There are (or will be) times when things are not going particularly well in your career. You might read this blog and think, “Oh sure, Leahy. It’s easy for you to be confident about this or that topic, you’ve got a job!” As it happens, I do, but that’s about to change (see below).
What do you do when you’re facing unemployment? Coping with joblessness isn’t just a matter of keeping your resume up to date. Like playing golf or running a marathon, job hunting is as much an inside game as an external activity. You need to keep yourself moving. What follows is some (hopefully) useful advice that I’ve been giving myself lately. If it’s good enough for me, it’s good enough to share.
1. Show Up
The first thing you’ve got to do is get up at your regular time Monday through Friday. Shower, get dressed, brush your teeth, see to your personal grooming, etc. Show up like you’re a working person because you are. Your job is to look for work.
2. Avoid Negativity
This goes for the people around you as well as your self-talk (what you say to yourself). Life is too short and unemployment stressful enough without Negative Nellie (or Ned) telling you you’re unwanted, you’re no good, you’ll never work again, etc. I don’t mean turn into Pollyana and think everything will always turn out for the best, but unemployment sucks, and you don’t need to have people around you or in your own head telling you bad things.
3. Be Specific About What You Want
If you’re fortunate enough to have a two-income household or a “rainy day” fund you can live on for a bit, you can be more specific and concrete about what type of job you want. Along with that, consider the whole package: work content, pay, benefits, location, work environment, all that wacky culture stuff that I talk about on this blog. Look for jobs online that fit your magic words, and apply there first. Your cover letters will be better because your enthusiasm for the work will be real.
4. Be Realistic About the Job Hunt Process
Usually the only ones who will respond immediately are the computers that collect your resume online. If you’re looking for long-term work, the holidays are a bad time to search because a lot of HR departments go on vacation. You might be the ideal candidate for a particular job, but it can take weeks or months for your resume to work its way through the system, which is why it’s important to put your network to good use (see my next point).
5. Take Advantage of Your Network
Technical writers get to talk to a lot of different people in the course of our work because we have to learn a lot about many topics. Let people know you’re looking for work–and be specific about the type of work you want so people don’t send you well-meaning but unproductive ads for jobs you’d never do. The polite thing is not to ask your friends or acquaintances for a job; instead, ask them if they know of a job in their company or circle of experience. Perhaps ask for an introduction or a recommendation or at least a reference. That part is up to you. Your network can get you in the door; the rest is up to you.
6. Keep Writing
I’ve been on furlough for a while now, and National Novel Writing Month provided an excellent opportunity to get a first draft of a novel written. Getting it published will be an interesting side job once I get it edited. Not a novelist? Write poetry. Or a journal entry. Or a specific description of your ideal next job (see above). Keep “sharpening the saw,” as Steven Covey likes to say. Use your journal to vent the ugly thoughts in your head so when you speak to others you can be your best self. Just as you don’t need Negative Ned dragging you down when you’re looking for work, you don’t want to be “that guy/gal” in an interview.
7. Pay Your Bills
If you lack the luxury of a second income or rainy-day fund, march to the unemployment office, sign up, start collecting checks, and then make a promise to yourself to get off relief as soon as you can. Also, if you don’t have a lot of time or money to waste looking for your “dream job,” take what work is available to pay the bills. It might not be ideal, but it keeps you on a solid footing and more importantly it keeps you working. Also, some jobs–especially government jobs–will do credit checks on you. Fair or not, a poor credit rating can affect your chances for employment.
8. Use the Time to Grow
“Oh, great. You’re going to tell me this is a chance to get in touch with my inner feelings?” Yes, that’s exactly what I’m going to tell you. Unemployment can be a very humbling (even humiliating) experience, especially if you are someone who defines him/herself by your work, and you need to take care of yourself. Take some time to figure out what went wrong with your previous employment situation and identify ways you can avoid that situation in the future. Find a new, low-cost hobby or interest and start writing or blogging about it. Stay in touch with your family members and friends–the ones who won’t drag you down, of course. Someone told me recently that every time she was unemployed she had an opportunity for self-improvement and growth. I’m not quite so philosophical as that, but it’s something to aspire to when I grow up. Still, if you’re down and out, taking some concrete steps to build yourself up can only improve your situation.
And by the way, yes, I am looking for work, but I’m taking my own advice and going home to spend the holidays with my family. The job hunt will resume January 2. You’d better believe I’m showing up.
