Author: Brigitte Yuille, Blogger

Desolate shops have been among the reality calls emphasizing the depth of this recession, I've often felt. I can only imagine how scenes of empty stores and posted eviction notices on storefronts have impacted a struggling business owner. However, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out in a recent report, some small business owners are quietly taking on second jobs to bring in extra money and to keep their businesses afloat. They are making connections with people in their network.

Nearly twenty percent of the owners surveyed by the American Express Open Small Business Monitor said they were hunting for an additional job. Some owners have admitted to even nixing their salary in order to pay business expenses.

Many of you are happy with your job, but it appears some of you are a little antsy to move on to another work opportunity. Surveys from the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Adecco offer insight into some of your intentions.

The SHRM's 2009 Job Satisfaction Survey found that 86 percent of employees were satisfied overall with their current position. Forty one percent indicated they were very satisfied. 58 percent stated the economic climate didn't impact their level of satisfaction. Respondents who worked at organizations that had been "somewhat" affected by this climate were more satisfied overall than those who'd been greatly impacted. However, many of those surveyed weren't too happy with their pay. The survey showed that nearly three out of 10 employees were satisfied with their compensation. That might be among the reasons why employers could see what Adecco calls an upcoming "unprecedented exodus" of talented employees.

Bags of unwashed clothes dumped beside the washing machine. Strangers in your freshly cleaned living room propped up on your couch and crowded around your TV. Congratulations, not only did your daughter and son graduate from college, but now they have comfortably situated themselves back into your house. Now, they must wade their way through a questionable job market.

To help move them out of the house, I mean, move things along, would you ask your boss about possible positions at your company?

Have you ever touched a person on their arm and seen them flinch? You probably weren't aware that a few moments earlier the person bruised that arm when bumping into a bookshelf. You'll often see a similar type of flinch when you ask a friend or an associate about their job status and they tell you they've been laid-off. The unemployed are bruised, and many become depressed. The feel like they are alone, even though the employment numbers tell them they aren't. That's why many new community groups are popping up to cater to the emotional needs of newly unemployed. These groups offer solace, advice, and camaraderie.

Joining groups like these while job searching is a great idea because you learn the struggles you're facing are similar to what others are experiencing. Plus, these groups provide you with the opportunity to vent frustrations about your job search. So, don't knock the idea of attending a support group until you take a closer look at what's really occurring and how you might benefit.

Many people are looking to make a fresh start these days.

So here's a question: How much would the salary have to be in order for you to uproot and move to a new location for a job?

WomenCo., an online community for professional women, wants you to take some precautions when chasing that great salary because although the paycheck may be good, the city may have rent that's out of control or rising unemployment.

Its staff decided to dig through some facts and figures regarding growth rates, average salaries and costs of living to determine the top 25 cities that offer the most value in 2009. Bookmark the survey as you debate your decision to move. But also know that even in this survey Texas continues to come out on top.

A recent job fair in Orlando left many job seekers shocked. I learned through some recent college graduates who attended, their efforts to arrive early before a presumed mass of competitive and hungry job -seekers was unnecessary. The doors opened at the University of Central Florida's arena Thursday with only a few dozen people slipping through the doorway rather than the 100s some students had expected from the television reports they had seen. A couple was surprised that after their wait a small percent of employers were still setting up their tables. The unpreparedness caused one job-seeker to steer clear of the employer because "it was like having no product on the shelf," she told me. Despite these few surprises, those I've talked with felt they had a good advantage over other students who hadn't attended.

My mother was a librarian and had an insatiable love for books. Book shelves were crammed, and piles of books accumulated in her favorite resting spots around our home. She'd take me to her job when I was a kid and I would sit in silence surrounded by books. There was no escape.

So, I couldn't help but notice how more patrons are visiting libraries these days. Over the past year, I've read how people are shifting from buying tickets at local movie theaters to checking out DVDs at their local libraries.

The thought of taking career achievements off of a resume is unsettling for some people, but others have actually taken this step in order to land a job.

It has been a month, and a friend of mine, who has traveled the globe for her career in international marketing, is still livid by a headhunter's recommendation to "dumb it down." The headhunter told her, 'in this type of economy it may be best that you take the MBA off your resume." My friend's response, "I'm not taking that off. I worked too hard."

My boyfriend recently told me that his friend, who was recently laid off among a group of 25 people, is having problems finding job leads in medical staffing. Like so many others who are unemployed, his friend doesn't know what to do while he waits for opportunities in the job market.

I've learned that it's possible to build your resume while you are out of work. A CNN segment I watched described how you can build your resume while unemployed. One of the tips it gave was to join volunteer organizations and professional organizations to build upon the skills that you have learned or to adopt new skills.

I attended a conference recently and came across a young woman stressed and overwhelmed.

She had her dream job at a high-profile company. Her job responsibilities required her to fly at a moment's notice to places around the world for business meetings. The problem: she's a single mother working during one of the nation's worst recessions at job where her position could be replaced by someone hungrier and more available. She was also aware that the company was taking a close look at reducing its work force.

She expressed the guilt she felt for the time she had spent away from her child and unease of continuously calling on family members for help.