I thought I might help MIke out, through my blog, and see if I get him on the road to a new job.  We all know how hard job searching is especially when we're good at a lot of things and not quite sure what we want to do next.  I'm a huge advocate of exploration--God knows I've done my fair share--but there are some methodologies that seem to work better than others.

First, our friend Mike isn't really interested in EVERY job out there.  There are bound to be some that he knows he isn't going to want to do.  Let's create this list so we don't waste any time in those areas.  Second, is relocation an option?  If not, let's not bother.  No intention of moving to Nebraska no matter how good the job is--then don't even consider Nebraska. Third, are there some general interest areas?  If so, let's start exploring them.

I worked with a job seeker who thought he wanted to do programming within the Microsoft Sharepoint platform.  He was very determined and convinced that was his future.  Then I asked two key questions:

   1. Have you ever spoken to a Sharepoint developer?
   2. Have you ever researched what type of education you need to be a Sharepoint developer?

The answer to both questions was "no".  And now we have a starting spot.

So, Mike, start talking to people, in person, and find out about interesting jobs at interesting companies.  You'll be buying a lot of coffee so fill up your Starbucks card.  Ask people about their jobs and let them talk.  Most people love to talk about themselves and rarely have the opportunity to tell you about their work.  When there is passion, you'll know it.  When the work, company, or the person gets you going on the inside you'll start to narrow your list even further.