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The adage that job hunting is a full-time job has never been more true. Unemployment remains high and the economy fails to create new jobs at a rate that matches the jobs loss resulting in far too many applicants for each opening. Getting to the front of that line can be a time consuming task for anyone searching for employment.

Computers were supposed to make finding a job easier. Resumes can be instantly emailed to potential employers. Career sites offer hundreds of job listing and online classified sites have all but replaced newspapers as the place to get the most up-to-date job openings. However, it can be easy to get lost in the sheer volume of these sites. Worse still is the fact that many of those listings receive dozens if not hundreds of digital resumes, making it nearly impossible to get seen, let alone called in for an interview.

Social media has become the answer for the modern job hunter. It is said that most jobs are never even listed. People hire people, not resumes — and they find those people through networking . This used to mean joining community organizations to rub elbows with movers and shakers, attending industry events or specific networking meetings. Today it means crafting professional social media profiles and building a digital network of connections that can lead to a job.

Most people think of Facebook as a place to post family photos, share funny links and videos, and play silly games. Experienced professionals know better. They maintain a professional profile on Facebook that allows them to demonstrate their expertise to clients, industry colleagues, and community leaders. By sharing insights, linking to thought-provoking articles, and even asking for advice from others, they slowly build a solid network. Just look at Daniel Drimmer on Facebook as an example.

Facebook isn’t the only place to build a professional profile. LinkedIn was created to be the ‘professional facebook.” Busy executives like Daniel Drimmer know that a profile on LinkedIn can serve as a professional resume. LinkedIn also hosts discussion groups that allow members to converse about their industry as they build their professional network. Best of all, LinkedIn allows members to indicate that they are looking for work and even allows companies to list open positions.

When it comes time to submit a resume for one of those public listings, applicants with a good online network can bypass the traditional process. Instead they can message a friend at the company through LinkedIn or Facebook and ask for help getting their resume to the top of the list. In the best case scenario, someone looking to fill a position will scan their social media network to find people they already know who would be a good match for the company and someone gets a job without it ever appearing on a job listing site.

Photo courtesy Aidan Jones via Flickr (Creative Commons License).

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If all else fails, there’s always the temptation to run off and join the circus.  Joining the circus is much harder these days, however, because there just aren’t as many as there once were.  It’s even more difficult to find work in the carnival of the American imagination.  The culture that gave birth to the carnie of the 20^th century is still there, although its focus is on other forms of oddity, and the outlet for their curiosity is satisfied by reality television.  There are plenty of stories and films that document the sideshow experience, and from all accounts, there was never very much in there to romanticize.

These days, the best bet for finding this kind of work is through the state fair system.  Contacting the local state fair is easy enough, and there are usually a number of employment opportunities when that time of year rolls around again.  This is the best way, by far, to get a little experience in working in this kind of atmosphere.  Judging from the testimonies of the workers, however, it’s usually a hard job with low pay at best.  Working the fair circuit is definitely a road to adventure, but the adventures are more morose than exciting.  But there is something in the mythic imagination that always wants to leave this open as a possibility, and popular culture does hold it in a peculiarly romantic position, despite the real life experiences of the workers.

Most of the employment opportunities will have something to do with setting up and taking down, and anyone who’s worked a concert for spare cash in high school knows what that gig is about.  There are always going to be roadies with a lot more experience, and a lot of egos being thrown around.  It’s difficult labor, and this is made much tougher when the circumstances are less than welcoming.  Operating rides isn’t difficult to learn, but it can be tedious, and the crowds can be less than grateful.

There is room to grow, however, for someone who has some special skills and talents.  Guessing someone’s weight can be interesting and rewarding, although the position is one that is rarely open.  If one has psychic talents, guessing someone’s name can be a great way to start developing that gift.  Reading palms and cards are also good options, and a way into a much wider field.  With these, the carnival and fair should be seen as a gateway to other employment situations that are more amenable to these arts.  But the roughness of the fair can be the perfect entry point, with high pressure, low wages, and plenty of opportunities to study human behavior in extraordinary situations, and there is something romantic in that.