Is family still eligible for COBRA/ARRA after I get a job?

I want to get my dream job and I have tried it, but I am still stuck. Please advise and give me your inputs.?

• I have been looking to get into international NGOs which are my dream job. I have tried to apply several jobs with number of NGO that work in the international field. I have the educational background, the passion, as well as the energy and personality to work in international humanitarian/development; but to get the job has really been very difficult. Now, I wanted to try different way: Get a plan ticket, arrange local shelter, take some pocket money and go physically to their offices in the field. Do you think this may get me job, do you think it is worth it, and do you know anyone got a job that way. Please give me your best idea and experience in such situations. Do not tell me I can volunteer local office to get a job internationally; I have tried it and it did not work. Trust me I am smart and hardworking with great experience; thus do not think my CV/resume is not prefect. In the meantime, I think; sometime, it is who you know rather than what you know, but I want go through every barrier to get my dream job.

• Answer:

  I don't work in this field, but I am not sure if your idea will work. If you would do that, you would be dealing with employees who are not decision makers. They would probably love a set of extra hands to help them, but they are not the ones making the decisions on whom to hire. They will probably not have any money to offer you as salary, and they might even be a bit annoyed if they would have to invest extra time to teach you skills that you don't have. You might even get into trouble by working in a different country without any working permit/visa. Of course, you might be lucky, but it might end up wrong as well. Rather, I would try to find out why you did not get hired the previous times. Did you apply to appropriate job openings or did you make "cold calls"? With the current state of the economy, there simply is not a lot of money to hire new people at NGO's so yo might just be hitting a rough spot. Or, in case you applied to job openings, were you invited for a job interview? If not, that would tell you that your resume might need improvement. If you were interviewed, was there any part of the interview that did not go well? Could you ask any advice from the hiring manager? Sometimes, they might give you some helpful feedback. It might be a simple typo, or lack of a particular skill - it would be good to find out. Meantime, I think it would be best to do local volunteering to add to your resume. It will be cheaper for you than to fly to a different country. Good luck!