Three reasons you're stuck in neutral with your job search and how to jumpstart things!

It's been two weeks since your boss called you into her office and delivered the bad news. You lead a whole division and brought in your firms biggest client. So why is it taking you so long to land your next job?

Here are 3 easy steps to get things going for you when it seems you've ran into a brick wall in your job search.

• Do your homework. No one guaranteed a job. Anything can happen at anytime and it's best to always prepare and have a plan B. If you were one of the stars of your office and have suddenly found yourself looking for work, you probably gave 110% to your job. You should be lauded for not spending precious hours looking for a job on company time. But it wouldn't have hurt when you're online choosing your fantasy football team or shopping on eBay to take a gander at the job posts. But we can't change the past, we must push forward. Who do you want to work for? Do you now anyone there? Start doing your homework. You can check out all the usual places, WashingtonPost.com, Careerbuilder, Indeed, Simplyhired, for a start. But my all-time favorite site has become Linked.com. This site is not that heavy on job announcements, but lets say you want to work for HBO Inc. Just type in the company name and you'll get a list of employees -- who are on Linkedin of course -- and their contact information. Now some may give their e-mail address, but others can supply a phone number. So how cool is that? Try it!
• Put together your game plan. Okay, so you've had your head down for the past 5, 10 or 15 years working and you've been let go. Don't just think that you'll be able to land another job because you've worked hard. Oh, no, it takes far more than that these days. Think about companies you'd like to work for. What are you bringing to the table? Are you resourceful? Are you a natural leader. Will your current clients follow you to your next gig? Are you fluent in Chinese? Write down your strengths and make that part of your game plan and how you are going to market yourself to your new employer.
• Change your routine. You probably snagged your last job by going to the employer's website, completing an online application, they called you, you interviewed, they offered you the job. The end. However, today's jobs aren't always snagged so neatly. Networking has become the new vetting and often the first interview. Picture it. You're at the quarterly Web Developers of Greater Baltimore meeting introducing yourself. You let Betty Thomas, whom you've just met, know that you've been laid off. She asks what you're looking for. You let her know that you were director of your IT department and had oversight over building the company's portal. She sounds impressed and quickly introduces you to Ned Green who is looking for someone to do just that. Ned may ask you to key questions and you have this opportunity to ask Ned some pretty important questions to. He gives you his card and asks you to give him a call. See how much more fun that is than filling out an online application that may or may not get read at all by the hiring manager?

We all get stuck in ruts. So it's important to shake things up a little bit. Don't always expect to find only apples on your apple tree. Every once in awhile a bird builds a beautiful nest.

It's just a job!