How to Help a Friend Job Search by Alison Doyle

Referred Link - http://jobsearch.about.com/b/2013/08/06/how-to-help-a-friend-job-search.htm

In fact, job searching can still be difficult - even if you still have a job. I've heard some great ideas for helping friends, family, ex-colleagues, and others who are in the midst of a job search. I thought it would be a good idea to start a list and to ask for suggestions for more ways to help a friend who is job searching.
How to Help a Friend or Family Member Who is Job Searching

• Offer to proof their resume and cover letters
• Forward relevant job leads
• Give them a break - take them out for coffee or a meal
• If you've worked with them, write a recommendation on LinkedIn
• Don't ask them why they haven't found a job yet
• Provide an introduction to a connection who may be able to help
• Offer to baby-sit or provide transportation to job interviews
• If you can afford it, give them a gift certificate to a grocery store
• If you can really afford it, offer financial help
• Refer them to a job club or job search networking group
• Buy back to school supplies for their kids

Do keep in mind that even if you offer help, the person you are helping may be too proud to accept. In that case, you can always be creative. A friend and I once chipped in to buy a grocery store gift card for another friend whose husband had been laid off. We put it in a "thinking of you" greeting card and left in her mailbox so she didn't know who it came from and didn't have a chance to turn it down.