Seven years ago I was a part-time shoe salesman earning minimum wage, today I am working around the clock to help a growing body of unemployed Americans return to the workforce. Since my days of working in retail, I have made a name for himself while representing Fortune's largest financial corporations as an employee. Today, however I am trying my hardest to make an even greater impact in the lives of Americans nationwide.

Back on the morning of November 6th 2008, while employed by American International Group (AIG), I was informed that my employment was being terminated. I was laid off as a result of a mass downsizing. As a husband ,and father of two, I had no other choice but to turn uncertainty in an opportunity to make a difference.

I immediately became involved with various online networking communities such as LinkedIn and Facebook. It is here where I recognized that my next career move, and calling, would be to help a growing number of Americans find employment. My answer to providing America with a resource that will hopefully help millions return back to work is through JobsDirectUSA (See: http://www.jobsdirectusa.com). Through JobsDirectUSA, job seekers can register, create a profile, search for jobs and submit their resume to thousands of recruiters for free.

Only five months since being laid-off, I now spend each business day calling on America's largest corporations ,while making sales pitches to Recruiters, VP's and HR Directors, in an effort to get jobs in front of job seekers. In just five months JobsDirectUSA has made significant progress in bringing together thousands of job seekers with recruiters across the country plus secured key partnerships with organizations such as: The National Chamber of Commerce, Linked:HR (#1 HR Group on LinkedIn with over 115,000 members) and job aggregators such as Simply Hired and Oodle which distribute featured job ads on JobsDirectUSA to over 1,000 affiliate websites.

Furthermore, I've created Facebook's Official Pink Slip Party group, an all-new group which taps into the new age of web 2.0 networking by bringing together job seekers with recruiters on a different level. Pink Slip Party, via Facebook, is an open platform for every job seeker, and staffing professional / recruiter, in America to connect and openly discuss topics related to jobs, interviewing tips, career advice, who's hiring plus where, personal stories and employment opportunities featured by nationwide recruiters. Not only job seekers and recruiters are welcome but everyone is invited to join the party at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=51460579658 .

My next call to action is to organize , and host, several Pink Slip Party events throughout the country beginning with my current hometown of Jacksonville on April 30th. In the meantime, you can follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jobsdirectusa or http://www.twitter.com/pinkslipparty09

My story is just one of many economy heroes devoting each day to make a difference in the lives of millions. Together we can, and will, save America one job at a time.

Carlos Gil