no experience!