Struggling to find work? - you are not alone.

In today's crazy world many face unemployment or struggle to find work. Some of you might just have started your journey as productive adults and feel trapped you do not have the experience quite yet. This can be frustrating, but there is one thing that is more important than anything in this situation and that is to ask for help.

You might think that there is no point asking for help because you think no one will help you. Maybe you think that no one in your network even can help. This is a common misconception because we forget that our network is just the first connection in a massive network. Just because your friends do not have what you need, their friends or their friends friends might.

if you take a look at LinkedIn right now you will find several people starting threads to help others find work. Simply inviting your network to post what they need will go a very long way to help them find someone to fulfill that need. There are people out there that also work every day to match people with work, like Johan Sacklén from Demando and Diana Itaoui from Tech Relations.  Others like Michael Saliba dedicate themselves to matchmaking out of passion and love for making others dreams come true.

These are just 3 people from a huge number of people that can, and will, help you find work. If you let them.

Today alone I have 3 recruitment suggestions in my inbox and I have 3 people contacting me looking for advice on finding work. This is not uncommon and I always try my best to help people by suggesting who to contact or acting as a point of reference. If you look around your network you will most likely see that others also get recruitment suggestions or have picked up a need somewhere. If they do not know that you are looking for something new, then they will not pass these on to you and you have a missed opportunity.

So how do you get started?

First of all, make sure that you have a LinkedIn profile. Also make sure that it is updated properly because it is used very often when you look for work. Secondly make sure you have a CV and if you are a designer you should have a portfolio. This is the basis and now you need to get the word out that you look for work. Start with asking your network for suggestions on who to contact. If you get a contact this way, then it is very useful, because you actually get a referral for free. This will increase your chances to land a job.

Be active on LinkedIn. Don't spam things, just interact with others and if you see someone you can help, then do so. This is not only a great way to make new contacts, but it will naturally lead to others wanting to do the same to you. Follow companies you think are interesting and pay special attention to new companies because they often need to hire people in the startup phase. Also make sure you follow companies that you think are awesome like Naes & Friends, Heep and my old colleagues at Top of Minds Go. These are companies that I like because they care passionately about their work and the people they work with.

Be patient. I know it's a cliché, but it is true. Good things happen, you just have to work hard and let it take time. More often than not it takes far less time then you think. I find it helps to keep in mind that the work you do when you look for work is never wasted. I still have contacts from 25 years ago when I looked for work. They have never stopped giving me leads or helped me in more ways than I can count over the years. No contact is ever wasted because just like you people change in life and you never know where they might end up.

You are not alone. This is more true today than any time before sadly. Not only are there many others that also look for work, but everyone have at one time or the other struggled to find work. We all know how hard that is and everyone that is not a selfish prick will lend a helping hand if they can. When many are looking for work there are competition, but there is also opportunities.

You can join with others and help each other find work through your extended networks. You can also band together and start new companies, which is actually not a bad idea in these trying times.  Regardless you never have to struggle alone. This site is just one of many dedicated to help others, so find the ones that makes sense to you and sign up.

Don't be Silent.  It is ok to ask for help, in fact it is more than ok. Not everyone might be in a position to help, but a lot of people are! The important thing to remember though is to ask for help, don't demand or spam it. Find the channels where you can ask others for ideas and suggestions on how to locate people that might have work for you. I have been successful in finding work on LinkedIn of course, but also Twitter is very useful. Finding communities like Reddit or one of the many slack communities are also good options.

Things will be ok!

Things might seem grim and it is easy to get stressed, but thing WILL be ok. Every single day is filled with opportunity and you WILL find work. It might take a while, but you will get there. Until you get there know that you are always welcome here and I will not only listen, but try my very best to help you. Others will also do the same, but only if you let them.

So make some noise and let he world know you are ready for new adventures!