I will be volunteering with some of the Ragnar Relay staff this weekend to assist at the 6th Annual Laughlin Half Marathon / 5K run. With a wide variety of runners and sponsors involved, networking with more people in the community is always a good idea.

If this overcast, windy weather sticks around, it should make for an interesting event. Hopefully the runners are ready for non-optimal running conditions.

In other areas of the job search, there may be more opportunities appearing in the city. All it will take is one good company in need of a well-rounded employee to have their interest piqued by my cover letter and resume. Once I get an in-person interview, I am positive that I can get an offer.

So far, I have ran quite a bit. Finished the ‘Fat Boy 5k’ in under 25 minutes, with an average 8:05 minute mile. This was quite surprising with the lack of training in the past.

Upcoming scheduled running events will hopefully see a fairly drastic improvement in my times.

On other fronts, the past couple weeks have included visits to various events and seminars. These have been quite fortuitous, as I have re-connected with people I have not spoken with in a while. Some of which are in need of assistance for upcoming projects. This can, hopefully, turn into some steady work.

In the mean time, the job search is continuing, as tough as it is out here, there seems to be decent positions opening up from time to time. Now it is just a matter of figuring out how to capitalize on them.

In order to get out into the community more, I have been selected as a volunteer to help promote the 2011 running of Ragnar Relay’s Las Vegas event. This has added a large number of community interactions each month, including joining local running clubs a number of  trail and road course running.

These local weekly club runs and monthly races are working on putting me into even better shape. The first event I ran this year surprised me, as I was unaware 8 minute miles were my slow pace. Coming up in July, a mere 5 months away, I will be running Ragnar Relay’s Northwest Passage in the #3 slot. As long as I can survive the brutal 6.8 mile Very Hard leg climbing through a long section of the Pacific Northwest, the other two legs should be a breeze.

I am hoping that the new contacts attained in the running community can help me find more opportunities to re-join the work force.

The end of 2010 brought more interest from potential employers than previous months. Unfortunately, the search continues, however, new opportunities arise daily.

As with marketing and advertising, testing is being done to my approach, resume and cover letters. What information are employers wanting to see, and what information is detrimental? That is being worked out in hopes of honing the resume until new employment is secured.

Happy New Year!

It seems like some quality employers are hiring, or rumored to be hiring soon.

Upon updating and customizing the resume for each of the employers, it has been, or will be submitted, while crossing my fingers. Steady, gainful employment would be a very good thing.

It is odd, this is the longest that I have been unemployed since I started working. It is not something I am used to, or desire.

With Las Vegas maintaining its iron grip on the top of our nation’s unemployment statistics, my job search continues. There are opportunities out there, the trick is to draw hiring managers’ attention away from other applicants. That is proving to be quite a challenge.  So many qualified potential employees are out there, we are a crowd filled with talent, making it more difficult for employers to weed out candidates.

Gone are the days of sifting through piles of unqualified resumes, trying to find that one  perfect employee.

Thousands of us are hoping for a shift in the local economy, while working to draw positive attention to ourselves. Once employed, we will all contribute more money to local businesses, causing employers to have enough business to hire more workers.