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This guest post by Darrell W. Gurney is part of Job Action Day 2011.

[Reinforcing the Job Action Day 2011 “Skill Up, Start Up, Speak Up” message is a group of bloggers dedicating blog posts on or around Job Action Day 2011 to the event. Scroll down to see their blog posts listed.]

Those words spoken by MLK nearly 44 years ago are as glaringly — if not more so — relevant today. With the greatest unemployment crisis this country has faced in decades, setting new statistical records regularly, we endure a punch-drunk existence of economic one-downmanship that has our country — and world — teetering precariously on edge. Wild swings in the stock market on a daily basis show an uncertain body of investors. Latest unemployment figures show us still at 9 percent unemployment and, even if the economy added five times the number of jobs that were added in October every month, it would still take five years to reach 5 percent unemployment. Folks, we have issues.

Before going further, let me come clean right upfront: I don’t purport to be an economist, nor a political activist. As a matter of fact, though I generally stay abreast of the news and exert my citizenly right to vote, I am very average-American when it comes to intense political involvement. My family and their needs—as a single dad building a business — generally occupy most of my waking hours. I am a writer and coach on topics of how to best compete for the jobs that exist … not a genius on how they are created.

And yet, from that average American’s perspective, some dynamics nonetheless don’t jibe in the direction our country is going which has me speaking up. And whatever your cut is at these same dynamics, I invite and encourage you to “Speak Up” also.

Arianna Huffington wrote, in an August 30 article, What Hurricane Irene Can Teach Us About the Jobs Crisis, that the way the political leaders, media and communities banded together to confront and tackle the imminent threat of that storm bearing down on the East Coast could serve as a model for how these groups could come together to defeat this jobs crisis. She points to the effects of collective action that took place as this (potentially much more) harmful storm arrived on nearly the 10th anniversary of yet another time of intense and collective American action: the aftermath of 9/11.

“What Irene and the response to it showed is that when the media devote wall-to-wall attention to something, and government officials bring a sense of urgency and ask the public to respond in kind, remarkable things can happen. What this weekend demonstrated is that even though we can’t do anything to stop the hurricane, with resolve and collective action we can greatly mitigate its destructive impact.”

The point she makes is that a jobs crisis has been wreaking havoc on our economy for more than three years now, a crisis that is having both immediate and long-term, systemic effects on our economy, and yet we allow it to linger and remain unresolved in a sort of hands-in-the-air “I dunno” or “Whadya gonna do?” blame-game.

The media has tired of the “Our top story tonight” status of jobs. The politicians practice CYA (Cover Your Accountability) by seemingly offering plans to confront the situation while knowing full well that the “the other side” won’t buy them…at least, hopefully, retaining their seats in office by “trying” against those other damn inflexibles.

But what’s missing, in the midst of everyone’s frustration and tiring of the dilemma, is the American spirit of coming together to defeat — or at least mitigate — an agreed upon “enemy,” whether that enemy be a storm or an overtly hostile foreign challenge.

A historical way out of recessed or depressed economies and a surefire way to create jobs is to fire up the war machine. The government spends, borrowing from future generations, to get everyone engaged and rallied for a cause. Yet in his reply to Paul Krugman’s contention that “War Would End the Recession”, Stephen Horowitz slams the idea of destroying the world and indebting future generations in order to turn things around. Ideally, we are progressing toward a more conscious human race, as we are even now in the midst of pulling out of a war that helped create this very economic mess (which — note to self — came on the heels of the last recession).

If war isn’t the solution, and if the same money that would be spent on a military war can’t be spent on a humanitarian war, such as a “War on Unemployment” financed by government job creation, then where do we turn?

Some say that it is the responsibility of business itself to step into the breach. In his August 15 article, What Is Business Waiting For?, Joe Nocera makes a case for corporations to assume the leadership role that has been abdicated by politicians. He agrees that business should put people as a priority over profits and prime the economic pump unilaterally by investing their hoarded cash into more workers. However, expecting American business leaders to operate with such benevolent social consciousness requires an underlying philosophy absent from their business-school indoctrination toward short-term profits.

