Jobs aren't exactly in abundance these days, there's no doubt about that. On the other hand, how much is "fear factor" playing into the overall job crisis?...or should I say perception of a job crisis. After all, companies still are looking to sell products, goods, and services. Moreover, one company falling by the wayside means more opportunity for the next company. So, there are always winners and losers in either an up or down economic situation. What's happening in the USA economy, today, is more so that the larger more visible companies are experiencing problems and to the uninformed job seeker, it may seem like the sky is falling.

Granted a 1- 2% GDP growth is nothing to brag about but that doesn't mean companies aren't still hiring. Sure there are some larger corporations hanging out and waiting for the 2012 elections before getting back to business in a serious way. At the same time, let's not forget that small businesses employ 55% of American workers. So while a lot of these growing small businesses keep the economy running, they either don't have the manpower or cash to focus on human resource marketing strategies in a big way. So, that just means job seekers just need to be a little more thorough during the search. Finding a job online is not so bad once a plan is in place. Realtime job search is a becoming a big deal. Static job search is still alive, at least for now. Social networking is also a big deal. Let's not forget about researching a a given company's website as well walk up job inquiries. So again, jobs are are little more scarce, today, but don't let the job crisis fear factor prove failure by not trying or giving up too soon.

Well it looks like not only has AT&T decided to enter the 4G arena, AT&T also has a job fair coming near you. Job fair, what job fair? Well how about the one in picture below, to start with. As it turns out, the move to 4G is creating none-other than jobs. Right now the focus is squarely on various positions within the retail stores including sales associates to management positions. Of course, don't hold your on the management positions since there simply aren't enough of them to go around.

This ramp up of hiring likely means you can expect a new wave of 4G phones to start showing up AT&T retail stores. Of course, no official word just yet on vendors, platforms, etc. but based on HTC's dominance and quality line of phones, expect HTC phones to be in the mix. Also, AT&T seriously lags behind with respect to Android phones which further signals the likelihood of deals with HTC to rollout AT&T 4G phones. Of course no one really knows what 4G means since each carrier seems to have their own definition of 4G but apparently that's ok since 4G sounds good anyway. Right? Perhaps what's most important at the moment is that 4G really means "jobs" which is a popular buzz word these days. So why shouldn't AT&T capitalize on the buzz word with the idea of a job fair coming near you. Go for. Let em' work!

Social this, social that and all things social represent the new buzz word trends. The big question is whether or not social networking is living up to its promises? Promises - what promises? Well for advertisers, that means extending product and service reach. For job search [recruiters and job hunters] that means making new social connections that allow recruiters to reach new pools of candidates and for job seekers the obvious - make the necessary connections to get a new job. Well it's been over a year - more like two and what has social networking delivered on? Well the jury is still out but it's not looking good for social networking.

Why is social networking having such a challenge delivering anything meaningful other than blips and sound bites that most aren't even listening to? Well for starters, according to path, the new social networking site, it really just isn't possible to manage the hundreds and thousands of relationships that Twitter and Facebook users are obsessed with establishing. Can you really keep up with one of 150,000 followers that you interact with once if that? Perhaps, you can now begin to see why the tens of thousands of followers and fans aren't delivering. Quite simply, they aren't listening -- they have tuned you out -- because they don't know you or even care. This of course is bad news for job hunters and especially for advertisers. Sounds, like the problem here is the classic "bigger is better" myth. If you're looking for job do you really need to be connected to 5,000 recruiters that aren't listening or 25 recruiters that know you, are listening and going to bat for you?

While the jury is still out and social networking still has a chance of providing some meaningful value, it looks like social networking is having problems living up to promises. With that being said, i don't know how optimistic i would be on expecting much from social networking. You could on the other hand, give Path a spin and see what happens. After all, managing small groups is easier and more realistic anyway.

So what's the approach to getting a pay raise without feeling like you are pulling your boss' teeth? Well the short answer is that there isn't a one size fits all approach. Sorry for the silver bullet seekers; silver bullets tend to work with Blade and Wesley Snipes. For the rest of us, the approach to getting a pay raise is more like an art versus a science. Here are a few pointers.

1. Where is your current salary relative to salary standards for your position?
2. If your current salary is already above median what incentive does your employer have to pay more i.e. what added value do you bring to the table that the average Joe can't bring to the table?
3. Can your company afford to pay you more? Timing is everything?
4. Do you have track record of performance with your employer?If you do and you also have a track record with previous employers that helps a bunch
5. How important is the raise you desire i.e. would you quit for a raise or pout and get back to work?

Once you have a solid understanding of the above question, combined with your personal experience working on your current job, you're in the best position to make your pay raise sales pitch. So if you want to avoid the feeling of pulling teeth basically you need to be prepared and have all the necessary information available before hand. Don't go in and try to wing it, invariably something always happens that isn't planned when you wing it.