My biggest resolution this year is to attack my laziness. My kind friends don’t see that I’m lazy. They point out that I stay in touch with many network contacts, place calls, write posts, and talk to those in my field (both employed and unemployed). I'm also actively seeking short-term projects if not regular employment. How is that lazy?

Ah, but we know ourselves, don’t we? I read about a new book on crowd behavior and my lazy side said, “Augh! Statistics! Stay away!” A book on media, marketing and psychology is published and I don’t inquire if my library carries it. My lazy side says, “I’m tired of all this. You’re not even working so why do you need to learn all that stuff? Let’s sees what’s on TV.”

If laziness is sucking away my ambition and optimism, then learning is the antidote. Marketing expert Greg Santell writes an incredibly thoughtful column about marketing and advertising called Digital Tonto. He recently observed that many social media "gurus" are adept at explaining how a network works (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) but not why. He listed some of the books he has read to gain a better understanding of social media and networking. I intend to read as many as I can over the next several months:

• Six Degrees (Duncan Watts) and Linked (Albert-László Barabási) explain how Network Theory developed and works. 
• Related to Network Theory is the emerging science of Chaos.
• I’m leaning toward Benoit Mandelbrot’s The Misbehavior of Markets and James Cliek’s Chaos.
• How the Mighty Fall, by Jim Collins, is an overview of how companies get into trouble and how they might be able to pull themselves out.
• Santell also recommends Talent is Overrated by Fortune editor Geoff Colvin.

Ambitious reading perhaps, but I don’t want to be content just learning what is—I want to understand why. I have gotten as far as I have personally and professionally as a result of my curiosity. It’s time to feed that curiosity again.

With the advent of social media, there are more avenues than ever to reach the hopefuls running for political office. At least that's what I thought when I sought background information on nearly 100 political candidates for a freelance project.

It should have been easy. After all, it is just two months before the primary and candidates should be incredibly accessible to the media. However, 13 percent of the candidates running for Illinois state offices or U.S. Congress had no online presence, including Facebook, MySpace or blogs. 

For the candidates who had Web sites, 40 percent did not include a contact name, 14 percent did not have a contact number, and 15 percent offered no email address (not even a generic 'info @ candidatename2010.com').

I thought I would be clever and collect the missing intel from the candidates' news releases but even those lacked vital contact details. Then I called the state Republican and Democratic party offices; they had even less information than I did.

Every election has amateurs. They collect enough signatures to appear on the ballot but they're unsure what to do next. Yet many of the flawed sites were created for the professional politicians, the ones you'd think would want to be found by the media.

What was amazingly consistent was the huge DONATE HERE box prominently displayed on their homepages.  I didn't know exactly where the money was going, but I was assured that PayPal would get my donation there safely. At least their priorities are clear.

If you're looking for internship or volunteer opportunities, check out the sites of your local political body. You might find a lot of folks happy to use your expertise, provided you can reach them.

So you want to find a communications job. You search the job boards, remove all the references to telecommunications, sales and programming, and find perhaps two positions open. Perhaps.

A recruiter who spoke to my networking group this week said those who rely only on the job boards and aggregators (Simply Hired, Indeed) are missing a lot of opportunities. Her suggestions below are as suitable for internship hopefuls as they are for long-term professionals.

1.  Join relevant associations. Yes, some of the dues are crazy expensive when you're living on unemployment or less. But these are people who KNOW people.  Volunteer for committees, get your face and name out in the crowd. The more you mingle, the greater the opportunity that someone will be impressed with your skills. If you're broke (like me) and can't pay the fees, find a member who is willing to take you as a guest to a key function or two.

While we're on the subject, I am addressing the board members of these great associations: Give unemployed members a break on the fees! It would hurt less to offer discounts than to lose them entirely.

2) Use Hoovers, Crain's magazine, Fortune, etc. listings of "best companies" to compile a target list. Check those companies' web sites regularly. A lot of companies are cutting their recruiting costs by posting only on company sites and letting employee word of mouth do the trick.

3) Read industry-specific blogs and get to know the bloggers. They have lots of contacts, too. Comment on their articles, share ideas with them, and get a feel for what they can use. They have their ears to the ground and usually are glad to share that info with a friend in need.

4) Attend workshops and seminars that attract people in your target industries. Don't just think "communications" either. Human Resources workshops on state and federal laws or Marketing workshops are useful no matter where you land. Ask your new acquaintances what you can do for them, and they'll often return the favor down the line.

Final note: I explained Facebook to my 70-year-old father-in-law. He's been thinking about it, and told me today he finally understood it all. "Facebook is the party line for the 21st Century!" he said proudly. I think he nailed it.

According to several job search experts, more than half of the jobs available in the U.S. are not posted on job boards or with recruiters.  Job hunters are encouraged to develop contacts within "target" companies and forward their resumes to the decision makers. Hopefully, one of those decision makers will say "Eureka! This is just what we've been looking for even though we haven't told anyone that the position is open yet. Call this person right away for an interview!"

(Sidenote: I have met people who received offers for jobs that weren't even on the organizational chart yet. Someone liked their qualifications and said "we need someone like you."  It's unusual but it has happened. I went on a job interview two months ago for a job "in the making" that hadn't been posted yet. Unfortunately, they haven't committed to making that job a reality.)

I need to develop a list of companies that I want to work for. Then I will pursue contacts with those companies, whether they have official openings or not.  Size is irrelevant to me, since I have worked for small, medium and large companies. I have also worked with non-profits (pro bono), family-owned, private and public businesses.  I have no preferences. 

The "best companies to work for" lists rarely mention internal or customer communications, so I need your feedback. From an employee and/or executive communications perspective, which companies would YOU select as your dream companies? Which ones would you recommend I pursue?

I really need your help with this. Thanks!