You’ve been unemployed for an extended period. Too long! You’ve applied for hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs. You’ve sent out hundreds, if not thousands, of resumes. Your savings are running out or gone. You feel like a failure, and you’re desperate.
Probably difficult for you to believe, but it’s NOT you, particularly in this economy. This bad economy has made it difficult for everyone.
A job search is often a very demoralizing situation – worse than dating! Rejection, being ignored, being told you don’t have the skills or experience needed, etc. Do NOT do it alone and do not spend all your time at your computer applying for jobs online! You do have other, more productive, options.
1. KNOW THE JOB YOU WANT NEXT.
You can’t find what you are looking for if you don’t know what it is when you find it.
It’s counter-intuitive for most people, but being too “flexible” can mean you waste a lot of time and energy chasing every possibility, no matter how inappropriate for you. And, the sad truth is, if you landed one of those inappropriate jobs, you wouldn’t succeed at it easily, you’d hate it, and you’d be job hunting again waaaayyyy too soon. Don’t do that to yourself!
If you don’t know what you want, read “What Color Is Your Parachute?” by Richard N. Bolles. Do the exercises, and you will learn more about yourself, what you are good at, the transferrable skills you have, and what you would probably be happiest doing. If your local public library has only one career book, this is the one. So borrow or buy it, and use it to help you find focus for your job search.
2. GET HELP!
A job search is a lonely, discouraging process in this economy particularly when you are all by yourself, sitting in front of your computer day after day. So…
* There are thousands of job search suport groups – through your community, your church, your state government (in the US). Connect with one; go to at least 3 meetings so you get to know the other members. Find out what’s going on – help someone else with their job search and they’ll help you with yours.
Check out Job-Hunt’s Local Networking and Job Search Support Groups for help. It links to hundreds of local job search suport groups, but new ones appear all the time that don’t get on this list so ask at your local churches, public libraries, and local branch of your state’s employment office for more.
* If you’ve attended college, the school may help you, as an alumnus, through their career center. Some don’t, but many do, particularly during this economy. And, you don’t always have to be a graduate to qualify as an “alum.” Often just attending for a semester or two can qualify you. When in doubt, ask.
* Go to your state’s employment office. It’s their job to help you find work, and they have lots of resources to do that, including counseling, classes and workshops, lists of local employers, and job postings. You can often use the services online, but go into the office a few times to connect with the people there.
3. TEMP. Try working for a “temping” agency. This gets your foot in the door with an employer, gives you a chance to see what it’s like to work for them (whether or not you like them is as important as whether or not they like you), a chance to have some income, and a chance to see yourself as a valuable human being.
4. VOLUNTEER. Volunteering has many benefits:
* Helping someone less fortunate or a cause you believe in. You’ll accomplish something positive in someone else’s life or for your cause, you’ll meet other people who share similar values, and you’ll see that you really DO have value, that you are worthwhile, smart, kind, creative, whatever…
* Learning a new skill. Filling in a gap on your resume. Adding new knowledge.
Everyone and every business is getting more “green” now, so volunteering for some sort of environmental organization should give you experience and knowledge that may well have greater value in the job market than many other volunteer activities. If you are interested in being green, anyway,…
* Meeting new people, with whom you share some values or interests.
People are hired by people they know, even in the Internet age. So, this is a way to meet a few other people (it doesn’t take thousands, it just takes the “right” people), to get known in that small circle. Do enough small circles (2 or 3), and you’ve got a good network of people who know people who know about job openings, employers who need help, etc.
5. NETWORK! Go to industry/professional organization meetings.
If they charge for meeting attendance, don’t be afraid to ask if they have a special rate for “people between jobs.”
When you go, don’t ask everyone if they know of any jobs open. You learn more by asking than by telling. But, when you are asked, do share that you are looking for a job – when asked! – and DO have a 15 or 30 second description of the job you want and the employers who interest you. Being vague, “Oh, I’m thinking about something in marketing or administration” is wasting the opportunity. This is your chance to tell people what you want!
Recent studies have show only 12% of job are filled through a job board. So, you need to get away from your computer and reconnected, re-energized, and caught up with what’s going on in your industry or profession:
* Learn about the latest trends in your industry or profession.
* Learn about new employers.
* Meet new people
Liz Ryan, Job-Hunt’s Job Search Networking Expert has written over 20 articles on how to use networks for your job hunt. And Wendy Gelberg, Job-Hunt’s Job Search for Introverts Expert has written several articles to help introverts get more comfortable with job hunting.
Bottom Line:
A job hunt can be a lonely, demoralizing experience. Don’t do it alone for 2 reasons: because you need something positive in your life to offset the negative, and because you’ll be more successful “with a little help from [your] friends” as the Beatles told us many years ago.
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This is a great post. So many people are feeling down about being out of a job and the economy is bad and bla bla bla. The news is quite depressing for those who have recently found themselves in the job hunt or those graduating soon. The key to everything that you said above is the word “NEW”. The days of working for “the company” for your entire career are unfortunately over for now. With multi-national corporations, the internet, and advanced electronic equipment the workforce has changed dramatically since the late 1980s. The modern job market in the US has many people having to learn dig up old skills they haven’t used in ages or learn new ones. This is a fantastic opportunity if approached with an open mind. There are many emerging fields that have no experts yet, and many fields in deep need of workers willing to learn a new trade. Most cities have unemployment networking groups that you can join. These are great places to meet people in the same boat as you that may even be able to help you out in being more efficient in your job search.
[...] When you feel like a job search failure - Nothing new here but a nice summary [...]
I’ve seen the stress on many friends who have lost their jobs and you’re right — you have to be positive and learn how to deal with the change. For anyone looking for a job in Chicago, I just saw this cool seminar that touches on these issues — how do you reinvent yourself and deal with all the change.
http://www.triblocal.com/Wilmette_-_Kenilworth/view.html?action=search_submissions&search_type=town&cat_search=6
This is a great post! So many of my friends are going through discouragement of interviewing and not landing any positions. Tough for them to not feel like failures or that they will never find anything.
It is hard, but it’s important to not get too “linear” in their approach for job searching. You offer five great suggestions. I will pass this along. Hopefully it will spark their creative energies to explore alternative methods to their job search situation.
Internet job searches and job fairs only take time away from a serious job search. Have never even had an interview using these methods.
[...] my “Beating the Job Search Blues” and “Feeling Like a Job Search Failure” articles for more ideas, and add your suggestions in the Comments [...]
[...] So VERY Discouraged in Your Job Search? from the Job-Hunt Blog [...]