Nearly 42 percent of the 14.8 million Americans who are out of work fall into the category of "long-term unemployed," according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, meaning they have been jobless for 27 weeks or more.The longer you've been unemployed and engaged in a job search, the harder it gets to land anew job, according to career and staffing experts. Job seekers who've been out of work for, say,a year or more, face multiple challenges. Not only are they competing with employed professionals, they're also battling with job seekers who've been out of work for less time.In February 2012, there were 235 Applicants for One Job at the City of Eden PrairieA job opening at the Deschutes County jail resulted 273 people applying for one job. A landfill attendant job opening in 381 applications, while a job opening for a building maintenance specialist at the jail resulted in 177 applications, according to Tracy Scott, a human resources analyst and office supervisor for the county.If you're looking for a job, but you're limiting your job search to the obvious sources like newspaper want ads, job web sites, and Craig's List, then you may find your application on the bottom of a really big applicant pile. If you don't want to get lost in the growing job search crowd, you'll need to find a way to outsmart your job-seeking competition. Use this book to side step the competition, find job openings, beat the recession and get off the unemployment line fast.You cannot afford to be like everyone else. You cannot afford to play fair by doing what everyone else is doing. You need to break out from the crowd, distinguish yourself from even betterqualified applicants, move to the head of the line and STEAL THAT JOB.