The #1 best way to get a job in today's economy. I first thought, are there really any jobs out there? If so, who's getting these jobs? It's sure not me or any of the other 6 unemployed people I know. And yes we've taken the Trade School approach to go back to school. We've completed courses from becoming a medical assistance to pharmacy tech.

We have put in application and resumes by the dozen. We e-mail them to employers, but we never seem to get a call back from the company. I sometimes joke, "Oh I know my resume fell into that same dark tunnel that my socks fall into when I put them in the dryer".

Do the temporary employment agencies help? Every employment agency in town has my resume. I call them to let them know I'm available. They call back just to get my hopes up and say they are sending my resume to a company and am I interested in the position. Really, that's the only reason they have my number in the first place"I NEED A JOB". The agency makes it a common practice to call back and say the Company whose name shall remain anonymous decided to go with someone with more experience. Seems to me if another person had more experience, then they would have been listed as over qualified, like I was last week when the agency called.

So, this is what I figured out. Because no one wants you to walk in any more with resume in hand, and the online (resume monster) never seems to come across my resume. I have decided to : 1. Study the companies job description they have listed and arrange my resume accordingly 2. Submit my resume online. 3. Dress to impress (business attire) and visit the job.

Walk into the Human Resource Dept. of the job you would like to work for (where you just submitted your resume) ask to use their system to upload your resume because I've already submitted one a few weeks ago and didn't get a response; not even a rejection. If yes, be very cordial, obtain and remember as many current employees names as possible. Make small talk, ask how long have they worked there and how long it took to get a response (all in all make friends). Get an e-mail address if possible, ask to keep in touch every other week to see if someone new came in or if another position will open soon( if someone is thinking about retiring soon,going back to school or going out on maternity leave etc.). If no, ask to speak to the supervisor and smile and ask if there's a position open to answer daily correspondence i.e. RESUMES? State with confidence: I know you must get a lot of resumes and to keep your current work flow moving forward I can handle daily correspondence for you. If automated state: I can track the resume statistics on Excel to keep the company from getting negative publicity for not responding to each resume. Let the supervisor know you will be happy to take the position posted or the one so desperately needed. Politely as possible don't take no for an answer. Try it; it'll work for you too.