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&lt;p&gt;I consider unemployment to be the biggest life-changing experience since I discovered Netflix on my Xbox 360, but there are also a lot of lessons you learn in previous careers that could be helpful in your job search today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Even though I switched careers from journalism to public relations, I have learned that the most basic lesson of good journalism should be adhered to in a job search.  Always Get Your Facts Straight.  You must always have enough background information to understand your story before you write it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I learned the hard way how much this applies to the job search.  I was going nowhere once I became unemployed.  The millions of emails I had sent out were met with more silence than a Jimmy Fallon joke.  There was immediate anger, both warranted and unwarranted - &quot;How could I not get a PR position at a Bronx college when I was the managing editor of a newspaper in the Bronx and had written the entire Bronx Almanac?&quot;  &quot;How can I not even get an interview with Baruch College when I graduated from the school?&quot;  And then after I had all but given up hope, calls started coming in.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I received an interview for a PR position at Mercy College.  I felt I was prepared.  I had several copies of my resume, writing samples and examples of press hits I had garnered during my time at The New York Public Library and a book to read on my long journey to Dobbs Ferry.  I knew I had the job before I got there.  I was questioning how I was going to make this trip each day, would I have to buckle down and get a car, and what it would be like to move closer to the school.  I had another interview the next day - How would I choose between companies?  &quot;Sorry, you can&#39;t have all this...I&#39;m working at Mercy.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I got to the school an hour early.  I made small talk with my &amp;ldquo;new co-workers&amp;rdquo; and I was finally called into the office where the first question asked was - &quot;What do you know about Mercy College?&quot;  I knew everything about Mercy College, but fear suddenly crept in to the point where I said, &quot;I&#39;ve covered so many schools for the paper, I think I might be mixing them up in my head.&quot;  NOOOOOOO!!!!   I nailed every other part of the interview and then apologized about my earlier stumble before leaving, because I really thought reminding someone of my failure would help me in the decision-making process.  &quot;That Jon, he knows nothing about us, but he came in an hour early.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lesson learned.  I started creating cheat sheets with both the most important and most interesting information about the company I was applying for.  The more I read my cheat sheet the more I remembered and the better prepared for the interview I was.  It helped when I discovered that NYIT had an amazing lacrosse team.  When I interviewed for a Global Relations position at the school, I rattled off facts and then added, &quot;You have an amazing lacrosse team,&quot; and quickly shifted the interview to my work experience, mentioning how I used to write about lacrosse.  The interview was a breeze and I picked up a second interview.  I didn&amp;rsquo;t get the job, but at least I didn&amp;rsquo;t disrespect the interviewer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;ldquo;What do you know about our company&amp;rdquo; is the easiest question they could ask.  It&amp;rsquo;s like an open-book test.  Information is on the company&#39;s website; it&#39;s available in a simple Google News search; and (cheap plug alert), a more in-depth peek is available in Vault&#39;s company profiles.  The Internet does the work for you.  It&amp;rsquo;s up to you to do the research and prepare.  Get your facts straight.  With the resources at your fingertips, if you walk in and don&#39;t know anything about the company you are applying to, you fail before you even started.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;--Posted by Jon Minners, Vault.com&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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