"Don't You Forget About Me"

The never-ending quest to network led me to think of this song. I'm dedicating this one to all my contacts - family, classmates, former supervisors, and complete strangers who I've emailed in hopes of getting closer to the Holy Grail (I think from now on I'm going to go with this reference instead of a job. It sounds so much more dramatic). 

My aunt must be so happy about The Breakfast Club reference right now. Anyway, I'm wondering how I can stay on people's radar without feeling like I'm bombarding them. Hopefully this video will help. A friend told me that it's useless to apply for jobs without knowing someone in the organization. Yet, since I am a glutton for punishment, I keep doing it...applying to jobs in Nashville (I've never even been to Tennessee) and South Carolina. 

It's hard to keep sending out applications...I feel like they are going off to a black hole that is sucking not only my resume and cover letter but my soul. I applied for my first job in October (of 2008) and I'm guessing I've applied to about 40 or more at this point. Still low, I know, but it seems like a lot. I was curious about some labor statistics my friend Preston had mentioned yesterday, so I checked out the Bureau of Labor Statistics to see if I could a. verify his information (woo journalism degree!) and b. see what are the trends in employment. Here's what I found:

• Since the recession started in December 2007, 5.7 million jobs have been lost.
• From April 2008 to April 2009, unemployment has almost doubled.
• Wyoming and the Dakotas have unemployment rates of about 4 percent, half the national average of 8.9 percent.
• The more education, the less unemployment: high school, no college rate - 9.3; some college - 7.4; bachelor's or higher (so including doctoral, masters, and professional degrees) 4.4. In the third group, the employment-population ratio was 74.4 percent. 

So things to take away: move to Wyoming, or realize that my college degree isn't as useless as it's proving to be right now. Unemployment numbers for May come out June 5.

Right now I'm also trying to work on developing a tracking system for the jobs to which I've applied so I can monitor my follow-up better. Even though a lot of places I've applied to say "no phone calls please" I'm going to find a way to make contact with some human in these organizations!