Want to Get Lots of Help in Your Job Search? Be a Bum

There were bums. That's before there were street people, the homeless, and the chronically unemployed. Bums did quite well for themselves. You can too. And taking on this new identity or at least threatening to could get you plenty of help in finding a job.

Despite harsh conditions, the old-time bums managed to survive and often live fairly well off others, ranging from religious organizations to relatives. Their pull power was that they were a puzzle to most mainstream people. After all it was normal, wasn't it, to study hard and do all the right things, in order to eventually get a job. Having a job then opened the door to having the rest of those adult joys like family, mortgage, and car payments.

Often the fascination with the essence of bumdom was so intense that the group or groups pitched in to transform the free spirit into a worker bee. Yes, they found the bum a job. Maybe that's exactly what the bum wanted all along: for others to find that job.

You too can try out this approach. Tell everyone you intend to be a bum. If the weather hasn't turned against such a lifestyle yet, try it out. If you can't rough it, buy a tent first and pitch it in the woods. Both the curious and caring will be out checking up on you soon enough. If you're made of tougher stuff, then hunt for a refrigerator carton. Do due dilegence about safe places to snooze. Sure enough, many -- some you never expected -- will pull out all stops for your job hunt.