There is only one thing more painful than being unemployed: The eye numbing job search one must embark on to find a new job. Chin up, it does not have to be a bad time. If you are moving in the direction of a career that truly makes you happy, it can even be exhilarating.

There are some important tips to consider as you move towards seeking a new career to both make you personally happier and pay the bills.

Make Sure It’s A Career Field With Job Potential

There are few things more frustrating than walking away from a career that was stable and well-paying only to find that your new career means jobs are rare and pay peanuts. This discovery is usually the direct result of a failure to do research before leaping head first into a new career field.

It’s one thing to seek out a career doing what you think you’ll love; it’s another thing entirely to be realistically able to do it and thrive.

Have a look at what career fields are most promising right now and then decide what suits you best.

Insist On Putting Your Best Foot Forward

How many of us have a generalized resume and a copy-and-paste cover letter on standby? As it turns out this might hurt you more than help you when it comes to finding a specific job.

Employers want to feel that you have showed up to work for them, not that they are stop 230,754 on your quest for a new job.

Part of it is simply being too lazy to take the time to really study the job you have applied for and customize your resume and cover letter to that potential employer. Yes, going through the trouble is a lot of work. However, as you’re not exactly the most busy person in the world, would it really hurt to take the extra time write more a more specific cover letter?

Pay attention to what jobs say they are looking for and take the time to customize your application process. If you go out of your way to make yourself stand out and show that you have your game face on, you are more likely to get the results you want.

GULP… 40 per cent of graduates still out of work six months on: http://t.co/7YY50ccUPU #jobsearch #jobfairy #graduateproblems

— Student365 (@student365) February 18, 2014

Strongly Consider Telecommute Or Work-From-Home Jobs

Gone are the days when “work from home” was synonymous with scam artists trying to tell you that you can become rich by stuffing envelopes.

If you are truly burn out by the traditional 9 to 5 office environment, consider jobs that you can do from virtually anywhere in the world.

If you have any writing talent and experience, you may consider a job as a freelance writer, but there are other work-from-home options to consider. Some make their living as a virtual assistant, performing customer service or data entry tasks.

It’s becoming increasingly easy to find traditional job positions that only require a phone and access to the internet. If the hussle and bussle of driving to work no longer suits you, carefully consider your skills and abilities and then see if there is any potential to make use of it in a telecommuting position.

Have any other job tips for the battle-hardened job searcher? Share away in the comments!

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