Today the former secretary of labor Robert Reich, said, "I feel I owe it to you to tell you the truth about the pieces of parchment you’re picking up today. You’re f*cked."

That’s got to be some disheartening news. And while Mr. Reich has some good points, the point here, however, is HOW CAN I HELP? Or more broadly how can social media and the educational tools that are FREE online help you find your first, second, and third job. Perhaps even your career.

My Primary Perspective: regardless of your degree or direction you need to be able to write clearly. Communications always been the core of success in business and in life. Your level of authority determines how many people you communicate to or even lead. How well do you communicate?

I got my degree in creative writing. What in the world good is THAT for? So, take heart, you can go from what ever degree you just earned and get into communications and it will help every presentation, every email, every contract you have to write from here on out. AND if you are so inclined, Social Media is pretty much based on writing. If you can WRITE, and write well, you have a head start over everyone else, regardless of your degree or desired specialty. So here are some resources that will can help you communicate more clearly and a few posts that should keep you motivated along the path towards your next job.

++ Your Online Toolkit ++

My College Education Manifesto: Love Money Ambition: Finding Your Sweet Spot and Career

Learning Resources:

• Lifehacker U – year round free online education
• Lynda.com – the best online training site, regardless of what software or skill you want to learn. ($25 per month, all you can eat)

Meta-Job Search Resources (set up several job searches and have these sites send you the leads every day)

• Indeed and Simply Hired – sometimes they overlap, but often they will surprise you with different results
• Careers.Alltop– meta-news landing page for the best in job hunting writing and advice on the web
• LinkedIn Jobs – you are on LinkedIn, right? Find out if there are any leads with connections to your network

Specific Posts on Career and Job Hunting

• Career Path Template: It Is That Time of Year Again
• Writing a Plan for Your Future – A Career Path Template fr Boxes & Arrows
• "We Googled You" : What You’d Better Know About Your SERP on Google
• Capture and Share Your Experience to Become a Leader: the Blogging Path
• Personal Branding, What’s In It For You?
• Getting Things Done Primer – It’s All About Doing It, not THINKING About Doing It
• Getting to This Moment of Happiness and Lessons Learned Along the Way

• Social Media MBA – The Reading List
• The Quick Course in Online Marketing: Big Picture (Social Media, Search Engine, eMail, Content Marketing)
• Social Media Strategist Notes: You Blog, Right? Tell Me Why Not Again – Career Path Planning
• To Be a Leader In Social Media… "Tell me where you participate." (BTW: LinkedIN is not enough!)
• Doin Social Media – WIIFM – Whuffie – Creating Beauty Online and WIIFY
• 16 Ideas to Define Your Social Media "Thought Leadership"

Also see the full "career" summaries from Uber.la (100+ posts)

Books that are invaluable in keeping your head above water (find’m in your library if you can – Amazon links for convenience)

• What Color Is Your Parachute? 2012: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters (the longest running resource has good updates)
• Monster Careers : How to Land the Job of Your Life (out of print – but this one has all the topics they cover now in smaller books)
• The World Is Flat 3.0 – Friedman (we’re in a new economy, mediocre ain’t gonna cut it in the global marketplace)
• The Razor’s Edge – Maugham (you need to give yourself a break, the definition of loafing in this book is priceless)
• Siddhartha – Hesse (read this one about once a year to reorient life towards what’s important and what is not)
• On Writing Well – Zinsser

A Movie You Need To See

• Lemonade the Movie ($3 on Amazon Instant)

@jmacofearth (also seen on Google+: jmacofearth)

Reference: The Commencement Address That Won’t Be Given, NY Times, Robert Reich.