We dug up what feels, anecdotally, like a lot of freelance job listings. We count these as successes because, well, as we've said, companies leery of hiring a full-time person will hire a freelancer first. It's baby steps, people.

Life & Style Weekly wants a freelance designer.
Bravo is seeking a senior print designer.
A Washington, DC-based PR firm is hiring a freelance web producer/project manager.
Adweek Media has an open position: a digital account executive.
The University of Arizona seeks a lecturer in communication.
PCI Communications needs a video producer/editor.
KCFreePress.com seeks a multimedia reporter.
WTEN-TV in Albany needs a night-side assignment editor.
Life Extension has an open position: a senior staff writer.
Carat Boston needs a media planner.
Virgin Atlantic is seeking a corporate communications program manager.
Cengage wants a career account manager.
Travelzoo is looking for a client and content manager.
The Rawlins Daily Times needs a reporter.
KMT Creative is hiring an art director.
The Foundation has an open position: a freelance book designer.
The Ashland Daily Tidings wants an online editor.
The Lone Star Outdoor News is hiring a journalist--who loves to hunt and fish.
INKED magazine has an open position: a features editor.
Tadcast seeks a head of ad sales.

Every day we scour major job boards, including, but not limited to Mediabistro.com's listings, to find the best media jobs out there. We screen out duplicates and scams so you know you're only receiving the top choices.

AvantGuild is premiering a new series called One Minute Mentor, presenting short-and-sweet career advice from top media pros.

In the inaugural installment, Jay Lauf, vice president and publisher of The Atlantic, shares how you know when it's time to move on from a job.

A highlight:
"After being at the first place for nearly 10 years, I'm clearly not a job hopper. But after about six months, I realized it was the wrong thing, and it was a hard thing to reconcile. On the one hand, I felt like I am dedicated to the people that hire me; I have an obligation to them. On the other hand, I think you wrestle with, 'Oh God, I think I made a bad decision. I want to accept that.'"

More here.

This article is one of several mediabistro.com features exclusively available to AvantGuild subscribers. If you're not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55, and start reading those articles, receive discounts on mediabistro.com seminars and workshops, and receive all sorts of other bonuses.

For the next few weeks, Caitlin O'Toole will be writing about her journey through unemployment for MediaJobsDaily. We'd love to hear how you like this feature, so be sure to comment or send us an e-mail.

Today I worked out. I walked from my desk to the kitchen. Distance: 10.8 feet. Then, I walked back. Distance: 12.8 feet (I dropped my pen and went back for it, gaining approximately two feet. Maybe three.)

Like approximately one in ten Americans, I have become a walking statistic. I am unemployed. Er, under-employed. A writer.

Ever since college, I've made my living working in print, TV and at .coms—FOX News (oh, hush); Star magazine (oh, hush); The National Enquirer (seriously, stop!); People.com; Parade.com. But I've been out of work—well, under-employed, anyway—since July '08. I was laid off from Parade.com—or "downsized," as we've all come to know it—quite suddenly. I was one of several. My exit was dramatic—there was blubbering and hyperventilation. I made a pitch to keep the paintings on my wall. But they belong to the company. Yes, but I picked them out! I was clearly grasping at straws, splitting hairs over David Hockney posters when what I really wanted to do was go to HR and try to convince them to give me my job back. I knew it was just the beginning of very bad times in the workplace, but I didn't really know how bad. One of the other people who was laid off that day—July 15, 2008—fainted in the hallway. I was kind of jealous that his exit was more memorable than mine. As I hyperventilated, I sent emails to select co-workers, cleaned out my hard drive, stashed a stapler and hole punch in my knapsack, and hailed a cab home. I called my parents on the way, they could barely understand me. Cait, SLOW DOWN, what's wrong? I wanted McDonalds. Things would be clearer post-Nuggets, I thought. They weren't.

continued...

The job openings rate in December 2009 was 1.9 percent, little changed from November 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

Over the month, job openings increased in state and local governments across the country, while openings decreased in the Midwest.

The industries with the highest percentage of openings are education and health services, at 2.7 percent; that's still down from 3.5 percent in December 2008.

Essentially, if a given company in America has 98 employees on its payroll, it's looking to hire two. Two.

Buck up, lads. Stiff upper lip and all that.

Just don't look at the chart below:

flickr: Hamed Saber

Arik Hanson and Valerie Simon have put together a one-day virtual event that can help.

Help A PR Pro Out Day ("An obvious play on HARO," the organizers say, with a big tip o' the hat to Peter Shankman) will be Feb. 19, from 11-3 EST. Bloggers, PR pros, and agency leaders will all "donate their time and talents to help fellow PR pros connect with employers."

