Dear Friends and Colleagues,

First and foremost, from my family to you and yours, I would like to wish all a blessed and happy holiday season. On that same note , I would like to thank everyone for their support throughout this last year , especially including all of the nominations that were sent to the White House on my behalf to request that I represent the voice of the unemployed at President Obama’s jobs summit in Washington DC last week. Although not invited to attend, I am confident that what we will accomplish together and united, throughout the upcoming year, will have more of a residual impact than what would have been accomplished over the course of a few hours in Washington DC.

Like many of you out there, I am a job seeker and I've held that status for over a year now. Throughout this time, finding a job in this troubled economy has become my full-time job. However, besides looking for work for just myself I am also indirectly and directly assisting over 15 million unemployed workers across America locate employment.

On November 6th, 2008, I was laid-off due to the downturn in the economy and the freeze in consumer lending. Despite losing my job right before the holidays, and with my spouse 8-months pregnant, it was clear to me that I could not afford to just sit back and do nothing. I knew that I had to have a plan. So I immediately turned to online networking to begin building my professional network and to take steps to rebuild myself as a professional. I knew hat I have to find new ways to make contacts, identify job prospects, and to locate employment.

It was through LinkedIn where I discovered my calling to help others find employment. I am not a Recruiter nor do I have a background in Staffing or Human Resources; however, I quickly realized that if I could find a way to put a human touch on the job search, the process would become more efficient. What I was hoping to achieve was heightened synergy that by helping one person find a job, that person could help the next, and that one the next, and on down the line. I believe that if we follow this process, and repeat it over and over again, we will come out of this recession much sooner than expected.

Within days of losing my own job, I launched a free job search website called JobsDirectUSA (see: http://www.jobsdirectusa.com) and went to work with my new found motto and motivation “save America one job at a time”. Having invested the majority of my family savings and severance package into my website, I became determined more than ever to make a positive difference in the lives of others and help as many people as I could find jobs.

In 2009 JobsDirectUSA helped thousands of Job Seekers connect with Recruiters and hiring companies both online and off. In addition to the JobsDirectUSA.com website and several online networking groups hosted on LinkedIn and Facebook, the "pay it forward" philosophy of helping others to find a new job has turned into a national job movement which has even received national media attention.

Over the last year alone , JobsDirectUSA, and affiliates, have hosted and sponsored over 100 free grassroots networking events across the United States. Through our “Pink Slip Party” job networking mixers, over 1,000 workers have found jobs; in the process, a new job hunt trend was created. Now, at these events, Job Seekers can interact with Recruiters of hiring companies in a casual and relaxed environment.

Throughout this past year, I was often quoted by the media comparing this new form of casual job networking to “speed dating for Job Seekers and Recruiters”, with the emergence of other “pink slip” organizations the New Year will feature our own brand of events simply referred to as “Speed Dating For Jobs”. With a national unemployment rate at 10% and the growing popularity of online networking websites such as LinkedIn and Facebook, “Speed Dating For Jobs” will bring the online community to life and connect even more Job Seekers with hiring companies and jobs – I guarantee it.

In 2010, JobsDirectUSA.com will be launching the first-ever national “Pink Slip” Tour throughout the United States, a multi-city tour organized by volunteers to bridge the national employment gap one job at a time and help thousands of professionals find jobs. In response to President Obama's recent jobs summit and call for community activism , our free networking events, and town hall forums along the way, will aid the unemployed nationally throughout the upcoming year and hopefully gain the support needed from our nation’s leaders to create new jobs across America.

In the coming weeks ahead we will be announcing dates, locations, venues and an all-new website devoted to “Speed Dating For Jobs”.

I sincerely thank everyone for their support and blessings.

Sincerely,


Carlos Gil