Terrible times for marketing and public relations professionals. Hoards of us are on the street, or more accurately, hunched over our computers, emailing everyone we may know for a job lead. It is thankless, ego-deflating work and, worst of all, it pays absolutely nothing.


I'm part of those job-seekers. My days are filled with Simply Hired.com, Indeed.com and any other job board that flashes the same position over and over, week after week. I may have gotten to the ranks a different way (I spent five months teaching abroad and came home to THIS), but that doesn't really matter. I'm in the thick of it like many of my marketing and public relations brethren.
But I've changed my ways this week (officially Week 10 of my no-pay lifestyle). I'm not complaining as much. I'm not calling my working friends, looking for some sympathy. And I'm not Twittering any more messages of devastation. (To everyone I sent that message, "Please help, this can't go on," I apologize. Truly.)
Yup, I've changed my ways because I seriously believe that the only way this country is going to get out of the mess is if we think collectively, not singularly about our problems. Working or not, we are all in this together and we must all solve this situation together.
My expertise is in health care marketing and public relations. So, I am going to start talking and writing about health care reform. I'm going to be Obama's message carrier about the way we need to change the current system. Whether or not he ever knows I exist, I'll be his dedicated, grassroots messenger about the paradigm-shifting changes afoot. That's one way I'm gong to contribute.
Remember what our president said not that long ago on the cold January morning of his inauguration: "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."
How quickly we forget our pride in that inaugural moment. How rapidly our mind turns to other thoughts when the pink slip arrives on our desk or the job board seems empty and the email pops open with, "We wish you all the best in your future endeavors." Yes, all of it stinks, but wallowing in it only makes us more miserable.
If you are looking for a job, I feel your pain and I will gladly link with you to try to help you out. But more importantly, let's lend our minds and our muscles to do something positive for our collective future. Go to www.usaservice.org to pitch in at a community event this weekend. And fire up your emails, your Facebooks, your blogs and your Tweets to inspire some grassroots action. That's right, use your wonderful marketing and communication skills to advocate for positive change, offer solutions and show the world how much our profession can do in these critical times. We are truly all in this together.