Short-span bridges. Temporary hires provided by staffing companies are surging -- up 34,000 last month. Reason: More temporary help is being sought in this downturn until the commitment to hire full-time employees no longer gives employers sleepless nights. The temps are well positioned to transition to future regular status. Demand is reported to be highest in technology, customer service and tax accounting.
Specialist Sources. Specialty (niche) job boards focus on specific occupations. You can use occupational terms to search for relevant boards, such as accounting job boards or public relations job boards. You can also use aggregators Indeed.com and SimplyHired.com.
New Job Boards. Direct Employers, a nonprofit recruiting organization of large employers, has launched what may well mushroom into many thousands of new, geographically and occupationally focused job boards. All share a .jobs extension -- Atlanta.jobs and Boston.jobs, for example. Check out this development at the organization's site, jobcentral.com.
Super interviewing. From appearance to knowledge to mannerisms, interviews demand mastery of a set of skills -- skills that reflect fixation on the needs of the employer, not on yourself. Research about the company and its people, bolstered by robust interviewing practice, is what separates the new hires from the disappointed. If you still don't get the job because someone's cousin did, at least you won't be kicking yourself for lick-and-promise preparation.
Holiday hunting. Keep jingling those job-search bells throughout the merrymaking months. Between holiday parties and high-intensity networking, you may discover 2010 staffing plans and meet managers who could hire you next year. And don't forget seasonal jobs -- using search terms such as "Christmas tree," "Santa," "delivery," "gift wrapping" and "retailing." Hiring is slow, but keep trying. Check leads in this paper's help-wanted ads and online at Juju.com.