I know the cartoon above resonates with quite a few local journalists. I found it on this blog.

Anyway, I’m not the one looking for a job. I’m quite happy where I am. I’m talking about everyone who has gotten laid off or is looking to get out of a bad situation. I know there’s quite a few of you out there, so I’m going to do what I can to help you out and give you the sites I used to peruse relentlessly when I was trying to leave my last job.

I know everyone in L.A. journalism knows about Craigslist, JournalismJobs.com, Mediabistro and Poynter.

But have you also tried CNPA? How about CSNE? I realize CSNE’s listings are seriously outdated, but when I was using it, sometimes you’d find a surprise. I even used to check CCNMA regularly.

I recently reconnected with a reporter I used to compete with in Glendale via LinkedIn. How useful has LinkedIn or other social networking sites been to job searching, I don’t know. It’d be interesting to find out.

*BTW, there is a job search engine that’s new to me called Indeed.com. I think it works a lot like Google, except its for jobs.

When I was searching for a job, I spent at least 10 minutes of my day after logging in to my computer visiting each of those job board sites. If there was something new, I kept copies of my resume and sample cover letters in a folder on my website and in my email, ready to print and fax out. Of course, doing all that copying and faxing is easier when you have a job (ahem); otherwise, you better make friends with your local Kinko’s staff. Or maybe date someone there — heheh, thanks Trinity! I’m just kidding. He was good for more than his Kinko’s badge.

I dunno. I really feel for everyone who is in that situation. When I did my first obsessive job search after coming back from Arizona, it was all I obsessed about, and when I couldn’t seem to make things happen, I obsessed some more. That’s why it was such a relief to get that temporary barista job. When I was in a bad situation getting worse while working as a reporter, it was harder to obsess, but I still managed to be a bit obsessive compulsive about the whole thing.

Oh, my obsessive compulsive habits. That’s a whole other blog post.

Anyway, I’m thinking that if anyone wants to talk to me about their search, give me a holler. You never know, I may be able to help. ;-)

And just for fun, here’s another cartoon, this time from Dilbert.

Yeah, you know that’s how you feel. At least just a little.