I’ve been preaching (and reading) about the importance of widening your net when establishing you career goals in a challenging job market.  (Notice I did not say terrble, difficult, etc).  But what about those of you out there who don’t know what that means or how to do it?

• First, determine what your ideal job would be.  Forget the current environment.  Take some time to dream.  Is it a sports marketing job?  A job in advertising?  TV broadcasting?
• Next, write down the skills and experience you will need for that job.  If it’s a job in advertising, you will need stellar communications skills, interpersonal skills, the ability to think on your feet. 
• Then, figure out how you can develop those skills in this economy.  I assume you can demonstrate your communication skills based on your work in college.  But if you take a job waiting tables, you can certainly demonstrate your ability to think on your feet, work with different constituents (the customer, the chef…) as well as working within deadlines. 

Any job you do will enable you to develop skills you can use going forward.   The key is to have a plan so that you know what skills you need to develop/demonstrate. 

In this challenging job market, you have nothing to apologize for except not moving forward.