My favorite search engine is everyone else's favorite, too

Alison Doyle reveals that my favorite search engine has leaped ahead of the pack in her article, "Indeed tops the job charts."

You can try it out on the Resources page of this Web site.

The thing I like best about it is that it does all of the work for me. Say I'm looking for a sales position in Minneapolis and Sioux Falls, SD. I fill in that information (zip code(s) and position), and Indeed will email me the results of that search every day.

Beware of firms asking big bucksfor job search assistance

Even - maybe especially - in times of economic uncertainty, predators abound. This recent New York Times story gives some clues about who they are - and aren't. Be sure to look through the reader comments. The article author recommends using resume services and career coaches.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/us/17career.html?_r=1

Alumni Contacts Aid Job Search

Here's a resource we don't always remember if we're out of college more than a few years:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/fashion/02alumni.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2

Create Your Online Business Card

At Business Card 2, you create your own business card, a quick and easy profile you can send, link to, or display on a site. Here's mine:

http://workwritecareercoach.businesscard2.com/

Create a job search tool by promoting your skills and accomplishments on your Business Card 2.
Start here:

http://businesscard2.com

Looking for the lies

Here's the real "Lie to Me" guy: http://www.paulekman.com/. I'm fascinated with the idea of seeing these microexpressions. The short and sweet training is only $20. Check it out.

Only the Employed Need Apply

White Chocolate Grill

Bobby Fitzgerald prefers to hire
the already employed even though
he gets two dozen or more unsolicited
résumés each day at his White Chocolate Grill.

With unemployment at 9.4% and rising, it’s a buyer’s market for employers that are hiring.

Dana Mattoli at Wall Street Journal Careers talked with some of the many employers who are bypassing the jobless to target those still working, reasoning that these survivors are the top performers.

Even a recruiter said many of his clients would rather look at "passive candidates," those not actively seeking a job because they have one already.

This practice assumes that hanging onto a job assures one's quality, aptitude, and leadership. I disagree heartily. Most of us can think of the person who was still in the office after 25 lame, unproductive, and in most cases whining, years. We don't know why they're still there. Do they have something on the boss, we speculate?

Probably not. They just forgot -- or refused -- to stay home when they quit. And someone else didn't notice.

On the other hand, I've known and worked with plenty of energized, engaged, and productive people who have had departments disappear beneath their feet, a job description change, or a merger move their job to St. Louis.

No, not all the best people are working, and not all of those unemployed are second stringers.

You can contribute to Millennials employment survey

A researcher who is concerned about the very high rate of unemployment among the Millennials (17.8%) is looking for people to contribute to her research.

Consultant Stacey Randall is conducting original research called "The Impact of the Recession on the Millennial Generation." She is looking for people under 30 who were laid off in 2008 or 2009.

The impact she is researching carries some alarming statistics:

• Unemployment among young Americans is nearly 9 points higher than the national average.
• Two-thirds of college students graduate with over $20,000 in debt, twice as much as a decade ago.

If you are or know of a Millennial who has been laid off since January 2008, please visit www.surveymonkey.com/recessionsurvey.