Since the unemployment rate continues to rise, it is increasingly clear that those of you who are searching for work may not only need to think outside the box, but possibly, work outside the box, too. Let me explain what I mean.

If everyone is job hunting for the same jobs in the same way, it’s hard to get noticed, right? Since there are more people unemployed than there are jobs, you’ll need to do something different to get the attention of a potential employer. So, here’s a few creative Money Coaching Tips on How to Land a Job:

1. Volunteer to Train for Free. Almost all new jobs require some period of training before you’re able to begin working on your own. Training is a cost that employers have to bear without any guarantee that the new hire will work out. If you volunteer to train for free, it takes that risk away and allows them a benefit rather than a cost of hiring you. It also tells them you are serious enough about the job to train for free.  

2. Offer a 30-Day Trial. If you really want to work for a particular company, offer to sign a 30-day trial employment period. If for any reason they are not happy with you, agree to resign but tell them…”I think you’ll be so pleased with my performance that you won’t want me to leave.” Then make sure you live up to that comment.

3. Become an Intern. I recently conducted a search on Craigslist and found hundreds of internships available in a variety of fields, many of them paid! An internship is a great way to get valuable experience and possibly even get hired later (as the economy improves) for a full-time job. Check out Craiglist postings in your area.

Here’s a prayer for finding meaningful work:

Dear God,
I feel that  my life is less than it should be.
I cannot find my freedom or my passion.
I have so much inside me that stays shut down, that isn’t free.
I hurt so much to know I am not living at full force.
My talents are not used as I wish.
My abilities are not fully formed
My energies are suppressed.
Dear Lord, I do not know how to break free of the ways I constantly negate myself.
I hold myself prisoner somehow.
I know I do.
I know it is my own illusion, this prison in which I love, yet I cannot break free, though I try so hard.
Please, dear God, break down the walls that surround me.
Melt this prison.
Free my soul that I might be as You would have me be:
Free to live,
To soar,
To create,
To love,
To feel passion for good,
To do the good with passion.
I wish to fly.
I wish to feel Your full abundant spirit in me.
Give me this miracle.
Thank You.
Amen.

~ Marianne Williamson