Don’t take your foot off the gas yet…

According to a report made by Reuters this morning, consumer confidence made the largest jump in 8 months and the labor market has showed signs of easing.  As business professionals, we all seem to be sharing stories that we're seeing the clouds of the recession starting to break and we're seeing a little bit of sun. 

It's been a long eight months and most of us are bruised, battered and looking for a break.  Although the recent weeks have shown signs of ease, we must not forget to keep our heads in the fight.  The unemployment rate has declined in 21 states over the past month but they are still some of the highest numbers states have seen in years.  We have heard more success stories recently of people landing new positions, however it seems that those candidate who land the jobs are those individuals who are willing to give the extra mile for their job search. 

CNNMoney.com had a great story this week about a computer programmer that was laid off from his job and went the extra mile to ensure that he landed a new job as soon as possible.  If you read the article you'll see that he did everything we have encouraged to do in our blogs.  He networked with is immediate sphere of influence and utilized LinkedIn.  He was analytical with his job search and researched the openings and companies he applied for.  He understood that this is still a buyer's market and that companies are not necessarily going to hire the person with the most relevant background, they will often hire the candidate who knows how to sell themselves the best. 

Therefore, use these rays of sunshine as motivation to keep pushing.  We're not out of the woods yet but the path is starting to clear a bit.  Instead of waiting for things to ease up in your business or your job search, go the extra mile and keep pushing.