When you lose your job it can be devastating. It’s as if we lose ourselves. But taking a new look as the experience as merely a bridge to something else, something new can be a godsend.

Being unemployed can be overwhelming. We frequently want to unplug the phone, pull down the blinds, and watch television until our eyes fall out. That’s not the answer. Decide what is the MOST important to do that day, like:

  • Get an interview
  • Meet new people
  • Make $50
  • Laugh

Do Traditional Things to Get a Job:

  • Register with employment agencies
  • Post your resume on online services
  • Spiff up your resume and interview skills by practicing with everyone who will listen to you (standing in line at the grocery store, walk into a store and stick the resume in the owner’s nose to ask him/her what does he/she think of it?) (Of course when you go for a specific job you will need to tailor your resume for that position and company.)
  • Take an interim job that will just bring in some money and help you survive. ( see our story: Guarding Gloves.)
  • Join professional groups related to your field and go to every function with business cards in hand!

Not so Traditional Things that will have tremendous impact: Remember that 70-80% of jobs are not advertised. In this case it’s all about being there. For example:

“Who needs job fairs when you have children’s birthday parties?

I was just trying to wipe icing off of my 2-year-old’s face and there he was: the next person I needed to hire. In about two sentences, he went from “M’s dad” to the writer for a project I am working on. I hadn’t even gotten around to placing a job ad yet. Now, with any luck, I won’t have to.” SmartBlogonWorkforce

  • Offer to do things free for your neighbors (I’ve been laid off, I have Saturday afternoon free if you need help with your deck, or with the baby….)
  • Volunteer like crazy. bigstockphoto_Party_23585Not only will you feel great but you will be making fantastic contacts and learning new skills. Contact the United Way to see who needs volunteers. Try to choose small to mid-sized organizations. If you choose the really large groups, like your local children’s hospital, the opportunities to get next to people of influence will be limited.
  • Join some clubs you never thought of , like a writer or gardener’s group, an inventor’s group, an astronomy group, etc. Most of these people have jobs or are well connected in the community.

Six a Bit More Bizarre Things that Will Give You Results:

  1. Give away something with your resume attached: Lifesavers or hotdogs or a balloon wrapped in your resume at the kids sports fields on Saturdays or the bowling alley on Friday night (get permission of course.)
  2. Wear a shirt or hat with your resume highlights printed or written on it
  3. Dress your dog in a shirt that says “Jill is great and she needs a job TODAY! I’m almost out of chewies!”
  4. Put a sign in your yard: Bill was laid off. Bill has 20 years experience as a great employee. Call Bill NOW. Bill and Sarah, and Josey, and Phil, and Bowser Thank You.
  5. Camp outside the place you want to work. Toast marshmallows or hand out KrispyKremes to the employees going in the door. Put a sign on your chair or tent telling people “I can’t wait to start working here with you fine folks,” or something specific about your skills, like “I’ve never met a XYZ2000 I couldn’t fix.” Keep camping out until they hire you or you get a restraining order served.
  6. Hire your own team of job hunters. Tell people you will pay them $100 (or more-depending on your type of work) if they bring you a lead that ends up in a job.

ABOVE ALL ELSE, KEEP IT LIGHT. DON’T SEEM DESPERATE OR DEPRESSED. WHO WOULD WANT TO HIRE A DESPERATE OR DEPRESSED PERSON TO SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS? (It’s always key to remember that companies hire you to solve a problem and fill a need. You will benefit from presenting yourself as that solution…that answer.)

Best of luck. PLEASE SHARE HOW YOU ARE DOING.

PLEASE CLICK ON TITLE TO COMMENT! THANK YOU.

NOW HERE’S ONE OF MY FAVORITE FUNNIES:

The Sermon I think this Mom will never forget…. This particular Sunday sermon…’Dear Lord,’ the minister began, with arms extended toward heaven and a rapturous look on his upturned face. ‘Without you, we are But dust…’ He would have continued but at that moment my very obedient daughter who was listening leaned over to me and asked quite audibly in her shrill little four year old girl voice, ‘Mom, what is butt dust?’

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