Unemployed? Join the Club

You were laid off. You were fired. You are "taking a break" from the working world. You are temporarily retired.

There are countless euphemisms for unemployment these days. Regardless of how you decide to explain your situation to your inquisitive friends and family, you do not have a job. And let's face it: As much as you moan and groan about grumpy bosses, demanding deadlines and late nights at the office, jobs are an essential part of life.

Here are just a few ways that your unemployment stint can be kept to a minimum as painlessly as possible:

Tell Everyone
Your great-aunt Sally may not at first seem to be a valid source of networking. But don't forget that Sally knows people who know people who know people, etc. It's a small world out there, and your solution to unemployment may very well come along from simply telling your friends and family (and their acquaintances while you're at it!) that you're searching for a job.

Now, how does one go about doing that? Take to your social networking sites, and you may have more connections than you think. Update your status asking for anyone with contacts in your town and/or in your field to get in touch with you. Take advantage of large family/friend/social gatherings to talk to anyone and everyone; no need to shop around your resume, but if the topic comes up in conversation, inquire within.

Most important, get in touch with your professional contacts, including previous employers with whom you still speak.

Look Everywhere
There are countless Web sites out there, and that equals countless opportunities: It's just a matter of finding the right ones for you! Identify Web sites specifically for your industry that post job listings; frequent the Web sites of the target companies for which you'd like to work. Try and apply to at least one job per day in which you are qualified and interested. The latter part of that idea is the most important, as you do not want to submit your resume to companies and job postings that are not suitable for you. It's a waste of your time, and the companies' time.

Be Flexible
If you liked your last job, you may find yourself falling into a pit in which many unemployed people find themselves: looking for a job identical to the last. True, it's possible you may find it, but it's more probable that you will not. Accepting that your next job will not be a clone of your previous one is an important step in your job search. Be open to anything and everything in which you are skilled, and you will find that the probability of finding a job drastically begins to improve.

If you loathed your last job, remind yourself that it is equally as important to discover what you do not like/do not want to do as discovering its counterpart. Ensure that, if possible, these learnings are also incorporated into your job search to (hopefully) have a positive experience this time around.