Where the Jobs Are: CNBC's Special Town Hall Meeting

With as poor as CNBC's financial reporting has been over the past couple of months, I was pleasantly surprised to finally see some financial news that meant something to somebody. Tired of hearing about AIG and Bernie Madoff? Tonight we sat back in a town hall style atmosphere and heard something different, something that matters to 3.5 million unemployed people in the United States. Hosted by Carl Quintanilla and Erin Burnett, the CNBC special: Where the Jobs Are premiered on March 18 to discuss the current unemployment situation.

The unemployment rate is at 8.1 percent, now at levels not seen since 1983. Nearly everyone in America has been touched by this crisis in one way or another. It is a no-brainer that people would be interested in what this show had to offer, and it wasn't all negative. Where the Jobs Are was done in a very realist fashion. There are obvious negative aspects to the situation many are in, but the counselors on the show kept it real and most of the time kept it positive.

The hour long show threw a lot of information at us in a short amount of time. While Jeff Taylor, founder of Monster.com, described "How to make a plan", the side bar was displaying companies that were hiring from specific sectors. The primary takeaway from this show was to "Plan your work and work your plan."

Attitude

If you are unemployed, one of the most difficult things to overcome is your attitude. This is two-fold. On one hand, you are probably in the dumps about loosing your job. After a month, you may even be battling depression. On the other hand, you feel that you are worth a certain amount. Whether it be the value of your salary, benefits or the title of your next job. It was made very clear that you may need to lower your expectations some if you are to be a successful job hunter.

Survival Job

You may even need to take that "survival job" in order to, well, survive. Mid-level and top executives and managers that expect to be able to find that lucrative position somewhere may need to take that job stocking shelves for the time being, until they can land the job they are qualified for. It is a matter of lowering your expectations and swallowing your pride to put food on the table.

Make Your Plan

Face it; there are a lot of job seekers in the market right now. To make yourself effective, you need to have a plan. "Identify 10 companies that you're going to go after for a job and become an expert in every part of what that company does and the history of that business and industry," Taylor said.

You want to be more than a worker to these companies. "With so many people vying for so few jobs, it is more important that ever to stand out and show how your can be an asset to the company," Taylor continued, "Not just a worker bee like everyone else."

Where Are the Jobs?

As the panel took questions from the audience and discussed job seeking strategies, the side bar on the screen showed lists of companies currently hiring. It was organized by sector and was dominated by hospitality companies, construction companies and the medical sector. All of the information was collected from CareerBuilder.com and is easily searchable.

Summary

If you are willing to take a step down, either in pay or function and are willing to cross into new industries, you will have a chance at success in this job market. Determine how your skill sets can be transferred into the industries that are hiring. You may have to learn that industry before you're at the level you were before, but at this point a foot in the door could be the key to landing that next better job.

The special, Where the Jobs Are was very informative and a breath of fresh air for the financial news channel CNBC. After dwelling on so much negative news, it was uplifting to hear some positive chatter about such a difficult subject.