Not convinced that some companies are hiring? Here are some interesting stats on current advertised positions:

Advertised Openings

J.C. Penny – 7,214
AT&T – 4,168
JPMorgan Chase – 3,677
Comcast – 2,080
Hilton – 1,931

You can also catch the Fox Business News interview with Indeed CEO Paul Forster, here.

Bringing your child to work is a great idea, but obviously common sense needs to prevail. I don’t want to see my doctor’s kid in the examination room or a child sitting on his dad’s lap while he’s driving an 18-wheeler alongside me on a highway. And a kid in the air traffic control tower? Please, I have enough anxiety flying when the adults are the ones calling the shots.

Yet according to a 2010 study by the Society of Human Resources Management, 47 percent of companies currently conduct pre-employment credit checks on some candidates and 13 percent conduct them on all candidates. According to the suvey, credit checks may be performed to reduce or prevent theft or embezzlement, to minimize legal liability for negligent hiring or retention, to assess overall trustworthiness of job candidates, or to comply with state laws.

What do you think? Is a job applicant’s credit score a relevant indicator of how they will perform on the job?

Eat. No, I’m not talking about pity eating and downing a bag of chips and a pint of ice cream in front of the TV. But meeting a friend for coffee, a drink, or lunch is a great way to combine something pleasant and fun with some power networking.
Write. Journaling is a great way to record how you are feeling during your search and examine the trends that could be indicators of what is working in your search and what is not. Some even turn their journals into blogs to create a following and make new friends and contacts as they chronicle their unemployment experience.
Study. Did you know that The Department of Labor funds job training programs? You may qualify for training in a specific skill or funding to return to school to complete a degree program. Going back to school can be fun.
Volunteer. Find a cause you are passionate about and volunteer for a role that allows you to create visibility in front of the decision makers in this volunteer community. You never know who these people may know and what types of introductions they may be able to make for you. And volunteering helps you feel needed and reminds you of all you have to be grateful for.
Exercise. Aerobic conditioning and weight workouts can help you feel better and burn calories more efficiently during the day. Pilates can help reduce the muscle aches often associated with hours of sitting at a desk hunched over a computer, and many people find that a regular yoga practice is a great way to reduce stress.
Do Someone a Favor. When you were working you probably didn’t have the time to watch someone else’s kids or pet or help someone with a home improvement project. Now that you have some free time, offer to help make someone’s life easier. Your efforts will be remembered and that help may be reciprocated in the form of an important introduction or job lead.
Primp and Pamper. This is not an indulgence. The little details like your hair and nails count during a job search. And it can be rejuvenating to get a new hairstyle or experiment with a new nail color.
Shop. I’m not suggesting a totally new wardrobe. But a new scarf, tie, hair piece, or handkerchief can change up the interview suit you are tired of wearing and give you a renewed sense of confidence.
Read. Books by Harvey Mackay and Keith Ferrazi have provided inspiration for millions of job seekers over the years. Check out some of their titles at your local library.
Reconnect. Get over your concerns about reconnecting with past colleagues and friends. Social media tools like LinkedIn and Facebook have made it fun, easy (and less creepy) to get back in touch with people from your past. Rekindle past relationships and you are bound to find a friend or two that can help you with some aspect of your search.

Be sure to also check out the advice of my esteemed colleagues below.

