Your Resignation Equals Job Search

When the economy is strong and jobs seem plentiful it is not even an issue as to whether you will stay in a job where you are unhappy; it's absolutely "See you later, sayonara, adios, good-bye."

When the economy is weak and jobs are not so easily available however, it's not so easy to leave a less-than-desirable job. But staying in a dead-end job or one that makes you miserable is not optimal either. The question is do you stay or go and if you go, what is the best way to go about it.

First, don't quit unless you really don't have any choice. This does not hold for jobs where you are being abused, harassed or mistreated or if your employer is breaking the law. By all means, in situations like that, get out. But if you are just unhappy or dissatisfied with your pay or schedule, see if you can't hang in there until you find a replacement job. Schedule interviews in your lunch hour, and do your writing and mailing on weekends.

Keep in mind that when the economy is rocky, competition for jobs is stiff. Your resume is going to have to stand out in a crowd and the best way for that to happen is if your cover letter draws attention to you. Your cover letter is your ticket in, so every word in that document has to count. It must be a well-written concise piece that is written as close to perfect as it can be. Be sure there are no grammatical errors or slips in spelling, don't trust application software to catch everything, ask for proofreading help from your friends or family.

Make sure your cover letter is easy-to-read, the layout is neat and margins are straight, use bullet points to state your case if need be. Remember to keep it brief and to the point. Remember, the objective is to get an interview. The only way to get an interview is to sell yourself to the person reading that cover letter. If the cover letter doesn't work, no one will ever see your resume - think of it as a sales pitch, with you as the product.

Don't be hesitant to seek professional help from experts like Jimmy Sweeney, who has made the cover letter/resume/interview process an art-form, with easy to use tools and tuition available online - to wherever you are.

With a strong, well-written resume and an effective cover letter to get in the door for an interview, you can begin to plan a departure from that job that makes you miserable.