Job Hunting Got You Down?

Are you a suited, booted, Don Draper-alike with the chiseled jawline of Superman and the business acumen of Donald Trump? Or do you sit in your pants regularly, emailing thousands of resumes and barely receiving even a polite rejection?

Chances are you’re the latter, and you’re in the same boat as thousands of others. The boat in question is called the HMS Jobseeker and, for many unfortunate people, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find safe port and disembark.

In December 2014, the US contained 8.7 million jobless. That’s 8.7 million people consigned to a lifetime of dreary daytime telly, budget meals with the nutritional worth of cardboard and a constant stream of unpaid bills.

It’s a terrifying set of circumstances to find yourself – but it’s not the time to give up.

Instead, it’s up to you to redouble your efforts and make the employment world take notice of your CV. But how?

Show them you mean business

For a start, a degree in your chosen field can help you edge forward in your chosen career path. And it doesn’t even have to be within a specific vocation. If you’ve got the thirst for business, for example, then a catch-all degree like a master in business administration could give you a solid grounding you can build on as a foundation for your career.

The media has been vicious towards college education in recent times, bemoaning high tuition fees and poor prospects.

However, there’s no questioning the inherent value of education, and a highly paid job will offset any debts you might accrue.

All the right friends

You might have seen them at parties – the type of people with more panache than a walking Versace collection. They breeze up to multimillionaires and nab a top job with a glimmer of their eyes and a joke about their new boss’s wife. Most of the time they don’t even walk – they glide.

A bit of vanity has never hurt a job hunter. After all, finding a good position is a grift – and the truly skilled grifters always have style.

Head to networking events, donning your finest interview garb, and make the most of your time to meet the right people and impress them with your confident attitude. You’ll soon be receiving emails from your new contacts telling you where positions are freeing up.

Game the net

The internet is hardly new but a surprising number of people still don’t harness it for their job hunt.

Set up a LinkedIn account (the premier business networking site) and big yourself up on your profile. Connect with the right people and you’ll find your job prospects will improve immensely. Soon, you might even be consigning your daytime telly marathons to the past.