Turn Off NPR And Start Drinking Diet Coke!

Step 1:
As much as the media would like you to believe, the sky is not actually falling. This is not a sci fi movie where a giant tsunami of big mean Wall Street bankers is going to overtake the city and we're all going to be living under a bridge for the next 10 years because we cant get a job! Believe me, I know it's hard to realize that is not true, especially with all the newspapers, talk shows, and talking heads on CNN and the radio, telling you otherwise. You see, happiness and success don't sell papers. War and unemployment does. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that it's not bad out there. It is and mighty bad at that. However, it's easy to get crippled by what you hear. People are struggling and jobs are not easy to find.....but there are jobs out there. Fortune Magazine recently posted an article talking about the top 20 companies to work for and that they have a combined 88,000 job openings! See article: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/fortune/1001/gallery.bestcompanies_mosthiring.fortune/index.html
The number of people applying for unemployment fell for the first time in months. Congress passed a sweeping unemployment insurance initiative last week. But again......these facts don't sell papers.

I was telling my "friend in the Niagara Falls area" the other day (that's code for my shrink) that it's really bad out there and that there is no point in looking for a job and his response was simple and to the point: "Turn off NPR, relax, and sit and have a diet Coke". What he meant was, stop listening to all the negativity out there and instead, relax and find your center. Once you've done this, you will be in a much better place to start looking for your next exciting career. You see, when we look for a job, or pretty much anything for that matter, in a state of fear and uncertainty, we usually don't make the best choices. Back in the days when we were happily employed and the opportunity came up for a new job at a new company, we would have sat back and thought about things like: "will this job satisfy my creative needs?" or "will this new role move my career in the direction I want to go and be in 5 years?". However, when you are unemployed and looking for a job, the inner conversation usually goes something more like, "will this job save me from the potential of ending up eating cat food for dinner and living in a 5 story walk up next to Newark International Airport?" DISCLAIMER: To all my devote and loving New Jersey fans, please do not take offense to anything derogatory about the great state of New Jersey, or the other 4 New York City boroughs for that matter. It is all meant in good fun and besides, you poor schmucks should be used to the ridicule by now anyways, so man up and get over it!

Now where was I? Oh yes, cat food and Jersey. You see, the point is that you have to remember that your next job should be one that you really want and not just one that you have to take. Unless of course, you enjoy going through this whole process year after year and then in that case, please move to the Bronx and stop reading my posts because I cannot help you! So until Monday, sit back, turn off the TV and just drink a diet Coke and relax. We have plenty of years to worry and be stressed. See you on Monday.

Job Juice