1. Keep news reports in perspective.A steady drumbeat of dire unemployment headlines is unlikely to boost any job seeker's morale, so try to focus on the (admittedly few) rays of hope amid the gloom. It may be useful to keep in mind, for example, that while the overall unemployment rate is stuck at 9.1%, joblessness among people with a college degree is less than half that (about 4%). "Aggregate statistics never tell the whole story," Mattson points out. "So don't let them get you down."
正确解读新闻报道。媒体一贯热衷于大肆炒作失业状况，这些自然无法鼓舞求职者的士气。所以求职者要努力在黑暗中看到希望的光芒（不可否认，机会确实很少）。比如，求职者需要记住，尽管总体失业率高达9.1%，但是在拥有大学学位的人群中，失业率还不到总体失业率的一半（约为4%），或许这样想会有所帮助。麦特森指出：“汇总统计数据永远无法全面地反映事实，因此，不要因为这些数据而感到沮丧。”

2. Become an expert on finding a job."Finding work is your job now, so treat it the way you've treated other professional challenges in the past," Mattson advises. "If someone hired you to find yourself a job, how would you go about it?"
努力成为求职专家。麦特森建议：“现在，求职就是你的工作。所以，你要像对待过往的职业挑战一样来对待求职。假设有人雇你为自己找一份工作，你会怎么做？”

The task may require some creative thinking. "Too often jobseekers rely on job boards and waste a lot of effort applying for advertised openings," Mattson observes. "But tapping into the informal job market works much better. Your church, your college alumni association, even the people you know at the gym can often be an unexpected source of great leads."
这个任务就需要发挥一些创造性思维。麦特森发现：“求职者往往过于依赖招工信息栏，花费了大量精力去申请广告中的空缺职位。但实际上，借助非正式的就业市场往往有效得多。教堂、大学校友会，甚至在健身房认识的人通常都会带来意想不到的线索。”

3. Connect with people who believe in you."Stay in close touch with people in your life who will tell you, 'Of course you can do this!'" Mattson suggests. "Being out of work for a long time is so hard on your self-esteem that you need a regular dose of encouragement from friends, former colleagues and bosses, and relatives who are on your side."
联络信任你的人。麦特森建议：“对于那些会对你说‘你肯定能做到！’的人，应该保持密切的联系。长期失业的人自尊心往往会大受打击，因此需要经常从支持你的朋友、前同事和老板，以及亲戚那里获得鼓励。”

4. Meet people face-to-face.LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are essential tools in a job hunt these days, but online social media can't replace in-person conversations. "You need to sit down with at least three contacts each week, even if it's just for a quick cup of coffee," Mattson says. "Often things come up when you're chatting with someone that you'd never learn any other way."
面对面地与人交流。目前， LinkedIn、Facebook和Twitter等社交网络已经成为找工作不可或缺的工具，但是在线社交媒体无法替代面对面的交流。麦特森说：“每周至少要与三位熟人坐下来聊一聊，哪怕只是在一起喝杯咖啡。与他人聊天往往会让你产生一些新的想法，这是其他任何方式都无法产生的效果。”

Getting out and meeting new people will also keep you from becoming isolated, she notes: "Isolation is one of the big dangers of long-term unemployment. Not only does it contribute to depression, but if you're holed up all by yourself, people who might have job leads will forget you're there."
她强调，走出家门，结交新朋友，也能让人免遭孤立。“对于长期失业的人来说，孤立是一种巨大的危险。它不仅会导致抑郁，而且，如果总是闭门不出，就算人们有了工作的机会也不会想起你。”

5. Ask everyone you meet how you can help them.It's easy to overlook the fact that you might have contacts and information that could be useful to someone else, notes Mattson. Even if not, "making a habit of asking reminds you that the whole process is reciprocal. At the very least, people appreciate that you asked, and they'll remember you for it."
主动帮助他人。麦特森表示，人们很容易忽略一个事实，那就是，你的人脉和信息可能会对其他人有所帮助。即便没有帮助，“养成主动询问别人是否需要帮助的好习惯，你会发现，整个过程是互惠的。至少，人们会感谢你主动提出帮助，并因此记住你。”