Need a Job? Have a Little Faith

You're scrambling in a sweaty frenzy. You just got the pink slip at work, and you don't know where you can go or to whom you can turn. Your work buddies have already tapped your shared professional network, so that route is spent. What do you do? Jobacle readers would know to check out the Master List of Unemployment and Layoff Sites. However, Michael Butler went to church.

In June 2008, Butler lost his job as a consultant. His first response was to join a free career workshop at a nearby church. The group met weekly and discussed job search topics like interviews, resumes, and networking. After getting this refresher course on the aspects of the modern-day job search, he connected to some old contacts and eventually landed another job.

Gerry Crispin, a career consulting firm owner, encourages workers to keep up network contacts even after landing a job. He says, "Are you ever 100% out of the market? Yeah when you're dead."

I think this is a fantastic story of someone making use of a free community resource to further his career goals and job search. Even if you are not a churchgoer, many communities have a supply of free resources that you can tap into. The federal government provides some interesting information. Students and alumni can make use of their college's career services office.

I am contemplating teaching a short career skills and job hunting course at a local organization, so this article was very timely for me. Even if you think your job is secure, it couldn't hurt to brush the dust off of your network, change out your old type-written resume, or practice a few interview questions in front of a mirror. With this economy, you never know what's coming. Just don’t steal information from your employer, it would kill your chances of ever getting rehired.

Do you have a particular career resource that you'd like to share? Drop a comment, shoot an email, or leave a voicemail. We would love to hear about it!