Some Ideas for the Unemployed

You have a new job now. Your job is to get a job. You used to get up every morning and go to your former employer's work place and focus on what you had to do that day. Now you have to get up every morning and go to your find-a-job work place and focus on what you have to do today.

What are the task assignments for the find-a-job worker? Spend time reviewing and polishing your CV. Mine the rich job matching resources on the internet – viral marketing works in the employment market. Keep up with developments in your industry or trade so as to be able to demonstrate domain mastery during interviews. Check back routinely with contacts. Make plans to expand your network – your University's alumni placement office, for example. Debrief interviews to learn what went right and what might be improved on next time.

You are not alone and it is not a mark of shame to be unemployedKeep up your appearance. You may not have to "dress for success" every day, but pay attention to your personal grooming. You never know if you will get a call to go somewhere for an interview that day. If you have been working at home, you may have eased up in these areas.

Stay in touch with your network. As I write this, the true unemployment number is approaching 14%. One learning to take away from that is that you are not alone and it is not a mark of shame to be unemployed. Who knows? The next person you tell about being unemployed may have a job for you or may know where a job can be found. I once knew a man who had business cards printed. In the space where the company's name usually appeared, he had written, "Picture your company in this space."

Be prepared to be surprised about people. Someone you barely know is likely to become a strong advocate, talking about you to others, sending you potential leads, staying in touch to encourage you. Sadly, there will be those on whom you thought you could rely who will disappear on you. Perhaps they are driven by their own fear of unemployment; perhaps they were not the friend you thought they were. Don't dwell on those people, keep moving forward.

Be flexible and consider all options. If you wondered about using your talent in some new field, try it out. Think about accepting temporary assignments. Be open to the idea of taking one step back, for example, in organization structure. Often you regain lost ground fairly quickly. Consider volunteer work. Sometimes a volunteer becomes a full time worker when budgets loosen. Volunteers come into contact with supporters of the institution and sometimes those supporters can be converted into members of the job seeker's network.

Do not let anxiety defeat common sense. If a job seems wrong; if you have a negative instinct about the company or the people you will be working for; if you are approached by a pay in advance job scheme or given an offer that is wildly off the mark, step away. Be patient and wait for the right opportunity.

Don't surrender to discouragement. You will hear "no" more often than you like. Worse than that, you will not hear back because so many people choose to be silent instead of being direct. In the get-a-job profession, "no's" are part of the system. Use each "no" as a prod to increase your efforts.