Being unemployed can take a major toll on your self-esteem, your financial situation, and your desire. If prolonged, it can also have a negative impact on your competency level (i.e., keeping up with skills, experience and attributes that are in demand in the job market). But don't get down on yourself. As you look for a new job, you need to understand that there are thousands of others who are also unemployed and looking for a job.

To give yourself an edge and position yourself ahead of these other jobseekers, implement an effective job market strategy for overcoming unemployment. Here are the top 3 strategies you need to consider in overcoming your unemployment.

Strategy 1 – Create Your Own Job Opportunities: It is a statistical fact that 80% of job seekers concentrate on 20% of jobs available. You may find this puzzling, but it makes sense when you consider that these 20% of jobs are the jobs advertised through the mainstream job channels most job seekers use – newspapers and recruitment agencies. The other 80% of jobs are accessed via the hidden job market channels – and this is where you need to concentrate your efforts.

Strategy 2 – Take On Volunteer Work: It is rather shortsighted when jobseekers say they cannot do volunteer work because they don't want to work for free. This is so far from the truth when you take the time to consider what you stand to get out of it. Volunteer work achieves 5 things: it keeps your skills and experience up to date; portrays you as a hardworking, proactive individual who uses his or her initiative; puts you into the know with regard to the internal job market industry, as you now have one foot through the door at your place of volunteer work; makes you more marketable as you can put the name of the company down as place of work; and, finally, naturally gives you an edge over other job applicants as a result of the first 4 reasons. Think of it this way. If you were the employer and you were considering 2 applicants, one who does volunteer work and the other who has just remained unemployed and has done nothing, who would have the edge in your eyes?

Strategy 3 – Continuous Improvement: Never stop developing yourself. Be highly committed to self-development, especially given the impact of the information age on today's fast-paced and ever-changing world of work. Those who get jobs effortlessly are those who are on the cutting edge of their industry in terms of latest trends, technologies, training and specialized industry advancement. The good news is that there is a huge variety of affordable, sometimes free, ways to stay ahead of the curve. So commit to learning and improving yourself by participating in educational experiences such as classes or training, reading specialist publications, researching info on relevant websites, and so on.

Simply working on these top 3 areas will dramatically improve your chances of achieving your job goal in the quickest and most effective manner possible. But first a note of caution: the success of these strategies is very dependent on how well developed your job market skills are. Conduct a self-analysis of your current job market performance by taking this FREE Job Market Performance Assessment.