What does this mean, exactly? A couple "market champions" across the country will be trying to connect jobseekers with open positions. And since its free for everyone, employers don't have to pay job boards or hire a recruiter.

You can follow the madness as Feb. 19 grows closer at HelpAPRPRoOut.com or at hashtag #HAPPO.

If you're in HR or recruiting, click below to see upcoming webinars to help you do your job more efficiently. Most of these are free and many count toward continuing education credits if you're trying to earn a certification.

Trade magazine publisher Penton Media will file for a prepackaged bankruptcy in the next few days, the company announced. It will eliminate $270 million of company debt through the Chapter 11 filing and claims that day-to-day operations will not be affected.

A Penton spokesperson told minonline that there will be no layoffs, title closures or other changes due to the bankruptcy, which is great.

More on MJD: B-To-B Publisher Penton Cuts Pay, Institutes Furloughs
Penton Closes Two Titles

• Poll: 85% Won't Create A Custom PR Plan For Prospective Clients or Employers To Get Hired (via PRNewser)
  
  
• Bloomberg Snags CQ's Armstrong (via FishBowlDC)
  
  
• O'Hara Leaves TVGuide.com (via MinOnline)
  
  
• What Are Freelancers Paid?
  
  
• when does advice become consulting? (via Ask a Manager)
  
  
• Celebrated Food Writer Marian Burros to write for Rodale.com (via MPA)
  
  
• Lois Smith: "I'm so glad I'm not doing publicity now" (via Romenesko)
  
  

Variety needs a circulation manager.
NPR needs a justice reporter/correspondent.
Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants is looking for a blog manager.
Politico needs a reporter.
The Fishko Files is hiring an assistant producer.
SPX Corporation needs a manager of external communications.
Meet the Boss TV needs a freelance TV presenter.
UPS needs a senior marketing manager.
The Ford Foundation has an open position: a media relations manager.
Alan Wofsy Fine Arts needs an editor.
Beliefnet.com is seeking a freelance marketing web producer.
The Bleacher Report is seeking a sports editing intern.
Delta Career Education Corporation has an open position: a public relations manager.
Leap Pharma is looking for a scientific strategist.
The Pohly Company has an open position: an editorial research specialist.
Penguin Group is looking for a director of brand management.
Military.com has an open position: a multimedia 'czar'.
Big Onion Group is hiring a marketing manager.
Exposure US needs a PR account director/account supervisor.
The Week magazine wants a marketing manager.

Every day we scour major job boards, including, but not limited to Mediabistro.com's listings, to find the best media jobs out there. We screen out duplicates and scams so you know you're only receiving the top choices.

The Post-Dispatch and its Newspaper Guild have been working on a new contract, which expired in June 2009, but negotiations are close to breaking down, the Guild reports.

The company is asking for, the Guild says, a 15 percent pay cut in the first year of the contract, followed by a 5 percent cut the next two years.

"We are now meeting twice a week with the company and a federal mediator is sitting in on negotiations. Things have gotten more serious."

The Guild says it expects the company to declare an impasse soon, and extend a "last, best, and final offer." The Guild believes that offer will include many of the "poisonous provisions" already discussed as well as an elimination of 401(k) matching and a pension freeze.

Lee Enterprises, the paper's parent company, posted a profit last quarter of 62 cents per share, or $27.9 million.

The Newspaper Guild has filed a complaint with federal regulators accusing Reuters of wrongfully cutting the pay of 420 employees, the New York Times reports.

Reuters apparently informed employees on Jan. 19 that contract negotiations had stalled and so the company was imposing new terms, including an increase in the cost of healthcare and the number of hours needed to qualify for overtime, which would be, the guild says, equivalent to a 10 percent pay cut.

The guild claims that there was no such stalling, therefore, it's illegal for Reuters to impose terms.

"They announced it in a memo to the staff without even telling us, when we weren't even negotiating," Bill O'Meara, president of the Newspaper Guild of New York, told Richard Pérez-Peña of the NYT.

Losing your job can be as emotionally devastating as anything. "Why wasn't I good enough?" you wonder. "Why me?" Even if hundreds of your colleagues also got pink-slipped. Even if your whole division closed. You still can't shake that voice, sometimes, whispering "I'm a failure."

If you're feeling down, don't try to go it alone. The Job Goddess, a partner of the 405 Club (so called because that's what your weekly unemployment bennies max out at), has posted some resources for you if you're depressed but think you can't afford mental health treatment.

Among the suggestions:
-Call the state mental health office in your area and ask for an agency that accepts sliding scale fees for payment.
-Join some job loss clubs in your area. These groups have mushroomed all over the place because millions are out of work. It does a world of good to know we are not alone. We are not freaks of nature because of our loss.
-Etc etc. Please don't go it alone; this stuff is serious.