In a down economy, the greatest asset you have to sell is your knowledge and intellectual resources. When business gets tough, the demand for people who can think strategically and deliver results goes up, not down.

We’ve all seen the pictures in the papers of down-and-out businessmen wearing sandwich boards that say GIVE ME A JOB; it’s a sign of the times. As I told Dawn Klingensmith of the Philadelphia Inquirer, nobody likes a pest. The last thing you want is to give off the smell of desperation during your job search.

But we all make mistakes, especially when we’re getting a foot in the door. So I’d like to hear from you: what are the most desperate things you’ve done to try and get a job? Tell me your story in the comments.

Philly.com has a great article advising college students to major in what interests them instead of the “golden majors” that are “guaranteed” to get them a job and a big salary after graduation.

It’s hit the nail on the head. First of all, there are no guarantees. Especially not now. So don’t listen to anyone who tells you that such-and-such an area of study makes you a shoe-in for a six-figure job right out of school.

Second, do you really want to be doing a job that you have no interest in doing? How do you expect to remain competitive and keep pushing yourself in your field if you don’t care about your field? How will your career advance if you don’t have the passion to take it as far as it can go?

There are tons of job boards and employment web sites, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t take advantage of them. Free resources are especially helpful to those in job seeking mode.

If you’re on LinkedIn, consider joining the Star:Candidate group for up-to-date job listings and tips.

Employment Digest is another place to find help with resumes, job news, and more. Here’s a video interview I did with them. They have lots of other great videos too.

When the job market is down and your competition has decided to sit out the rest of the game, that’s the worst time for you to quit, because now you can have everyone’s attention. There’s actually much less noise out there for your message to compete against. Push now, and you’ll be heard. Leverage smart career strategies, and you’ll get noticed.

The Atlantic has an interesting look at the job postings per capita in several American cities. As you can see, it looks like Washington, DC wins by a landslide. Unsurprisingly, Detroit has the worst ratio.

When the job market is as weak as it is right now, many people focus on how this impacts the seasoned worker: the manager who’s been laid off after 25 years at the firm, or the executive who finds herself without a job when the company goes under.

But for first-time job seekers, the people who are supposed to be starting their careers with a bang, are as affected as well. Recent graduates may become paralyzed with the fear that they will never find a job, let alone one in their chosen field.

Here is a Q&A I did recently with Heather Huhman of Examiner.com. We discuss tips for entry-level job seekers of all kinds. Well worth a look.

No matter where you are in your career and no matter what your salary level, if you have the right mindset, you’ll accelerate your job search and elevate yourself over other candidates in all sorts of tangible and intangible ways. Get the Job You Want Even When No One’s Hiring provides you with both the mindset and skill set to take charge of your career, find a job you love, and earn what you deserve.

The most valuable thing you have to offer to an employer is your mindset, not your skill set. You are capable of things beyond what you’ve done in the past. Remember that potential when you’re looking to be hired.

I was recently interviewed by TheCreativeCareer.com on this subject. Take a listen to the audio interview if you have a moment.

Would you like to know the number-one secret of how to get a job when no one’s hiring? Would you like to know the key—and sometimes the only—difference between people who are out of work for three months and three years? It’s simple: Mind-set comes before skill set.