Created: 5/18/2009 5:37:05 PM 
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Carlos Gil was an up-and-comer with financial giant AIG until the economy took its toll.
"On November 6 I received a notice that I was laid off," said Gil.
There it was. A pink slip in black and white -- though his life was in living color.
"At the time I unfortunately had a wife who was eight months pregnant!"
But Gil didn't sit idly by licking his wounds. He fired up the computer and got to work.
"I got involved with online networking. I realized very quickly that there was a community out there of folks such as myself that had been laid off, and these folks needed help."
Shortly after that Carlos Gil came up with his personal slogan:
"I've just been laid off. Please let me help you!"
And helping he is -- through his job connection website, JobsDirectUSA.com.
"There's a big gap out there between America's unemployed and the companies that are hiring," said Gil.
So Gil is closing that gap, one clicking client at a time.
"As a resource where job seekers could go and create a profile for free and companies can go and post unlimited job ads for a very small fee."
The result, he says, has been exponential growth in both applicants and companies hiring.
Carlos Gil is also the young entrepreneur who brought the concept of "pink-slip parties" to Jacksonville, bringing job seekers with pink wristbands to local clubs to meet recruiters wearing blue wristbands.
His first pink-slip party a few weeks at the Twisted Martini at the Landing drew more than 200 people, with several of them landing new jobs.
There are more than 10,000 users now listed on his website, with more signing up each day.
"We have large companies that are posting on JobsDirectUSA.com," said Gil.
It's large companies like Discover and insurance giant Liberty Mutual. And Gil says each day more players are calling.
"I'm fielding calls on a daily basis from some very big players that are going to be posting with us shortly."
And though for now his workspace is shared with his toddler's bedroom, this entrepreneur is setting his own bar and goals to eternity.
"The response I'm getting from a lot of folks is, 'Thank you for doing what you're doing. Because if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be on my way to my next interview. I wouldn't be meeting so many recruiters!'"
