April 1, 2010

What a year it's been -- No foolin'!

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Today marks a full calendar year since I carved out my little cyberniche with this Hire Ground column. So far, I've posted more than 140 entries about interviewing tips, networking events, resume advice, development of interpersonal skills and some random thoughts about the state of the economy. My hope is that I've educated, inspired or at least entertained you during your job search.

Gosh, it's been a great year to search for a job, hasn't it? In honor of my first trip around the sun as the Hire Ground scribe, I wanted to take a look back at the top 10 most significant developments in the job-search world since I started this blog last April.

• America's unemployment rate plummets sharply when Steve Jobs announces that Apple is hiring for the development of his next mega projects, the iPed, iPid, iPud and Sometimes iPyd.
• President Obama declares the asking of the questions "What do you consider your greatest weakness?" and "Where do you see yourself in five years?" in job interviews to be in violation of the Geneva Conventions.
• Recession is exposed as an elaborate conspiracy by Starbucks and various wireless Internet service providers to move 10 percent more of the nation's workforce into coffee shops during weekdays.
• Internet security experts discover an "event horizon" in online job application systems beyond which no information can return. "Not even light can escape from these black holes," says one frustrated computer scientist.
• Layer of white sediment recently discovered in lunar craters turns out be made not of water ice but billions of compressed, discarded resumes.
• Free job fair event in Seattle yields big numbers: 10,457 handshakes, 8,821 business card handouts, 949 tweets, 683 Facebook updates, 0 job offers.
• Online social networking sites now outnumber U.S. population two to one, according to preliminary 2010 census figures. (Don't believe me? Do a Topeka search and find out.)
• Obama's new health care bill includes a little-known amendment that allows nationwide medical coverage for those who have gone comatose while on hold with automated unemployment information hotlines.
• Local job applicant injures himself after fainting from shock when he gets a personal call-back the day after he posts a job application and resume online.
• Seattle Times editors declare "Mission Accomplished" with Hire Ground, citing 100 percent employment in the region; switch blog's title to "Heir Ground," focusing on inheritance tax tips.

Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that ... Thanks to all my readers for sticking with me through thin and thinner over the last 12 months of our Great Jobless Recession. My hope is that in the coming year there will be a far greater need for posts about negotiating with hiring managers for generous perks than for managing stress and wrangling unemployment claims.

As always, please keep in touch with stories about your own job search activities, and let me know how I can keep improving Hire Ground's content.

Good luck and good hunting!

Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.

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humor, interviewing, market trends, networking, social media, unemployment

1 Comments

Sandy Jones-Kaminski on April 1, 2010 1:14 PM | Reply

Happy Anniversary Randy and congrats on a job VERY well done! Thanks for your support and all the great insights you've shared this year. Glad you're doing what you do.

Cheers,
Sandy Jones-Kaminski
www.belladomain.com

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