Update

I was writing a letter to a professor today with regards to my job search.  He'd asked me how the search was going.  I told him that I'd had a few interviews and had a few more upcoming.  Another thing occurred to me: job hunting can be fun with the right mindset.

What do I mean by this?  Obviously un(der)employment is a stressful thing.  However, it can also be a time of tremendous growth and learning.  Personally, I'm interested in working in several fields, including entrepreneurship and finance.  For the purposes of this post, I'll talk about entrepreneurship. 

Let's start at the beginning of the process: finding a job to which you wish to apply.  In my case, I'm searching for small, entrepreneurial startups with business development openings.  These types of jobs are a little harder to find than, for instance, a job as a financial analyst.  Therefore some more in-depth searching is required.  I started off by identifying some of the more prominent Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors, the people who are likely to know about startups.  Identifying them required me to read various blogs and listen to an assortment of podcasts.  Identifying the "players" required met to sift through, and learn, a great deal of information that I otherwise may not have been exposed to.  Once I identified the "players" I followed them on Twitter, read their blogs, etc.  I read the articles they wrote and read the links they posted on twitter.  Again, learning more and preparing myself for the interviews that will come as a result of my work. 

Once I identify a job to which I would like to apply, I focus my research onto that particular business.  How does it monetize?  How does it grow?  What is the business model?  How do they differentiate from their competitors?  A good interviewer will expect you to be able to contribute something original in the interview.  So, rather than just absorbing a bunch of information off of the website's About Us page, I typically find myself researching successful businesses that were in a similar situation as an early stage startup.  The amount of research, organization and analysis required to prepare for an interview is tremendous.  Nevertheless, it can be fun if you actually enjoy the research.  (In fact, if you find yourself bored by the research or actively dislike it..there's a good chance that the job or industry isn't for you.  You should be excited by the opportunity.)  This research will eventually make you a better employee for whomever you work.

So, to give you the brief answer to the question posed by my professor at the beginning- the job search continues, and that's not such a bad thing.