I’m not going to pretend to be all that interesting, or to have the answers to all the things. What I can offer is someone who my be going through something similar to you, or possibly give you a chance to walk in someone else’s shoes for a bit if you are happily employed or doing whatever it is that gives you joy. I will bore you about knitting, baking, sharks, NASA, some cool show I saw on TV, and what my cats did today…and possibly some experiences about failed baking, failed interviews, and new things I find on the interwebs.
I just hit my last official day working for my company and I am a survivor of being unemployed during the 2000 tech crisis, the 2008 housing crisis, and now Covid-19. For those of you that are looking for a new opportunity, I can honestly say, it’s going to be ok. You may have to give up a few things, you may have to do some things you don’t like for a bit, but to pass on the best advice I ever got…“They can’t eat you.”
Here are some thoughts to get you started:
- The adage that your new job is to find a new job is absolutely true…however…a couple of rules
- Do not waste people’s time. If you are not a fit for the job, or not all that interested in the job, do not fill out an application. You are wasting your time, the recruiter’s time, and most importantly the time of the person who really wants that job. Think of this as the universal karma test. You are wasting time and space in the universe that belongs to someone who wants that job, and karma-wise, someone is now doing that to you as well because bad actions come back at you three-fold.
- Avoid burnout. Just as spending 12 hours at work got you burned out, the same is true for job searching and you don’t want to be burned out when that prime opportunity calls you. You want to be able to remember the company and what you applied for.
- Get Organized.
- Make a spreadsheet so that you know what you applied for and when.
- Make a list of your amazing accomplishments – use them for your cover letter. If you are just copying and pasting the same cover letter over and over again – see rule number 1 about wasting people’s time.
- Make sure you take some time to find some joy. So this is stressful, and if anyone says it isn’t, they are a liar or plain stupid. Most people call out that it’s way more stressful for families, and I’m going to call out it’s stressful no matter the situation: if you have kids, if you have cats, if you’re married, if you’re single, if you’re already living in your parent’s basement…I don’t care, it’s a huge stress on anyone. Here are some joy options in quarantine
- Take a walk outside (social distancing and masks apply)
- Pet something furry, your pets love to play and probably aren’t used to the attention you can now give them
- Clean out the clutter
- Try something you’ve never tried before – I am going to have so many stories about sourdough you are going to hate me
- Do something you haven’t had time to do – I am knitting for charity / brushing up my skills for future zombie apocalypse and signing up for webinars
- Do something you’ve been scared to do – sign up for that certification or learn to sew face masks for your friends and neighbors
- Do the important things, even though it’s hard
- Set a budget
- Apply for unemployment
- Remember to take out the trash (you may have to set a phone reminder)
- Set a routine
- Keep in touch with your friends and family – they love you and they want to be supportive, they may just not know how to be supportive – cut them some slack
At the end of the day, be the best you you can be today, and understand it may not be a you that you like. You have many opportunities to get to a better you.
Be Kind – Erin
EEKS Inc 