Okay, so this post over at U.S. News appeared on Wednesday and here it is Friday, but WG has been out of town and is just now catching up.

It’s, unsurprisingly for the season, all about why and how we should be making room for a little gratitude in our lives.

Hope you’ve having a great weekend!

Yes, a job, even a job you are grateful to have, can stress you out so much it makes you ill.  Or keeps you up at night.  Or drives you crazy.  Or makes you sad.  Or all of the above.

If that’s your situation, see this post for some ideas for handling adversity at work.  And, hang in there.

You most likely know this, but here’s a reminder: 

The one part of the economy that has remained strong during the Great Recession is health care.

Health care employment has actually gone up, at the same time that employment in general is headed toward the toilet.  What’s more, given that the fact that each baby boomer gets a little older every day, this trend is likely to continue. 

Check out this item, with revealing graphs, from yesterday’s NYT.  And read that list twice: “registered nurses, personal and home care aides, home health aides, nursing aides, orderlies and attendants, medical assistants, licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, pharmacy technicians, and physicians and surgeons.”

Keep in mind that not all health care jobs involve working with patients, or even require a medical degree.  If you are an IT whiz, for example, you may be able to transfer your skills to the burgeoning eletronic medical records industry.  Of course, there’s also health administration (huge potential there); think marketing, fundraising, billing, government relations, and HR. 

Don’t forget veterinary medicine!  Or dentistry, or mental health, or occupational health. 

Here’s a good starter Q&A on jobs in the health care industry.  Also this Ten Step Guide to a Career in Health Care from Monster (requires a lot of clicking, but it’s informative).

It’s hard enough looking for a job nowadays.

When you are turned down because an employer thinks you’re “overqualified”–that’s even harder.  If this is happening to you, mosey on over to today’s post at the U.S. News & World Report.  Good luck.

Looking for a job?  Feeling you could use some help with your cover letter, résumé, and interview skills?  Here’s an opportunity to get all those things for free over at PongoResume.com.

How?  The fine folks at Pongo have kindly offered Working Girl five free months of their services.  So Working Girl is gonna spread the wealth and give away a free month of job hunting help to the first five people who speak up.

All you have to do is comment on this post and Working Girl will send you the secret code to access the Pongo services.

No one wants to spend more than they have to for anything.  Especially nowadays.  So good luck!

UPDATE #1:  It’s nearly 4 p.m., PST, and there’s one month left……

UPDATE #2:  Okay it’s 4:30 and the contest is closed.  Congrats to the five winners!  I’ll be sending you your secret code in a few minutes.

Okay, so you still have a job.  Yay!

But your boss is a bully.  Or lazy.  Or incompetent.  Or racist.  Or a lech.  Or……just a bad boss. 

Boo.

If so, check out today’s regular Wednesday post over at U.S. News & World Report.  There just might be something there that helps.

Looking for a job involves a lot of detective work.  Like any Agatha Christie character, you constantly follow clues.  You interview many people.  You start down promising paths, learn they’re not going anywhere, and then try new ones.

Hercule Poirot thought he was the greatest detective in the world and haughtily refused all help, but modern jobhunters can and should benefit from observing how others tackle the jobhunt mystery.  You won’t look for a job exactly the way someone else does, because you are you, but you can learn from the experience and ideas of others.

On that note, take a moment to check out this “Job Search Tips from the Experts” feature from Career Rocketeer.  You might get some clues.