A year ago, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates led a rally to enroll a group of billionaires to give away a huge percentage of their wealth to humanitarian causes. To date, many have joined that call to serve. What if business leaders of some of the strongest companies led a similar rally to enroll their largest colleagues to extend themselves in a paced hiring initiative? Would someone be willing to stick their neck out in that way?

Perhaps a restructuring of American consciousness overall is what is needed. The “Occupy Wall Street” movement, though unstructured and unclear in its initial message, has tapped into a deep-seated angst residing within the hearts of many: the disparity and inequality of income and wealth that undergirds our nation’s economy. Seemingly just a bunch of know-nothing throw-backs to the protests of the 60s, these folks have turned even initially dismissive political leaders around to begin to address this growing economic disparity. Eric Cantor and Mitt Romney are just two examples of politicians who dismissed this movement and now say there is something to be investigated. Who can deny the wake-up call that the top 1 percent of income-earners have quadrupled the percentage increases in income experienced by the bottom 99 percent in the last 30 years.

Therefore, being willing to “Speak Up” has something to say for it … even if one feels that they don’t exactly know all the issues or can’t speak particularly intelligently about all the pieces of the puzzle. At least following that gut-urge to express discontent, when organized in some form of combined effort, gets the minds of those in positions to impact the overall picture whirring towards discussion … if not solution.

Even as the non-economists, non-politicians, non-business leaders or government bureaucrats that we are, and even with our perhaps limited understanding of what it will take to make it work, we nonetheless can and do have an impact when we “Speak Up.” And it’s that speaking up of the masses that will help those who do possess the various pieces of the puzzle to come together to solve this crisis.

The American economy officially exited the last recession in June of 2009. If you it doesn’t feel that way to you, let someone know about it.

Darrell W. Gurney is a Certified Personnel Consultant (CPC), Certified Job & Career Transition Coach (JCTC), Certified Career Management Coach (CCMC), and Licensed Spiritual Counselor (ALSP, RScP) is a 20+ year recruiting veteran and career advisor, supporting thousands of professionals at all levels to make profitable transitions or create thriving businesses. In addition to coaching and consulting, he writes articles for trade publications and speaks at industry events.

Darrell is the author of Headhunters Revealed! Career Secrets for Choosing and Using Professional Recruiters, which received the 2001 Clarion Award for Best Book from the Association for Women in Communications, has been reviewed in Publishers Weekly, the American Library Association’s Booklist, and Midwest Book Review, and has been featured in nationally syndicated career columnist Joyce Lain Kennedy’s “Careers Now.” Available through www.CareerGuy.com, www.HeadhuntersRevealed.com and www.Amazon.com, etc., the book has become a highly touted resource in the careers field. Microsoft, America Online, Hunt-Wesson, and American Express have all utilized Darrell’s professional recruitment services. His first e-book, Backdoor Job Search: Never Apply for a Job Again: 10 Time-Tested Principals for Launching an Effective ‘Backdoor’ Campaign, came out in 2010 and was picked up by a major publisher. An expanded version will arrive in bookstores in February, 2012, entitled Never Apply for a Job Again! Break the Rules, Cut the Line, Beat the Rest. His second e-book, Finding the S-Spot: Career Pleasure Secrets for Merging Skills, Passions, and Money has just been released.

More Job Action Day Bloggers:

