"Find a job"- from ex unemployed

Larry Hughes is a poster story for many out there struggling their way to find a job. His innovation that hasn't been tested by the vast majority of professional and managerial job seekers: is blogging.

Hughes is a master book publicist whose talents are legendary in the publishing industry. Until two years ago, he directed publicity at HarperCollins, a major book publisher. But when HarperCollins folded the Collins division in early 2009, Hughes and many other people were cut loose.

Taking action. In a job-emaciated economy, Hughes -- who understands the long game of career management -- analyzed his situation and became a "book flack at large" (his term). A big part of his strategy was the launch of his own blog (bookflack.blogspot.com) to publicize himself into a new position. As he explained in a recent posting:

"Competition for jobs (was) so fierce that I knew I had to do something beyond sending out resumes, searching job sites, pressing for 'informational' interviews, and all the traditional things you do when looking for a job. So being a publicist, I decided to publicize myself."

Success. Hughes also scored mentions in national and industry media. The whole idea was to help keep his talents in front of the publishing industry.

The result: Hughes is starting a great new job as associate director of publicity for the Free Press, a part of book-publishing giant Simon & Schuster.

Evaluation. Were blogging and all his self-promotion responsible for his new job? "Hard to say," Hughes recalls:

"In the end, it came about the way it often does -- through a friend, who alerted me to an opening and connected me to the appropriate party. Still, I have to believe that the publicity I generated played a part, even if it was a subliminal one. No one ever said, 'I saw you on CNN and I'd like to hire you.' But I like to think that if someone in the industry was looking to fill a position, and my name came up, they would at least say: 'Oh, yeah -- I've heard of him.' "

Shortcut. When you want to reach out in new job-finding directions but aren't able or willing to spend the time on your own blog, you can always contribute occasional postings to blogs other maintain.

Even more time-conserving is to find someone who is blogging for a company where you want to work and make comments on that person's blog. As career coach Fred Whelan (whelanstone.com) says: "People who blog really appreciate response and doing so will raise your profile with that person. You may develop an inside contact who will let you know of unadvertised jobs and see to it that the hiring authority receives your resume."

True, inspiring story from ex unemployed who managed to find his way to job! Great example to follow and consider....