Virginia Bola

If you have been unemployed for an extended period of time, you know that potential employers are going to look at your long period of unemployment with a jaundiced eye.

The premise of networking is that most people find a job through someone they know. It may be a direct referral or, more likely, indirectly hearing about an opening that seems suitable.

Don't be surprised or upset if you don't experience an unalloyed sense of joy and optimism when you finally obtain the job you have been seeking for so long.

In a world where employees are tethered to their workplaces virtually around the clock, by laptops, cell phones, and blackberries, the traditional balance of home and work has crumbled.

Acknowledging the pressures and emotional swings of unemployment and job search will help you look at the situation more objectively and allow you to continue to function in other important areas of your life, those not connected with work or income.

Here are seven proposals to permanently address the "Unemployment Problem."

Start a job search diary right now. Even if you have been unemployed for some time, start one anyway because a late start is better than never doing it at all.

Finding quiet time together is often difficult for couples in our overly busy lives. The payoff of making the effort is an increased intensity in your special relationship.

Reframing your commitment to your marriage as 100% rather than 50-50 changes expectations, contributions, and the level of partner satisfaction.

An occasional change of our looks and our demeanor develops a new awareness in each partner and shakes out the cobwebs from the habits and routine of long time marriages.