I have been unemployed for exactly 10 months today.  I am dangerously close to finishing my unemployment and I have zero job prospects.  I spend a majority of my time searching and applying to jobs.  The only time I hear back from any of them is when I get the 'we have decided to go in another direction' response.

I am an architect with just about 9 years of experience, and  I am in the middle of taking my licensing exam (which has been put on hold due to finances).  At this point I am looking for any work.  In the past few months I have been able to find a few part-time jobs, but they have only been seasonal.  I have attempted to get retail positions (floor, stock, sales), restaurants (server, hostess, cashier), office administrative and reception/secretary positions, as well as jobs where I am barely qualified, or not qualified at all.  At this point I am convinced that the only way I am going to get a job, even if it is cleaning bathrooms in a building, is by knowing someone on the inside or begging.  At this point I would clean toilets if it means I can pay my rent every month. 

Searching for a job is almost ridiculous.  Either the ad is a scam, they require a picture to make sure you fit their profile, or 200 other people have seen it and applied to it before I have finished reading the requirements.  

In the mean time, I have decided to go back to school to get my MBA.  Contrary to what the government thinks, going back to grad school does not at all affect my ability to get and hold a full-time job.  I have class 0-2 nights a week depending if the classes are online or not.  So I am unsure why it is if a person goes back to school they are unable to collect unemployment.  Classes can be taken pretty much anytime, anywhere.  We should not have to make a choice.

 My actual lay-off story is that the architecture firm I worked for started losing projects one by one as the construction market and loans started to freeze.  I actually lasted through the first 4 rounds of layoffs that had started 6 months before I was laid-off.  Since then the company has gone down the tubes and barely exists anymore.  I believe a lot of their problems stem from bad deals and over spending and then the economy came in and wiped them out.  Had they been more stable to begin with, then they may have had a chance.  However, what really erks me is how they decided to lay-off the last round, including me.  Who they kept: (a) a guy who was is making close to six figures but who doesn't know how to use any programs essential to architecture and therefore cannot do any work without relying on someone else, but they kept him because of his portfolio from the last company he worked with (b) a guy who is related to a business associate to the the head principle; this associate ultimately bailed out the company and is the reason why it vaguely exists today, (c) a woman who has a big chest and wears short skirts, yet is more concerned with her email and talking to her husband on the phone all day, (d) a neurotic guy who spends 6 of eight hours on the phone with his wife, and who would answer his cellphone during meetings and step out to talk to his wife, (e) a girl who is a hard worker and barely gets paid anything but they kept her for the color of her skin and so they could say they are diverse, (f) a guy who is obsessed with his facebook and his blog and who never completed a project in the 1 1/2 years I was there, (g) a guy who was best buds with the facebook blog guy, (h) the office manager that if she were to be let go, could go straight to the the city, clients and police with enough dirty secrets about the principles to put them under for good.

At first I was happy to be out of there because they were doomed to fail with, or without, the economy.  But I also thought I would have gotten a job by now.

Plague of the lack of jobs for the people has been the concern of every country as economic stability ,primarily, is at stake. It goes without saying that this global dilemma is both a communal and personal struggle. A country, or a particular city, whose economic state can not hold at least 50 percent of its human resources is in deep trouble, being a competitive state against other nation. Its currency drops. On a personal level, the one who does not contribute in his family earnings can be a liability. How many research papers have tried to uncover the solutions to this plight? Yet still, we hear and read stories of starving people, closing businesses, and third world countries clamoring for help.

Here are small ways but certainly big tips to utilize in fighting unemployment:

*Consult the Internet: There are various websites that offer run-down of job offers on your homeland and even overseas. Engage on blogging and other social networking as there are income generating activities which you could do. If you have the ability to write, try freelance writing. Others turn to web page design and other internet-related jobs. There are sites that look for people who could make research papers and the likes.

*Start your own business: Be an entrepreneur. Sell pastries or cookies if you are into baking. String beads or design clothes if your are a fashion buff. Start your own hardware store if you are up for something that is not seasonal. Some mount their own exhibits to market their artworks.

*Organize an event: Offer your services as a facilitator and events director. There are book launchings, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries to explore. Event organizing is a fast money track. This profession could even be better than a 9 to 6 work as you hold your own time and the commission and earnings could vary.

*Check on the nearby offices: Sometimes, you need not look for relatively far-flung areas to find your niche. Some research paper say that it only takes proper job haunting and strategy to land in a job you desire. Check your resume for update. Appear to be really apt for the job. Employers look for people whose passion are evident even at first sight.

Everyone have skills and abilities that are transferable to other fields. I believe that we all have the potential to be a hard worker and a persons of action. We should never give up that easy. Even though, some of you have just lost a job, that doesn't make you any less of a person. Just have faith that you could make it through. Call you friends and family for a little help. Be creative.

Recent generations are taught to get a job but they are not well versed on how to contribute to society through their work. This economic environment offers many opportunities for everyone to follow their hearts. Everyone should begin thinking about he important things in life if they feel unhappy about their job or they are not dong much with their work. The nice car, designer clothes or other junks doesn't mean a thing. Don't do it for money. Make a difference