How to get a job

With the unemployment rate the highest since it’s been since 1992 (which begs the question, what the hell was going in 1992? Public radio always announces the phrase “the blah blah rate has not been this bad since X year” with extreme gravitas — as if we all are going to shake our heads and say, ”Wow, man, 1992 – god, that’s awful!”) I thought I would share the most innovative and politically incorrect tip for job seekers I’ve heard in a long time.

First, let me qualify this by saying that this is only a tip for the unemployed who have a little bit of money left in their savings accounts. The truly poor should not take this advice. It’s too risky.  Also, it’s not a form of poorly-advised guerilla marketing where you do silly things like post your facebook status as “looking for work and willing to do just about anything” or where you leave desperate messages with relatives you haven’t seen since the terrible family reunion where you got drunk and threw up all over the dance floor. Not that I’ve ever done that.

Ok, so the answer is … drumroll please … outsource your job search. I’m not kidding. A few weeks back I was listening to a podcast from The Moth – a great non-profit that supports live storytelling — when I heard a story by A.J. Jacobs called “My outsourced life” which he originally wrote up for Esquire Magazine in 2005.

One outraged reader who was out-of-work because of outsourcing wrote to A.J. that he was upset about the article until he decided to outsource his job search to India and had a new job within a week.

Outsourcing is apparently also useful for things like losing your luggage. The  The Huffington Post wrote all about the various ways to use outsourcing to your advantage. Check it out!