8 reasons it's not your fault you can't find a job.

Of course it's not your fault you don't have a job. Here's why not:

1. The economy stinks. It's the economy's fault.
2. Resumes all go into a black hole. You apply for a zillion jobs online yet never hear back from anyone. It's the jerky HR people who ignore you's fault.
3. You don't have time to craft a viable job search strategy. You are too busy with your many life responsibilities. You simply cannot make time to think through a constructive search effort. It's time's fault.
4. The job market is full of age, weight, educational, you-name-it discrimination. How can you be expected to find a job when you're too old, too rotund or don't possess a lofty degree? It's the mean, oppressive discriminators' fault.
5. You don't have a close, inside connection at the company you want to work for. So, of course, you'll never get in. It's the people who have all the connections' faults. And the ones who hire their pals. It's their fault, too.
6. Your network is weak. You hear all the experts (author included) spouting off how it's important to network your way into a new job, but you have a lame network. So why bother? It's your lame network's fault.
7. The only available jobs are commission only jobs.  As if. How dare any employer suggest you EARN your entire income. That's preposterous. It's those preposterous employers' faults.
8. Nobody cares about you. Because if they did? They'd give you a shot. An interview. A job offer. A career. They'd give that to you if they cared. So it's their fault.

So now that we've formally clarified that it's not your fault, how do you feel? And is your wallet any heavier now that you've unloaded responsibility off of yourself?

That's what I figured.

It's so challenging out there, it is. Even so, I will say this today and I will say it 1,000 more times:

No one cares whether you land a job more than you. No one is going to do this for you.

So what do you do?

Get creative.

Craft a bold new strategic job search plan.

If you need help doing so, hire me to help you.

Yes, all of those 8 things have validity, to a certain extent. But the main thing that is blocking you from a new job isn't an item (or four) on that list. It's that you are refusing to accept how dramatically the concept of "job search" has changed in recent years. And you're trying to use the old standby ways to find employment in a new standby economy.

And you're probably getting mighty freaking frustrating.

But here is the true reality about those landing jobs today. They're Bold. Creative. Assertive. Stubborn.

They're full-on accountable.

A favorite quote of mine from Chris Guillebeau's Art of Nonconformity:

Take Responsibility by Taking Action - Of all the things that are difficult to accept, this is definitely the most difficult of all. Here it is: your own competence is your best security. You can find your own way out of any recession of external event. This isn't about positive thinking, visualization, or anything "woo-woo." You don't have to put on a Native American headdress and pray for rain. Instead, you need to change the way you interpret events, and then take action to change your circumstances.

You can do this. It may make you stretch and think and dare way more than you bargained for. But it's your game. And, unless you're among the elite few who are independently wealthy? It's a game that you can't afford to lose.