The Kindness of Strangers

As the recession grinds on, finding job leads become harder. You may still be scouring job boards, Craigslist, or what have you, for the latest postings, but chances are you've already run through your list of contacts and tapped the farthest reaches of your network. Then what?

Well, the Wall Street Journal wants to tell you about this curious phenomenon of Strangers Lending a Helping Hand:

"Alarmed by the nation's rising unemployment rate, many working Americans are going out of their way to help their laid-off counterparts -- often complete strangers -- secure new positions. They're sharing job leads, leveraging their networks and making referrals and often putting their own reputations on the line...'Adversity often brings out a generosity and compassion,' says Tim Irwin, an organizational psychologist in Atlanta."

So what do you think, Pink Slippers*? Are you finding this to be true in your rose-colored world? Are people really becoming kinder and more helpful? And if you're reading this blog and still employed, why not send us the Pink Slipped community some tips? If you know of anybody hiring, or are willing to give advice, feedback, etc., please e-mail us at pinkslipped@vault.com, or just leave us comments. Maybe people don't really suck after all!

--Posted by Linda Petock, Vault News & Commentary

*Apologies for referring to our community of readers confection-colored loungey footwear--any other advice out there for what we should call ourselves?