6 Must Watch TED Talks to Help Your Career Survive This Economy

Recession, downturn, and unemployment. It is hard to watch or read the news without hearing these discouraging terms. Whether you are graduating college or grad school soon and are looking for a job or you have already graduated (perhaps many years ago) and are floundering to find ANY level position in your field of interest, this is a scary time for job searching. Just five years ago you could simply go to a career fair or apply to some jobs in your hometown and you would most likely have the choice between multiple options. The job market is not like this anymore though and you need to work hard to land a job that will actually put an advanced degree to use.

I’ve pulled together six of the best TED talks from Jonathan Fields, Chris Guillebeau and others that can help you survive this economic downtown, help you build a life around doing what you love, and learn to embrace your fears for the future.

(If you don’t have the time now to watch some or all of these videos, I hope you bookmark this page for the future and watch them eventually. I don’t just recommend these in a passing manner. If I would have watched these when I was in college who knows how different and more fulfilling my work life would be.)

I’m going to leave the text of this post short, so you can watch some of these great presentations.

Jenny Blake - Career in the Age of the App

Jenny Blake is an author, blogger, life coach, former Googler and yoga teacher. She blogs at Life After College and just recently published the book Life After College - The Complete Guide to Getting What You Want.

Charlie Hoehn - The New Way to Work

Charlie Hoehn has worked with NY Times best selling authors Ramit Sethi, Seth Godin, Tucker Max, and Tim Ferriss.

Jacob Cass - Building a Personal Brand

Jacob Cass, a prolific graphic designer in New York talks about how building a personal brand and effective use of social media got him out of some interesting debacles in life.

Chase Jarvis - Setting Your Ideas Free

In this TEDx talk, renowned photographer Chase Jarvis shares his ideas about working through creative fears and setting your ideas free.

Chris Guillebeau - Fear and Permission

Chris Guillebeau travels the world and writes for a small army of remarkable people. This talk is about crocodiles, killer whales, writing your own permission slip, and changing the world.

Jonathan Fields - Turning Fear Into Fuel

Jonathan Fields talks about how to turn fear from a source of anxiety and paralysis into fuel for action and achievement.

Which one was your favorite? Are there any other videos, presentations, or resources you would recommend to help recent college graduates land a job?

If you enjoyed any of these videos, please share the post below on Facebook or Twitter. Thank you!

Caleb Wojcik