• Quintessential Careers Blog, Job Action Day 2011: Skill Up, Start Up, Speak Up.
• Career Doctor Blog, #JobActionDay11: Speak Up: It Takes a Village to Turn a Jobs Crisis Around.
• Quintessential Resume and Cover Letter Tips Blog, #JobActionDay11: Skill Up, Start Up, Speak Up: Expert Tips to Fire Up Your Job Search.
• A Storied Career, #JobActionDay11: A Start-Up Story of Triumphing Over Job Loss
• Deborah Brown-Volkman, The Career Coach’s Job-Seekers Urged to “Skill Up, Start Up, and Speak Up” for Fourth Annual Job Action Day.
• Susan Guarneri, Career Assessment Goddess, The Start-Up Mindset: 10 Tips to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
• Maggie Mistal, Career Advice Blog, Job Action Day: 3 Actions Jobseekers Can Take To Bridge the Skill Gap.
• Nancy Miller, Job Action Day 2011, Life Work News, Skill up for Employment.
• Hannah Morgan, Career Sherpa, Start Up: Building A More Stable Career.
• Miriam Salpeter, Keppie Careers, Job Action Day 2011 — How to confidently drive your career bus where you want to go.
• Meg Guiseppi, Executive Career Brand, Today is Job Action Day 2011!
• Deborah Shane, Deborah Shane Toolbox, Raise Your Career Metabolism, Bring Your A+ Game and Develop More Magnetism.
• Wendy Terwelp, Rock Your Career, Job Action Day: Start Up — How to Network.
• Tim Tyrell-Smith, Tim’s Stategy, Start Focusing On New, Creative Networking Ideas

See http://www.jobactionday.com/2011-Job-Action-Day.html for the complete, updated list of Job Action Day 2011 blog posts.

Two online events in November are designed to provide job-seekers with critical advice and insights from top career professionals around the country. Both events are sponsored by Quintessential Careers, a leading career information portal.

“Jobs are scarce. Many employers are not hiring; in fact, a number of employers are again laying off employees,” said Dr. Randall Hansen, publisher and CEO of Quintessential Careers. “We may no longer be in an economic recession, but we are certainly in a jobs recession — and these two events are designed to empower all job-seekers, from recent college grads to baby boomers.”

The fourth annual Job Action Day takes place on Monday, Nov. 7, and includes expert and empowering articles, tips, and blog posts that give both workers and job-seekers information, ideas, and concrete steps that they can take to secure their futures — both in the short-term and in the long-term. Job Action Day 2011 focuses on three themes:

Skill Up: The skills mismatch is a huge issue in the current jobs crisis. Thousands of jobs are going begging because employers can’t find skilled employees. This theme focuses on what job-seekers can do to attain the skills that will help land these jobs (including retraining, internships, apprenticeships, lateral job moves, and more).

Start Up: Refers not only to starting small businesses as an alternative to traditional jobs or unemployment, but a whole new mindset of being the CEO of your career — having a portfolio of portable skills, a great network, flexibility, a project-mentality; not sitting at the computer visiting job boards, but getting out there and meeting people, knocking on doors, taking ownership of your career path.

Speak Up: Job-seekers have the option to be more vocal and demand action from our elected officials — using the media to push a jobs agenda and demanding better media coverage of the jobs crisis — as well as from the so-called job creators to create more jobs.

More information about Job Action Day can be found here.

The second event takes place a week later on Nov. 14, when Quintessential Careers celebrates its 15 years of serving job-seekers with the unveiling of tips, insights, and advice from 15 of the country’s top career experts. Other features, according to Hansen, will include the 15 best career books, samples, tools, and more. “These 15 career experts together have an amazing breadth and depth of career and job-hunting know-how — and a passion for sharing that knowledge with job-seekers, career-changers, and the entire career community,” Hansen said.

Some of the career experts providing insights include Richard Bolles, author of the best-selling career book in history, What Color is Your Parachute?; Tory Johnson of Women for Hire, a top career site for women; author and Generation Y expert Lindsey Pollak; Steve Rothberg, founder of the top college job board, CollegeRecruiter.com; and Eric Shannon, CEO of LatPro, a specialty job board for Hispanic and Spanish/English and Portuguese/English bilinguals. The full list of experts can be found here.

About Quintessential Careers: For almost 15 years, this comprehensive career development site has been empowering job-seekers of all ages find their ideal careers and jobs. With more than 5,000 pages of content — from articles, quizzes, and tutorials — Quintessential Careers offers visitors no-cost content that can improve their lives.

About Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.: Randall Hansen is the founder and publisher of Quintessential Careers. He has been involved in the career industry for more than 20 years, and is the authors of numerous career-related articles, tutorials, and books.

