For some people, a recession is a good time to take two years off, rather than job-hunt fruitlessly at home.

ECONOMIST: Volunteering

Mr. Issa lives with distant, better-off relatives, does occasional electronics-repair work and gets a little money from an older brother, who after a 12-year job hunt, finally found work as an electrical engineer earlier this year.

WSJ: Arab World Built Colleges, but Not Jobs

International students who do enroll at Hult's London branch are encouraged to take a three-pronged approach to the job hunt: seek sponsorship in the U.K., search for a job at a multinational company in their home country, or find a local company back home.

WSJ: For Hire: Foreign Business Students

In December 2010, Jeff Yin, 37, officially gave up a hunt for a full-time job and decided to earn his living as part of the crowd.

FORBES: Crowdsourcing and Atomized Employment

Tory MP Mr Hunt had been given the quasi-legal job of deciding the fate of satellite broadcaster BSkyB - which News Corp wanted to take full control of.

BBC: Scotland politics

Nationwide, labour-force growth has been held back as workers give up the job hunt, go back to school, retire or go on disability.

ECONOMIST: The economy

Realizing that not all aspects of the job hunt should occur online, TeamWork Online goes offline with a speed-dating, match-making idea and organizes events that bring candidates and senior team executives together to meet face-to-face.

FORBES: Want A Job In Sports? You'll Need TeamWork

If other non-defense industry companies follow their cue, 2013 could be a very good year for veterans on the job hunt.

FORBES: What Will Veterans Do For Jobs When the Defense Industry Collapses?