Signpostr

Finding a job isn't what it used to be.

Compared to a year or two ago, there are less vacancies and more people competing for them. If you've just left education, it's particularly hard to stand out from the crowd at a time like this. Yet even before the economic crisis, the world of work was changing massively. A generation or two ago, many people could expect to spend forty years doing the same kind of work in similar surroundings - often for a single employer. That's not how things work any more. The career journeys of the 21st century have more twists and turns.

Signpostr is about how we navigate those journeys.

How it works

When the map is changing so fast that careers advisors struggle to keep up, how do we help each other find a way through?

Signpostr offers three starting points:

• * Talking about how things really are out there, you can find others in a similar situation, compare experiences and offer support and suggestions.
• * Sharing information about ways of finding work, living cheaply, making yourself more employable or anything else, you can help build a map of all the resources that can make it easier to navigate a difficult job market.
• * Starting projects is better than waiting for something to happen. You could organise an event, create a new group or produce a piece of work. It might just turn into something you get paid for. It'll probably make you more interesting to employers. And it's bound to be less demoralising than filling out yet another application or feeling like your life is on hold until the right employer says yes.

Talk

Use your Signpostr Profile to tell people about your situation. By talking about how you're finding things, you can find others who are in the same situation and compare notes. You can also become one of our featured bloggers, using the Stories section of the site to write regularly about your experiences navigating the job market.

Share

There are all kinds of things which are useful if you're trying to find work and to stay sane:

• * places you can get online for free
• * job fairs, training courses and events
• * ways of saving money and living cheaply

Use our Resources section to share information about all these and more.

Start

If you're looking for work - or if the job you've found isn't the thing you want to do with your life - then start organising something that builds on your skills or your passions. You might start a local meetup for other people interested in a particular subject, a campaign about an issue you care about, or a small magazine. You could set up your first business or bring people together to create a community organisation. This is what the Projects section of Signpostr is for. Tell people about the project you want to start and you'll get advice and support. You can schedule events and tell people about them, as well as holding online discussions. Whatever your project, it should be more interesting than feeling like your life is on hold until the right employer says yes! In a few cases, a project may even turn into a business or an organisation by which you can make a living. More often, it will be a great way to make yourself stand out from the crowd when you do apply for jobs.