Surviving Unemployment

I ran into someone I hadn’t seen in a while a couple of days ago. In the course of our chat, she revealed she had been job-hunting since July last year and couldn’t seem to find anything. She said she’d sent out hundreds of applications but wasn’t getting any interview calls. I informed her I was laid off twice. The first time, I found another job within a month. The second time, it took me roughly three months although it felt like three years at the time. She seemed quite impressed and asked if I’d give her my contacts. Unfortunately, I don’t have any spectacular connections to the right people. It was just me, my laptop and a tenacious resolve not to let the situation get the better of me. I did pass on a few tips that helped me get through those months to her and I’m listing them below. They might just help someone make it through unemployment.

1. Never doubt yourself and your abilities. You might start thinking there’s something you could have done differently, something you should have seen coming. Eliminate this train of thought. It is what it is. It has happened to millions of people before you and it will happen to millions of people after you. The recession has not singled you out specially.
2. It’s very tempting to sleep in because you suddenly have a lot of free time but this is a trap. Don’t ever sleep for as long as you like or stay up as late as you like. Go to bed at the time you went to bed when you had a job and wake up at a reasonable hour.
3. When you wake up, get out of bed, take a shower, get dressed and sit at your computer as if you were in the office. Your job – working on getting a new job. This is a full time job in itself, which requires considerable acumen and creativity.
4. Remain physically active – go to the gym three times a week, take a walk everyday, use a work out video at home, anything to get your heart pumping. It is vital that you keep your body active. This will prevent lethargy and depression from setting in which is inevitable when you wake up everyday and have nowhere to go.
5. You’re going to have to do a little, actually a lot, more than buy the paper, go through the job ads, pick out a few positions you like, send in an application and think your work is done. If that was the case, every laid off person would have a job. I never relied on job ads in newspapers. I joined tons of boards, some regarding employment specifically and some with general purposes. Get to know the board members by posting regularly and mention the kind of job you’re looking for. Someone is sure to hear of something that might interest you.
6. Stop spending money, literally. Restrict spending to absolute essentials like food and bills. If you have to become anti-social to achieve it, do so. It’s not forever and remember the people you want to socialise with probably have jobs so don’t have to worry about money. If you feel the need to socialise, attending networking events organised by professional networking sites like www.linkedin.com and www.xing.com are probably a cost-effective way to spend money. You are bound to run into somebody who can help you eventually.
7. This is probably a tip after the fact but you should have 3-6 months expenses saved. If you don’t, well learn your lesson and when you make it out of this, save like money is about to become extinct.
8. Give your resume a look through. Make sure there are no mistakes. Are you using the right vocabulary? Powerful adjectives? With the current market there are literally millions of CVs out there. You’ve got to make yours stand out.
9. If your area of expertise isn’t hiring, you should considering another field where your skills can be adapted.
10. Pray. Very hard. Even if you don’t believe in it, pray. It’ll make you feel better.

This is by no means an exhaustive list and I’m sure there are loads of other tips on surviving unemployment out there but this is what helped me to get through those months. I hope it helps someone else out there. Good luck.