The contrary paralegal manages a two-office law firm in the southwest, as well as her young family, which consists of ‘the man’ and her three ‘dramas’ whose names are 17 (or VT = vile teenager), 11 and 8. For 15 years she has worked in almost every area of the law – seen everything, mentored plenty, done a lot, learned more, and pretty much made herself irreplaceable. She is writing for WWDS when the mood strikes her. She’s irreverent, hilarious even, and very real. She might be EveryWoman, but she goes by UsedToBeMe. She blogs often at whyrustalkingme.

The wicked paralegal here. GL asked for my opinion on the layoffs and how, in this market, one should approach the job search. Remember the old saying, Crap Rolls Down Hill? So many companies are seeing the ripple effects of the economy’s downward spiral that we have a rough road ahead of us. Here in Phoenix, I notice that once the housing boom came to a screeching halt, so did construction, then landscaping, building materials, then lending, etc. It all rolls down hill and now, while teenagers used to be the ones bagging groceries, they are now competing for work with all the construction workers and landscapers and real estate agents and on and on in a vicious cycle.

I go to lunch every Thursday with my boss. We frequent the same brew pub and we’ve become friendly with the staff. Last Thursday our waitress was particularly somber. She said they had run an ad for a dishwasher and the people applying for work were of a much higher caliber than normal. She almost started crying when she said that there were bankers, real estate agents, people in suits carrying briefcases and other former professionals applying for the $6 per hour job.

I’ll tell you a secret, I’m a closet optimist. One of those, the glass is half full kind of girls. Being laid off is a life changing event. Good or bad, something is going to change. Rather than wait for the change to come to you, seize the moment and make the change one you want. This could be the perfect time to go back to school. Enhance the career you already have, or find something you are interested in or have a passion for, then research it and make sure it is something you can make a living at. I would go get a theology degree tomorrow, I just don’t think I could support my family with it.

Join the military. The opportunities afforded by a military career are many including travel, education and loan assistance. This can be the beginning of a whole new life that may not have looked so good when you were pulling down a regular paycheck and everything looked sunny and swell from the kitchen window.

Move. I don’t mean get your groove on, I mean, search out the markets in your chosen career and if there is work, move to it. In the alternative, if you’ve always wanted to leave the town you grew up in or just want a change, now could be the time. Again, research the markets where you want to be and go there. The job won’t find you, you must seek it out.

If you aren’t interested in moving or going to school or joining the military, then I suggest you start at the bottom and work your way up what I call the ladder of chances. Take every chance you get to do something. Start by networking. Email everyone you ever knew about potential job opportunities. Don’t be embarrassed or afraid of rejection. Start a Facebook account and add as many contacts as you know. Search for groups to join that are specific to your line of work or education. Make a generic blog/website and post your resume on it. Make it clean and simple and one page. No favorite links or blogrolls. You’re not keeping in contact with your family or college buddies, you are putting yourself out there in the big bad electronic world. Have an email link for contact (don’t post personal information such as telephone numbers, addresses or social security information). If prospective employers decide to Google you, they will find that and see your resume online. Beautiful! TAKE DOWN YOUR MYSPACE PAGE (or at the very least, edit the hell out of it!) As a prospective employer, I will not hire anyone who has drunken escapades all over the net. If you have an existing Facebook page, edit it if necessary. Take down the racy photographs and pokes and free drinks. Your web presence should be professional, even if you are wild and crazy in real life. Finally, get Your.Name at Yahoo or Gmail or Hotmail. Again, as a prospective employer, I generally weed out my resumes based upon stupid email addresses. Hotsexyjane and buffbilly02412 @ anything.com are not going to be the first people I call for an interview.

Next, check the job banks, news papers, the local unemployment agency and apply for every job that you are qualified for. Set aside a time to do this Every. Single. Day. Revamp your resume and do a job specific cover page for each position you apply for. Email your resume to HR representatives and companies you know of. Buy a cheap fax machine so you can fax your resume and cover letter if necessary. Apply and work at a temp agency. I suggest this for people who have been at home for many years raising children, people who are leaving retain for an office environment, or anyone else who needs to gain some experience and resume filler. Often times, a company will hire it’s temps for permanent spots if the fit is good.

I’ve long said that earning $6 per hour is better than earning $0 per hour. Having said that, it is important to note that just because you have to get a job to get you through this troubling time, you don’t have to stop looking for the job you really want, the job that makes you happy and the job you know you were meant to do.

That sounds easier said than done but in reality, it really is easier to find a job when you already have one. What that means is that if slinging hash and the local diner, selling beer at the local convenience store or stocking shelves at a grocery store are all you can get, take them and run with them. Then, keep looking for the job you want. When you do land the interview in the field you want to work in, you will be more relaxed, appear less stressed (read: desperate) and you will not feel so pressured to get this job because it’s the only one there is. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. It doesn’t have to be a train.