Surviving Unemployment: Part II Now What?

Morning dawns and for most of us comes the instinct to rise and get ready for work.

Oh wait.

You are unemployed.

An inevitable question looms – now what?

Some have thoughts of urgency to jump into an immediate search, while others snuggle back into the warmth of their bed happy for at least a day of not facing job pressures.

There is no harm in taking a few days to regroup. However, if three weeks hence you are still in a fetal position, unwashed and watching television 24/7 - this is not a healthy activity.

I might be odd, but in the three times I have been laid off my sense of survival has always manifested itself in stocking up the pantry. Something about seeing canned tuna, a couple of bottles of olive oil and items like dry pasta, capers and tomato sauce gave me immediate comfort.

Unless you are independently wealthy, soon tasks like writing a resume, often for the first time in decades, and contacting contacts must be addressed

The former requires a deft hand while the latter is a delicate balancing act.

The desire to shout your skills and accomplishments to the world are understandable. However, no head hunter or prospective employer will appreciate having a 10 page novelette hit their desk. Also, since rarely is a human actually seeing a resume first, you need to create one that passes HR software. If in doubt, this article offers some guidelines.

Now you must face colleagues and ask for their assistance in finding new employment.

Sympathy, accompanied with promises of help, will flow.

Reality is the help with new contacts may be perfunctory. Not that the sympathy is false however, most people are grateful for their own employment and your lack of one means little to them. Accepting this can be quite painful.

Joining online communities such as LinkedIn can provide other outlets for networking.

The most important thing you can do right now is focus your energies on your skills, your passions and how to combine the two.

Focus on your strengths and the rest will follow.

Part III is coming soon.

Part I is below.