"I will prepare, and some day my chance will come." – President Abraham LincolnI was recently told that my columns have had a bit of a negative tone lately. Ok then, on my to-do list this week is be more positive.
As I’ve mentioned before, living the Laid-Off Life kinda sucks. But there is always good in the rough. The time you have to yourself while job hunting can be a blessing in a thinly-veiled disguise. Job hunting, while a full-time job, does not have to be an every day activity. Look at the opportunities it can afford. Projects around the house can be accomplished; clean out that closet, put in the new flooring, plant your herb garden. Spend time with your kids (if you have chosen to procreate); spend a day with them at Great Adventure, go to the park and watch them play while you access the WiFi, take them to visit grandma. Sharpen your skills by getting a job at a call center like Michael Scott or write a column for a national job-hunting website. Burned out? Spend a day at the pool. Don’t have a pool? I’m sure your employed neighbors wouldn’t mind a visitor while they’re at their spiffy job.
And don’t forget about vacations. Yes, you have no job to vacation from. I don’t see that as an obstacle. Looking for a job is hard. Don’t let anyone try to tell you you have it easy because you don’t have to get up every day, fight traffic on the Schuylkill or the Blue Route, and sit behind a desk under management’s thumb for 9 hours a day. It’s hard physically, and it’s hard emotionally. So, when you’ve had it up to here and your eyes can’t focus anymore, don’t be afraid to cash in your job-searching PTO and get out of Dodge for a few days. Don’t feel guilty about it. If you need: go. Clear up your schedule, make sure you’ve followed up on any pending applications or interviews, let your professional network know you’ll be unavailable, and give yourself a change of scenery. No one should give you a hard time, and if they do, well pffft to them because you’re on vacation and they’re not. And we was fined fifty dollars and had to pick up the garbage, but that’s not what I came to tell you about. I came to talk about timing.
There is a truth in life with enough clout that we have a pretty common saying about it: 'when it rains, it pours'. And that little ditty comes from the most reliable source of these things: advertising. That was Morton Salt’s motto, dating back to 1911, created to illustrate the point that Morton Salt was free-flowing, even in rainy weather (that was a problem? 1911 people are funny.). But whatever the station in life, this reality often comes to pass. And same goes for job hunting. When all seems down, life (and the job market) seems to like to give you a swift kick to the solar plexus. But conversely, and you can ask anyone that’s been on the job hunt for a while, opportunities and interviews come in bunches. When it rains, it pours. Make it rain, job market.
I am not sure why this happens, but ask around: it does. Recently, within the same week, I got cold-called for a copy of my résumé, contacted by an agency about a job, had an interview scheduled off of a non-job-board application, had a phone interview, and acquired a new freelance project. I’ve been so busy with current job opportunities, I’ve barely had time to, you know, look for more jobs. Doesn’t mean I’ll get one of these jobs (but I’m hopeful), but it does kind of put a little momentum at your back, like a good kick to the solar plexus. Life can be very opportune when it wishes to be, and often knows when to pick you up when you need it.
As I’ve pointed out time-and-time-again, the biggest key to keeping up your energy, your impetus along the job search superhighway is to just remember that you are not alone. Last month (July 2010), employment declined by another 131,000 persons, with the unemployment rate remaining at 9½ percent. The number of 'long-term unemployed' folks (those jobless for over half a year) remained at 6.6 million. Persons employed "part-time for economic reasons (or involuntary part-time workers)" is a staggering 8.5 million, with an additional 2.6 million 'marginally attached' workers and 1.2 million 'discouraged workers'. For an economy supposedly in miniscule recovery, those aren’t positive statistics. If you are unemployed like me, or part-time, marginally attached, or 'discouraged' (wow, I love that official term), you are still one of 27 million that are in the same sputtering boat. So don’t be down on yourself; chances are that a lot of the problem doesn’t lie within you. It’s the economy, stupid. So take solace in the fact that you’re trying your best (aren’t you?) and you’re in a very large fraternity.
So, take the little victories. Every call back, every interview, every lead, every cold call puts you a little closer, and the storm’s a-brewin’. Keep doing what you're doing and keep looking up, and if I haven’t stressed enough lately, keep on your social network; work your friends and former colleagues because they are the number-one source for leads and recommendations these days. And when you can, step back and take a breath, whether that means take a vacation or take a trip to Rita’s. Whatever keeps you sane(r). And during the times when things seem bleak, and no one is returning your phone calls, and interviews aren’t coming, and it feels like your résumés are floating out in the nothingness of cyberspace, and you’re reading about Tony Hayward is getting $17 million in severance for destroying the Gulf, just know that with effort and attitude on your part, the good, warm rains will come falling again. And when it rains, it pours.
So you better pass the Morton Salt. I hear it’s free-flowing.
Michael Hochman
LaidOffLife@yahoo.com ◙ Laid-Off Life on Twitter ◙ Laid-Off Life on Facebook
Michael is a Copywriter, Creative Marketer, and Broadcasting Professional still in search of full-time employment after 14 months of full-time job hunting, thanks to an "involuntary career sabbatical". A Philly native and Syracuse graduate, Michael will gladly accept any job offer you may have for him. Any. Really. Please give me a job??"Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called everybody, and they meet at the bar." - Drew Carey
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