A Guest Post by CareerAlley

From time to time, we’re publishing guest posts via Recruiting Blogswap.

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” — Bill Cosby

How many times have you felt as if you were so close to getting a job and then it just doesn’t happen? Sometimes it’s a recruiter leading you on, sometimes you go on a few interviews and then hear nothing and sometimes you get caught in the “only applying online” syndrome. And then there is the very frustrating situation where you get all the way to the finish line, only to get a lousy offer. There are lots of reasons for each of these (see more below). Sometimes the competition is too tough, sometimes you are just not the right person for the job.

• 10 Reasons Why You May Not Be Getting a Job Offer — There are lots of reasons why you may not get a job offer, and 10 of them are listed in this article from Thinkenergygroup.com. From the most basic — “you are not qualified” to the not so obvious — “poor personal appearance,” each item has a brief description. This particular site is focused on the energy industry, but there are some great job search resource links on the left hand side of the page (like salary trends, cover letters, resumes, etc.). Check out their job search if this is your field.

• How to Get a Job Interview — You can’t get a job if you can’t get an interview. This article, from Forbes.com provides some real life advice on how to get a job. From Resume review to Interviewing, this article is an interesting read if you are not getting any interviews. There are related links on the right hand side of the page.

• How To Get a Job Interview — Another View — No, this is not a repeat of the article above. This one is from Hubpages.com and talks about some of the alternatives out there. Ideas such as targeted resumes and buy lunch are two of those mentioned in this article. There are other great tips and it is worth thinking about trying something different. Take a look at the related links on the right hand side of the page.

• Top 10 Interview Blunders — Sometimes you need to know what not to do in order to get it right. This article, from Alison Doyle and posted on About.com lists some great advice as to what people fail to do either prior to or during the interview. There are some easy picks (like not being prepared) and then some that you might not have thought of (like fuzzy facts). If this list is not enough, there are additional related links at the bottom of the page as well as some great links at the top of the page.

• Job Interviews 101: How to Ace 5 Key Questions Every Recruiter Will Ask — This article is from ABCnews.com and will help you prepare for an interview. The article lists the “must know” questions you should be able to answer. Some of these are basic, but others are not (like what are some of your weaknesses). This article provides some good advice and definitely is worth a read.

[Editor’s note: One final article: Ten Questions to Ask Yourself if You Still Don’t Have a Job.] Good luck in your search.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

A Guest Post by Nisa Chitakasem

You’ve been working with a career counselor for a while, but you aren’t seeing any results. With each passing session you feel like you’re wasting a lot of time and money. You’re not moving forward in your career and you’re wondering why this relationship isn’t everything you thought it would be.

Too often we turn up to see a life/career coach and we expect everything to be automatically wonderful. Did we even stop to think about what we wanted out of the sessions or why we were going in the first place? You must be clear on what you want for counseling to work.

To be clear you must know yourself. Before your next appointment with your counselor, reflect on your life and experiences and write down your strengths, skills, and passions. Looking at these lists, where can they take you next in your career? Where is it you want to go?

A career coach can only guide you if you have a vague idea of which direction you want to be guided in. A good career professional will guide you in the right direction, not make your decisions for you, which is why we can’t go to a counseling or guidance session and expect to be completely passive throughout the process. Get involved and take control of your own career.

Your relationship with a career counselor can consist of conversations going all over the place- bouncing between the past and future and different aspects of your life and career. This is why you must have clarity on what you want. The conversation should always come back to you and want you want, right here, and right now.

Editor’s note: For more about career coaches and counselors, see Quintessential Careers Directory of Life and Career Coaches, which includes links to articles about career coaches and counselors.

Nisa Chitakasem is the founder of Position Ignition — a careers company dedicated to taking you to the next step in your career. Nisa is passionate about helping individuals find the right career path for them whether it involves finding a more rewarding career, making a career change, figuring out the right career plan or being creative about career directions.

For free advice, guidance and information on careers visit the Position Ignition Career Blog or find her on Twitter: @PosIgnition or Facebook.