Time unemployed should be used wisely, not wasted
Career Moves
Time. If you’re out of work, you’ve got a lot of it on your hands. Work wasn’t just 40 hours. Add in commuting time and lunchtime and you’re up to 50 hours easy. Fifty hours filled for you. Fifty hours that you have to fill on your own until your next career opportunity comes along. Fill them productively and you’ll feel good about yourself, increase your chances of finding a job and forge a stronger family bond.
With a personal game plan. Adopt a project management to your job search and personal life. Think of the projects you tackled at work. Consciously or unconsciously, you handled them with a problem-solving, decision-making project management routine. You also juggled tasks to meet deadlines. All you have to do is take those same routines and techniques out of the workplace and apply them to your job search and personal life.
Start by putting your goals in writing. Make a list of what you want to accomplish. Your list should contain job search and leisure time items. On the job search front, the list should include: making new networking contacts each week, staying in touch with your existing network, researching companies, improving your skill set, becoming active in a professional organization, responding to classified ads, surfing the Web for industry and profession niche job sites, reading trade publications about what’s what and who’s who, etc.
For each item on your list, write down what you’ll have to do to accomplish that objective. Identify your strengths and weaknesses in relation to each goal. Put down the steps that you must take to build upon the strengths and neutralize or eliminate any weakness. Be sure to include the names of people who can help you reach each goal.
The key to a long list of goals is vision. Don’t think of your career objectives in terms of the job you had or the financial need that accompanies unemployment. Picture yourself in the careers that you could have: jobs that will allow you to do what you are; jobs that capitalize on your skill base; jobs that provide the opportunity to develop and use new skills.
Relative to your personal game plan look to building relationships and doing some things that make you feel good about yourself. Spending time with your family should be at the top of this list because unemployment causes stress in the family unit. You need your family behind you. They are your biggest fans and cheerleaders.
On the personal accomplishment front, think about volunteer work. Charitable organizations never turn away someone who wants to help. Get in shape or take some fun classes. All of these activities can launch networking activities because they bring you in constant contact with others who will see you as a peer and not as someone looking for a job.
Execution. Working your plan requires organization. Scheduled routines allow you to make the most of your time. A schedule gives you a sense of purpose. It also reduces boredom and eliminates idle time so there’s less chance of becoming mired in the downside of being unemployed. Think back to those days at work. Didn’t they fly by when you were busy? Didn’t they drag when you weren’t?
Make your day fly by managing a full schedule. You are the only one who can do it. Sleeping in, playing computer games, doing home projects and becoming a couch potato won’t help you achieve your career goals. Following your game plan will lead to opportunity. Note: Networking and company research should take about 70 percent of your time. Why? “Who you know” accounts for about 70 percent of new hires.
Start by scheduling the upcoming week. Do the things you need to do and your schedule for the next weeks will fill up quickly.
Ask pointed questions: Pay attention to the workspace: Watch for disorganization: