If you are sending out many résumés and getting few interviews, it’s tempting to accept the first job offer you get. In a strong economy, you can probably decline the offer if it’s not a good match. However during the current recession, that might not be the best strategy.

        “In this economy, take any job you can,” says Todd Steen, professor of economics at Hope College in Holland, Mich. “Just about any type of work builds up your résumé, builds up your human capital and provides income.”

        There’s nothing wrong with taking a temporary step down, he says.

        “If you are a manager you might have to take a job as an assistant manager to tide you over,” he says. “What’s the other option, to do nothing?”

        Some people are more willing than others to settle for a less than perfect job. Steen points out that recent graduates and other twentysomethings are likely to be able to live with their parents, so they can hold out for a job that they really like. The laid-off manager who is 50 years old and has to pay a mortgage might be less picky.

        Even if it is a job at a lower level than what you worked previously, it’s better to work than not to work.

        “It keeps you focused,” Steen says. “When you sit around you don’t make as much progress, but if you are in a job it gives you reason to get up in the morning.”

        It also gives you a chance to continue networking. You can meet people at work and find out about opportunities that are not posted on job boards or ads.

        Perry Sholes, vice president of talent management and inclusion for Lexington, Ky.-based Thomas and King, says sometimes you can settle for a job for a short term.

        “If I had an offer and that offer included only one week vacation, I would say I really need two weeks but if my unemployment benefits are running out, you know what, for a year or two I may be OK with that,” he says.

        Thomas and King is a franchise company that owns and operates 90 Applebee’s and seven Carino’s Italian restaurants.

        You don’t need to tell your potential employer you only plan to stay for a year or two. They know employees in general aren’t staying at one employer forever anymore.

        “The generations are different,” Sholes says. “Baby boomers took jobs and expected to stay forever, but Gen Y doesn’t think of it that way. They think, ‘Hey, I’ll work at this job and get a couple years’ experience.’ That’s become more commonplace.”

        Steen agrees.

        “The employer will lay you off at the drop of a hat,” he says. “There is not the expectation you are going to stay there forever.”

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