You put off the temptation to sleep in since you have no place to get to on time and bounce out ready to get the job hunting ordeal behind you quick. Follow the same regimen, same actions just a different setting. Check emails, see what transpired with the blog overnight, breeze through the RSS feeds and get to work.

OK so what is work. Oh yeah, finding a job. Well the books say to network so that’s where I start. I start calling the contact base. It’s like talking to the battlefield survivors after a major skirmish. Yeah, I hear you and hope you find something quick, but, uh, no I don’t know of anything that’s out there right now. After an hour of this it gets through your thick skull that these people are scared to death. All you’re doing is reminding them of the impermanence of their jobs and if they know of something they are damn well going to keep it in reserve. Networking looks like it works better when things are booming.

So what now. OK let’s read the blogs a little more thoroughly, follow the links, get some ideas for posts. And that I did. Then I put up some posts I like, surfed a little more and started to feel really guilty. So on to the job sites.

I have no experience with trying to separate the bullshit from the real on those sites so most of the rest of the day was spent trying to figure out that game. The Web is a great invention but it’s also full of a bunch of aspiring Bernie Madoff’s.

By the end of the day it’s obvious that except for writing some good stuff, I have accomplished zip. Day two is going to have to be a lot more productive. A couple ideas are bouncing around but let me tell you this is no fun. Take it from me. Don’t quit your day job.

more: first job hunting blog