There is a strange assumption people sometimes make about unemployment. If you aren’t going to work every morning, they imagine you sitting around the house watching television, scrolling through your phone, or eating bonbons while everybody else is working.
Somebody somewhere may be doing exactly that. Most unemployed people I’ve known were trying to figure out how to solve a very real problem.
Finding a job takes work. Applications take time. Resumes take time. Interviews take time. Rejection takes something out of you too, especially when weeks begin turning into months.
That’s why I want you to do something I didn’t do well enough when I was unemployed: don’t make finding a job the only way you measure whether you’re moving forward.
Give the job search a place in your day
Looking for work deserves focused time. Give it that time.
Search thoughtfully instead of applying to everything with a button. Research companies. Adjust your resume when a position genuinely calls for it. Keep track of what you’ve applied for. Follow up when appropriate. Prepare for interviews.
Then close the laptop for a while.
You do not need to sit in front of a job board for eight or ten hours to prove you’re serious about getting back to work.
Do something that puts you around people
Unemployment can quietly isolate you. The people you used to see every day are at work. Your routine disappears. You may even start avoiding people because you don’t want to answer the inevitable question: “Have you found anything yet?”
Don’t disappear.
Join your local Chamber of Commerce or attend an event. Look at professional associations related to your work. Go to community events. Attend church. Volunteer with a charity. Help at a food pantry, animal shelter, school, nonprofit, community garden, or organization you already care about.
Volunteering isn’t merely something to fill a blank space on a resume. You’re doing useful work. You’re meeting people. You’re keeping a routine. You’re reminding yourself that you still have something to contribute.
Take care of the body carrying you through this
If you’ve suddenly gained forty or fifty hours a week, some of those hours can go toward your health.
Walk. Exercise. Cook better food. Get outside. Catch up on the appointments you’ve postponed. Get your sleep back into some kind of order.
This isn’t a lecture about wellness. A long job search can wear on you. Taking care of yourself is part of staying capable of doing what comes next.
Learn something with a reason behind it
Don’t collect certificates simply so you can say you were busy.
Look at actual job postings. If employers repeatedly ask for something you don’t know, investigate it. Maybe it’s software. Maybe it’s a certification. Maybe it’s a new tool that has changed your industry.
Learn what moves you toward something.
Try earning money without waiting for an employer
I wish I had taken this more seriously every time I was unemployed.
Ask yourself what you already know how to do.
Can you make something? Repair something? Teach something? Sell something? Cook? Sew? Photograph events? Manage social media? Tutor? Do yard work? Clean houses? Organize? Keep books? Care for children, older adults, or animals? Work farmers markets or craft shows? DJ parties? Help another business for a few hours a week?
There are rules, taxes, licenses, insurance, and other considerations that vary depending on what you’re doing and where you live. Check the appropriate state and local government requirements before turning an idea into a business.
But don’t dismiss the idea simply because it isn’t a traditional job.
If somebody pays you $100 for something you know how to do, you have learned something important. You have a skill that has value outside an employer.
Don’t automatically call every temporary job a step backward
I was once told that if you had reached a certain level in your career, you should never take a job below that level because it would look bad on your resume.
I don’t think that advice should be treated as an absolute.
If you need money to keep the lights on, survival matters. A temporary job does not erase the career you had before it. At the same time, don’t let a survival job quietly become the end of your search if it isn’t where you want to stay.
And remember what we discussed earlier: a resume and a complete employment history are not always the same thing. A resume is tailored to the work you’re pursuing. When an application or background process asks for complete information, answer honestly.
Keep a record of what you’re doing
Keep a simple notebook or spreadsheet during this period.
- Jobs you applied for
- People you contacted
- Events you attended
- Volunteer work
- Courses or skills you’re working on
- Money you earned outside a regular job
- Business ideas you tested
- Things you discovered you don’t want to do again
- Things you discovered you’re actually good at
Months from now, that record may help you answer an interview question. More importantly, it will show you that this period wasn’t empty.
You are not waiting
This is the part I wish somebody had gotten through my head years ago.
You may be waiting for an employer to say yes. That doesn’t mean the rest of your life has to wait with it.
Keep looking for work. Keep paying attention to the bills. But also use this stretch of time to make yourself stronger, healthier, more connected, more skilled, and, if you can, a little less dependent on a single paycheck.
That last part matters.
Because the next job may be wonderful. I hope it is. But none of us knows what will happen to a company next year, or five years from now.
This time, while you’re looking for the next job, we’re also going to start building something you can carry with you.
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