(October 01, 2002) -  So, the third quarter is behind us, thankfully. In spite of what you may have read, September did not pan out for most of the vendors in the space. Expect disappointing quarterly reports from the public companies. It's a great time to be a privately held enterprise with plenty of cash in the bank. For the most part, that means it's a great time to be a newspaper.

For the rest of us (and who would have bet the downturn would last this long), it's all about hunkering down for the long haul. While there are pockets of growth to be realized in the coming months, most of the current crop of survivors will simply continue to tread water. It's a courageous few who can muster the energy to focus on growth.

As is usually the case, the greatest opportunities happen when few are able to take advantage of them. In other words, this is a market window that is beyond the thinking of most of the players. Some simple news reminders should help you see the point.

• Check out Google's new news service. Like many of Google's endeavors, this project will revolutionize access to the news while adding further pressure on subscription content. The completely automated process searches out, ranks and publishes the critical news of the day. It can't and doesn't deliver news that has a subscription price. Already rerouting the web's news readers by the carload, this looks like the place where a serious recruitment advertising play would work.

• You've certainly heard about Starbuck's moves to have wireless internet connections installed in major locations. (All 15 around our house now work.) Yesterday, we reported on the New York Times deal with Starbucks. How long do you suppose it takes for the coffee shop to become the local employment office? If the big used-to-be-innovative firms weren't so quarterly focused, this would have been a no-brainer. (How about CareerBuilder teaming with Adecco to use Starbucks as an interview center?)

• Although HotJobs was purchased by Yahoo as a cash-cow, it hasn't worked out that way. Concerns over the job boards drain on parental resources are still making the news. But, market share battles never proceed fast enough for Wall Street. We're expecting the price slashing street battle to begin to produce results if the market ever turns the tiniest bit North.

• Since candidates are cheap, it's beginning to look like no one is paying attention to the candidate experience. Let's see, what is a job board's role in making sure that an ad is suitable?

• Like Webmasters a decade ago, bloggers are in the market for their own job board. You'd think that some part of our industry would be strongly focused on the development of these new, high profile sorts of jobs.

At any rate, it's worth considering that this is as good as the economy may get for a while. The question for all of us is how to innovate while keeping our noses to the grindstone. The answer, surprisingly, is as easy as the decision required to stop waiting for better days and get on with seizing the opportunities in front of us.

 -John Sumser