I suppose this goes without saying, but when in a job search don't put all your eggs in one basket. Early in my search for an IT Staffing Recruiter position, I made the mistake of limiting my activity. I was talking and meeting with five firms, two of which were aggressively pursuing me. I let two new opportunities slip under my radar because things seemed to be going well enough that I expected to get an offer from one of the five firms.

And then the holidays came. Three of the five firms went with other candidates and the other two went incommunicado. I was stuck and kicking myself for being relaxed with a few leads I'd gotten.

So far this year, I seem to be doing better. I am casting a wider net and following up on every single possibility I hear about. I'm attending networking happy hours. I'm using LinkedIn to get introductions at companies I admire. I'm applying to jobs on the job boards. I'm using jobdash.net to find Twitter job postings. I even got referred for a job by my old boss - they called me up out of the blue! My m.o. is "leave no stone unturned," because the fact remains that you never know where your next job will come from. "Sure thing" interviews are a myth. In this market the competition is stiff and you are up against candidates who are equally if not more qualified that you.

I have a few good leads in the hopper right now. One is a position I heard about at a networking function. The other came from the job boards, but it turns out I have a second degree relationship with the hiring manager. Not bad! Stay tuned to see where I land :)