One Baltimore career counselor is reportedly telling laid-off workers that no matter what industries they're from, they all have one thing in common.

"You're in the sales and marketing business right now," the Baltimore Sun quotes Stephen Gallison as telling about 50 job seekers at a recent workshop. The Sun reported that people who attend the Maryland Professional Outplacement Assistance Center's JumpStart program in Columbia receive information on strategy, interviewing, networking, resume writing and more.

According to the report, Gallison said that 2,500 people sought his center's services last year, and he expects to help twice as many this year because of the increasingly bad economy.

Some of the previously mentioned skills are more critical than ever in light of recent unemployment figures. For example, networking is an important way to find jobs that may not even be listed anywhere, while resume building skills are crucial for gaining the attention of hiring managers.

This week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 598,000 jobs were lost in January, the highest since 1974. Nationwide, 2.6 million workers have now been unemployed longer than 27 weeks, indicating the tough competition that job hunters must be prepared to face.