@MartinBuckland, Job Search Made Positive

@GayleHoward, Job Search: When It All Turns Sour

@chandlee, Strategy for Getting “Unstuck” and Feeling Better: Watch Lemonade

@heathermundell, Help for the Job Search Blues

@heatherhuhman, 10 Ways to Turn You Job Search Frown Upside-Down

@KCCareerCoach, You Can Beat the Job Search Blues: 5 + 3 Tips to Get Re-Energized

@WalterAkana, Light at the End of the Tunnel

@resumeservice, Don’t Sweat the Job Search

@careersherpa, Mind Over Matter: Moving Your Stalled Search Forward

@WorkWithIllness, Finding Opportunity in Quicksand

@KatCareerGal, Job-Hunting in a Weak Job Market: 5 Strategies for Staying Upbeat (and Improving Your Chances of Success)

@ErinKennedyCPRW, Dancing in the Rain–Kicking the Job Search Blues

@keppie_careers, What do do when you are discouraged with your job search

@DawnBugni, It’s the little things

@ValueIntoWords, Restoring Your Joy in Job Search

Sitcom Writer to Health Care Healer

Banking Professional to Adult Day Care Owner

Economics Teacher to Financial Advisor

IT Engineer to Stand Up Comic

All of these people had guts, drive, patience, commitment, and hope. What about you? What’s your dream job and what’s holding you back?

What if job seekers could adopt this Olympic-winner attitude and create internal “tapes” to motivate them and move past their challenges? Perhaps then the setbacks they face would seem manageable and the hope would stay alive. Here are some positive messages job seekers should be sending themselves on a regular basis.

1. I will maintain a healthy life style so I can manage my search at an optimal performance level.
2. I will challenge myself to reach out to new people who may be able to help me with my search.
3. I will accept the help of friends and family during this difficult time even if it makes me a bit uncomfortable.
4. I will seek out coaches and mentors who can help me move closer to my goal.
5. I will put in the time necessary to research potential employers and market myself directly to them.
6. I will examine my resume and other personal marketing collateral to make sure they are the best they can be.
7. I will celebrate the victory of landing an interview, even if I don’t ultimately get the job.
8. I will not blame external factors for my situation.
9. I will be a good team member and support others in their job search when I can.
10. I will regularly envision the end goal of landing my new job.

Some days it’s hard for an athlete to muster up the motivation for the grueling training session ahead of him. Likewise,  some days it’s hard for a job seeker to stay motivated in a challenging market. Positive self-talk can help. So does keeping your eye on the gold. Let the games begin!

But when my Mom had plastic slipcovers it was all the rage and many of my friends tell stories of “growing up plastic” as well. Of course now when we think about plastic slipcovers we immediately conjure up a “dated” image.

We moved on from the plastic slipcovers some time in the mid 70’s when they began to lose their “avant garde” appeal. It’s easy to figure out that your furniture is dated because you have to look at it every day and you are constantly comparing it to other people’s furniture and the trends you see on the Internet, television, and magazines.

But what about your resume? Many people don’t look at their resume or update it for years and years because they don’t feel they have a need to. And when they do need their resume for something, what do they do? Pull out the old one and just add the new job. No redecorating here…

So what people end up with is basically the same resume they wrote 20 years ago and have been “suffering with” ever since. ..kind of like outdated plastic slipcovers.

Here are some  of the telltale signs that your resume needs to be “redecorated”

1. Your resume leads with an objective. No one wants to see an objective on a resume anymore. They communicate what you are looking for which isn’t of much interest to a hiring manager. Hiring authorities want to know what’s in it for them…do you have the competencies and the proof of performance to help solve their business problems. Create a profile or executive summary outlining your big picture accomplishments and the value you can bring to an employer instead and leave the objective off the resume and in the past where it belongs.
2. Your contact information includes your fax number. Nothing screams the 80s like a fax number. Chances are no employer will need to contact you by fax. Leave the fax number off the resume or better yet, use that space to include your LinkedIn vanity URL.
3. Your dates of employment are all left justified. Having dates of employment to the left made sense in the days of the typewriter when tabs were the only way to indent content. Thanks to Microsoft Word, text is much more maleable and space can be better utilized. Place employment dates after the company name or to the right to optimize space and save room for other important content.
4. The font on your resume is Courier 10. Courier 10 was all there was when all documents were created on typewriters. Now we have scores of choices. Pick something else.
5. Your resume contains several personal attributes to describe you. If you are using adjectives on your resume such as loyal, detail-oriented, good communicator, or hard-working to describe your value to an employer, stop. Descriptions of personal attributes are meaningless unless there is tangible proof of these traits within the body of the resume. Their use is very old-school and my guess is you copied those words from someone else’s outdated resume or from a book of resume samples that was published during Clinton’s first administration.
6. Your resume states that references are available upon request. Well, they used to be. Now many hiring managers Google candidates before they call them in for an interview. So frequently your references are available online whether you want them to be or not. Ditch the statement about references and save the space for something more important.

