Ezra Klein Contemplates a Post-Finance Job Market: "If the financial sector is somehow shut down, or radically shrunk, they'll just go to the next most profitable industry. Doctors get paid a lot, but there are sharp constraints on supply, so you'd just have more competitive medical schools, as opposed to more doctors. We'll have a lot more lawyers. Many more management consultants. Potentially more engineers and researchers, though those gigs require specialized graduate education -- frequently in the hard sciences -- and I'd imagine there's not too much overlap between college kids interested in organic chemistry and college kids who end up in finance at 23."

Cheezhead Thinks Niche Job Sites Should Band Together: Diversity Groups have seen larger layoffs in the recession, and Rathin Sinha thinks niche sites could better serve these groups if they collaborated. "Essentially, the market needs a destination where these groups can come together. It needs a place where the right jobs for the right audiences can be searched. It needs a place where employers who want to reach all of these audiences can do so with a single click of the mouse."

Twenty Set Reveals the Secret of Young Entrepreneurs: It's Education. "When people ask me how to become an entrepreneur, I ask them, “What is something you can do this week to take the first step?” If you can’t answer that question with a tangible, actionable item, the answer for you is probably that you should get more education."

The Thin Pink Line Looks at Office Etiquette: Carol Frohlinger points to a study that shows 25% of employers have fired an employee for violating the company's email policy. She then gives some advice about how to avoid becoming one of those 25%.

Ben Casochna Makes Some Career Corollaries: Ben says the career advisers obsession with "passion" is similar to writing instructors fixation with "voice." "As with careers and passion, I don't disagree with the fundamental point here, but I do worry about the intensity with which this advice is dispensed to aspiring writers. How, exactly, are you supposed to improve the "voice" of your writing? How do you know whether the sound of the words on the page are most true to you? What is "aliveness" and can not writing have bounce in its step but still lack a singular voice that would be familiar if you heard it again?"

Finding a job that is satisfying can be the most important aspect of the job hunt. If you are happy with your job there really is no limit to what you can accomplish in your work. Everyone has a different passion, and one of the keys to success is discovering what your passion is and how you can apply that to your career.

Today's Wall Street Journal features a good Q & A with Claire Bonilla, who coordinates Microsoft's relief efforts in the wake of natural disasters. Clair'e passion was helping people, and through philanthropy she was able to align her career with her passion.

From the time I was young, I've always been involved in volunteering, reaching out and helping communities. This position marries my passions outside of work with my experience in information technology. In my most recent position prior to joining Microsoft, I was the right-hand man to the vice president of global field sales. It was a 450-person organization and I worked with governments and nonprofits on how to mobilize our partners. I'm good at identifying and marshalling resources across cultures. And the networks I've built and my understanding of the company have helped me to know which resources to pull exactly when I need them.

The article features an inside look at how Claire got to this stage of her career and can serve as a useful guide for those of you who take interest in philanthropy or relief efforts as a career option. Here is some more information on Microsoft's Disaster Response and Human Relief Efforts.

For a little Human Relief of our own, here's a fresh batch of The Links ...

The Chronicle of Higher Ed Says : Lazy, Unprepared and addicted to Wikipedia is no way to go through life.

Lindsey Pollack Conducts: An interview with personal branding savant Dan Schawbel. Dan's new book Me 2.0 is out in bookstores now and is a must read for any aspiring careerist. Don't believe me? Check out Lindey's interview for Dan's spin on how you should be branding yourself (or read today's post on Mashable).

What Would Dad Say Figured Out: The qualities that lead entrepreneurs to start their own ventures. Hint: It involves daydreaming in the shower.

Diversity Inc. Compiled: A list of the top 10 companies hiring African Americans (via Cheezhead). "The companies on this specialty list have demonstrated a long-term commitment to hiring, retaining, compensating and promoting African Americans. They do this through building strong community relationships, establishing pipelines to schools and professional organizations, and maintaining deep relationships with Black-owned suppliers."

"purple passion FSOD" photo courtesy of PinkMoose via Flickr Creative Commons.