That is the number of days I was unemployed in Las Vegas. Starting on Monday, I go back to being an employed member of this city and society.

It has been a long time coming, and a rough year. Figures that as soon as this position comes through, I get word on another position I had applied to months ago. We shall see what happens as time moves forward. Having “too many” job offers is a much more positive “problem” to have than too few, that is for certain.

Had a very promising interview/meeting two Fridays ago. The position would be a good fit for all parties involved.

Was offered the position, accepted it, the only caveat, the boss was told by the higher ups that a hiring freeze is in place. If there is room for an exception, I will have a job any day now.

Otherwise? The search will continue. With the increased interest in people with skills such as mine, I am hoping to soon help reduce the percentage of Las Vegas unemployed residents by a small, small percentage point. Every little bit helps in an improving economy.

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.

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.