There are furniture trends, fashion trends, and even resume writing trends. Be hip and stay informed of the latest resume writing styles and tips to increase the likelihood of getting noticed by hiring managers.

What I like about the show is that it exposes the faces behind the unemployed and reminds us that each “statistic” is actually a person. Everyone can relate to the struggles of the job seekers but at the same time draw hope and inspiration from their messages. Viewers get to see where job seekers are making mistakes in their search strategy and the show’s experts offer advice on how to optimize your job search time.

The other reason I really like this show is that it makes me proud to be a New Yorker. The first episode profiled SIBL (The Science and Business Library) which in my opinion is one of the best resources for job seekers in all of New York City. SIBL offers access to several proprietary company databases including Vault and Wet Feet, classes to teach patrons how to use the databases,  job search coaching sessions from career professionals,  job search clubs, advice from retired executives on how to start a small business, and workshops on various job search related topics…all for free. The show, launched by New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg,  is just one example of what the mayor is trying to do to help New Yorkers find employment. Under his leadership the city also launched CareerLinkNYC to provide job seekers with additional online resources.

No one gets a modeling contract or a feature piece in Food & Wine Magazine on this show. But some of the job seekers profiled do get jobs and in my book that’s perhaps the sweetest victory or all.

1. Tell me a bit about yourself and what the inspiration for Career Comeback was.
It’s based on my own experience of successfully finding full time work in this economy, in my late 40’s. I’d been a multi-media journalist for more than 25 years and was freelancing, but found that most of the good positions were going to the young, nubile and “experience-free.” I live in Los Angeles, mind you, where no one even looks at you if you’re over 23 and under 36DD. My new husband noted my frustration, and asked to see the resumes I was sending out. We decided that I needed a complete “Career Makeover” that would involve removing the age lines from my resume, rabid social networking, and branding myself to give a fresh, hip, ageless impression. The new resume got immediate response (offers for interviews within 15 minutes of sending it out, I sold the self-promotional website I started within two months of launching it, and I received multiple full-time job offers. My efforts were so successful the Wall Street Journal decided to do a feature on me and my search strategy.  At that point my literary agent said, “Write a book on this…yesterday!” So I spent the next eight months researching, writing and interviewing and, voila! Career Comeback was born.

2. What is Career Comeback about and who should be reading it?
Career Comeback was written specifically for women over 35, but I’m getting a lot of feedback from men and people of all ages who say it’s very helpful. There’s a really useful chapter in the book called “Know Your Competition” about the perceived professional strengths and weaknesses of Gen Y, Gen X and Baby Boomers. You can nip those negative stereotypes in the bud if you know what people expect of you. The book is full of tips and strategies for helping you get the job of your dreams, even in this tough economy. Personal branding and social networking are essential, and the book is sort of a primer on both.

3. In the book you advocate for Botoxing your resume. What does that mean?
Botoxing your resume means firming and freshening — removing the age lines that make you look old on paper. It involves deleting any outdated skills, and getting rid of experience that doesn’t pertain to the types of jobs you’re applying for today. It also means forgoing large blocks of type in favor of bulleted highlights (looks more vibrant, less stodgy), and using a web address  to immediately show that you’re web savvy enough to have your own blog or website.

