Looking for Work is Hard Work

‎Don’t listen too closely to pessimists. Even when the job market is lousy, ‎there are always jobs. You just need to find them. People move. People are ‎promoted. People retire. And so there ARE job openings.‎

On the other hand, don’t expect a job to fall out of the sky and land at ‎your feet. Looking for work can be hard. If you are unemployed, you ‎should devote at least twenty hours a week to your search. That includes ‎research, visiting companies, sending resumes, reading job listings, ‎interviewing, and anything else you can think of that might help you get ‎the job you want.‎

Most people overestimate the amount of time they really spend job ‎hunting, because the hunt can be frustrating, and rejection is painful ‎

It’s easy to read job postings online, and send your resume by email. You ‎may know, somewhere in your heart, that most job openings aren’t listed ‎online. But it’s so easy. And you get a sense of accomplishment, just by ‎clicking send. ‘Well,’ you say, ‘I applied for ten jobs today. That’s pretty ‎good. ’ And it only took an hour! Sometimes this approach works; maybe it ‎will work for you. But if you are serious about your job search and can’t ‎wait forever and especially if you are NOT in a hi-tech profession, you need ‎to expand your search.

Now you have a list of interests, and a list of skills. What patterns do you ‎see? What combinations are possible? You have more freedom than you ‎think. In a world where there are professional ice cream tasters—many ‎things are improbable but few things are impossible. Ask a friend to look ‎over your lists and help you brainstorm careers. And get specific. You want ‎to be an opera director. You want to teach tai chi. You want to be a dental ‎hygienist. You want to own a bookstore. Research the profession you’re ‎interested in. Make sure you’re interested in the actual job, and not just ‎the job title. Vault. com has an excellent collection of ‘A Day in the Life’ ‎articles, explaining what people do all day in a variety of professions, ‎ranging from book editor to attorney to brand manager. And talk to ‎people. If you want to be a dental hygienist, talk to your dental hygienist. ‎If you need to, schedule an ‘informational interview’ with a tai chi teacher ‎over lunch. If you feel that you can’t get advice from a local bookstore ‎owner, (since you will soon be the competition), drive to another city and ‎talk to someone there. And don’t keep researching forever. Take the next ‎step. If you need training or certification, sign up for a course or even a ‎degree. If you’re ready to work, start looking for a job‎.