When the hell will this thing be over?

I answered an unknown number today because I thought it may be from one of the companies to whom I sent a resume that decided immediately upon reading my credentials that not only should I be hired and paid a six figure salary, but I should be inserted as CEO and given full reign of their construction operation. Well, it didn't work out exactly as I had hoped, but at least it wasn't the IRS calling (not that there would be anything wrong with that).

It was actually who I thought was a recruiter and the conversation went kind of like this:

"Hi, my name is so-and-so from so-and-so and I wanted to follow up with you to see if you needed any help with your job search."

"Uh, yeah. A little help wouldn't be bad."

I felt like telling her that if she wanted to help she could tell me when we're going to be out of this
God-for-saken mess and unemployment rates in the AEC industry would start dipping lower instead of quickly approaching levels not seen since the Great Depression. However, I remained cool and calm (as always) and continued the conversation.

"I'm seeing 12 open construction management positions in your area and for the small fee of $49.95 per month we will contact these companies directly and move your resume to the top of the pack."

I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm going to pay $49.95 to do something I can do myself, especially when I'm unemployed. So I declined the offer politely.

I started to think however, of what would happen if the construction industry starts coming back at about the same rate it fell. As quickly as heads rolled, companies will be hiring every man, woman, and child that can write his or her name and knows what street they live on. Recruiters will have a bluetooth in each ear (separate clients) while writing an email, instant messaging and hand shaking their last meeting. I suppose that's the feast or famine nature of the AEC industry.

But once things improve and we're all sitting around laughing about how nervous we were back '09 when nobody had a job, let's make a little thought toward prevention. Perhaps we can somehow avoid such a dramatic drop off a cliff that would even give Wile E. Coyote a few beads of sweat.

When the hell will this thing be over?