4. What are your tips for looking the part in an interview?
Women should wear a skirt if at all possible, simply because it sets them apart from every other applicant wearing pants. A comfy pair of power heels are also a good choice for women, because they give you confidence. Both men and women should go for at least one pop of bright, cheery color — men can use it in their ties, of in their shirts if not too bright. Women can use color in blouses or accessories — again, you want to be memorable. Avoid too much gray, cream or khaki (boring); too much black (formal and/or depressing) and big, bold, bright prints (you don’t want potential employers to be so overwhelmed by your clothes they forget about who’s wearing them).

5. How do you suggest people leverage social media during a job search?
Brand yourself online, then use social media to publicize that brand. Have a fabulous, vital picture taken of yourself, and use it on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and any other pertinent social networking sites. Every time you post anything, ask yourself these two questions: How will this benefit others? How will this further define my brand? If you use social networking sites for fun and recreation, set up separate pages for your job search. There are so many millions of messages being sent out every second these days, that the only ones that will catch people’s attentions are ones that answer the question, “What’s in it for me?”

6. What are your top 5 tips for successful interviewing?
1. Be prepared: Do your homework on the company and, if possible, the individual conducting the interview. Then layout your interview outfit several days in advance, so you’ll have plenty of time if you need to get anything dry-cleaned or purchase something new.

2. Dress appropriately. If you can’t visit the site and see how people dress there ahead of time, call HR and ask what’s appropriate. If you over dress, you look like you’re trying to hard. If you under dress, you look like you’re not trying hard enough

3. Emphasize WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THEM–what you will contribute, what feats you will help them achieve. NEVER talk about what they can do for you. Yourself, your assets, talents and skills all take a back seat to how you can help make the company better.

4. Listen! Instead of using the time the interviewer is talking to formulate your next answer, concentrate on their message. It’s okay if you pause briefly when the interviewer is done, to collect your thoughts. Do not try to fill in silences by over sharing personal information.

5. Exude confidence and positive energy. This comes out not only in your conversation, but in your posture, handshake, body language, etc. Never speak negatively of any former employer or work situation.

Lisa’s book is available at major bookstores and online at Amazon.

This became apparent to me twice this week for two different reasons. I’m currently reading the book Look Me in the Eye, a memoir by John Elder Robinson (brother of Running With Scissors author, Augusten Burroughs) about growing up and living with Asperger’s syndrome. Throughout the memoir, Robinson’s passion for what he does (he is a creative genius with savant-like engineering design skills) is obvious to the reader, but perhaps not to his supervisors who describe him as arrogant, not a team player, and a poor manager. As an Aspergian who often struggles with how to react in certain social situations, his passion for figuring out how things work was sometimes overshadowed by the fact that he relates to the world around him in a way that is different than others and often misinterpreted.

My second realization of how easy it can be to misinterpret or totally miss someone’s passion came during a conversation I had with a friend recently. He is in sales and his job is pretty stressful. He doesn’t earn a base salary and only makes money when he makes a sale. He’s basically on call seven days a week, people are always trying to get in touch with him at all hours of the day and night, and he needs to routinely deal with a lot of product defects, bureaucracy, and customers with unrealistic expectations. Needless to say, there are a lot of things that can go wrong and many things to complain about in his line of work. Yet the way he complains about all the uncertainty of what he does is also the telltale sign of how passionate he is about what he does. Now if you told him this he would probably roll his eyes or make a wisecrack like “Yeah, I guess I’m passionate about paying my rent” but I can tell that he is passionate about the satisfaction derived from working through all the problems, influencing customers, and ultimately closing the sale. But I’m not sure if he had a boss that person would recognize his style as passionate (luckily he is self-employed).

I would have to agree with Punk Rock HR blogger Laurie Reuttimann’s take on passion…that you own it, not your company, and organizations probably shouldn’t be trying to measure something that is really impossible to define in a consistent way.

Are you passionate about what you do in an offbeat, non-traditional, hard to measure way? I’d like to hear your story.