Finding the Jobs

The downsides of unemployment are easy to list:  no income, no professional status, no workplace.  The list can go on.

And while it’s easy to see the downside, and nothing but the downside, consider the bigger picture.  In the bigger picture, unemployment means something else, too: opportunity.

Opportunity to explore all kinds of possibilities. As a job seeker, looking for work can provide the opportunity of a lifetime, to pursue a path unexplored.

Who’s got time to navigate a path unexplored, when earning an income is so important? You do.  And here’s why:

–Job hunting full time, five days a week is an exhausting, draining exercise.  From resume revamping and networking, to researching companies and keeping up on the latest information about particular industries takes time.  Alot of time.

–So when you’ve completed a full day’s work of job hunting, sketch out a plan for the the next day’s full time job search. (In fact, it’s a good idea to prepare a schedule for the next few days, to help clarify the direction of your efforts.)

–Then take a break.  If done properly, all the effort it takes to find a job can leave most of us pretty depleted, intellectually, physically and emotionally.  An important way to replenish our energy is by doing something we really enjoy.

It doesn’t need to be costly or complicated.  For one job seeker I met, relaxation meant finding out more about cherry blossoms that  bloom in Washington, DC this time of year.  For another, it’s renting foreign language films or taking a walk or biking on a scenic path.

–So work really hard at finding a job every day of the work week.  But then schedule yourself a break.

If you ever said when you were working full-time, “Boy, if only I had time to do X,” right now, between jobs just might be the time to do it.