Sep 09 2009
Staying Hopeful While Unemployed
How does one stay hopeful in the midst of what is one of life’s most stressful experiences: unemployment? There are factors that, if they are in place, make the resolve to press-ahead a-bit easier. Conversely, if they are not in place, finding enough hope to maintain belief that reemployment is possible can be extremely difficult to come by.
The 9/7/09 online edition of the NYT had a very informative editorial by Michal Luo addressing the formidable head-winds that beat against many of the unemployed. When the Bureau of Labor Statics reports early each month on the unemployment numbers, it includes a group described as “those who have stopped looking for work” or more simply, “discouraged workers.”
As Luo noted, “These are people who have looked for work at some point in the past year but have not looked in the last four weeks because they believe that no jobs are available or that they would not qualify, among other reasons. In August, there were roughly 758,000 discouraged workers nationally, compared with 349,000 in November 2007, the month before the recession officially began.
The bureau also has a broader category of jobless it calls “marginally attached to the labor force,” which includes discouraged workers as well as those who have stopped looking because of other reasons, like school, family responsibilities or health issues. But economists agree that many of these workers probably would have found a way to work in a good economy.
There were roughly 2.3 million people in this group in August, up from 1.4 million in November 2007. If the unemployment rate were expanded to include all marginally attached workers, it would have been 11 percent in August.
But even this figure is probably an undercount of the extent of the jobless problem in this country. There are about 1.4 million more people who are not in the labor force than when the recession began. Some of these are retirees, stay-at-home parents, people on disability and students. But it is also rather likely that many of these people have given up looking for work at least partly because of economic reasons as well.”
What is it exactly that leads a one-time active seeker of reemployment to grow discouraged? Luo quotes the responses of four individuals in his article.
“There are thousands of people applying for every job I’m looking at, and potential employers won’t even give me the courtesy of acknowledging I applied. The entirety of that causes me to not bother. It’s a waste of my time and theirs.”
“The meeting with the interviewer has lasted 10 minutes. The man did not even open a folder in front of him to study MR. Rucker’s resume. Ray Rucker came home, sat down in his living room with his suit still on and wept.”
“The process of searching for work and coming up empty left Jenny Salinas feeling spent. “I was just discouraged, fed up and angry, feeling like my career had betrayed me.””
Tatjana Jovanovic-Grove, a biology researcher at a prestigious research institute in Belgrade, said this, “I stopped looking because that feeling of being rejected again and again is hard, It’s just like somebody punching you in the face.”
In the world of unemployment, looming discouragement is the scourge of the hopeful job seeker. It appears quite clear that most us have no idea of the depth and breadth of this discouragement or depression that exerts its insidious grasp around the throat of hope. Yet, though this is reality for millions which, by itself, should take your breath away, there are vital steps that can be taken to mitigate and keep-at-bay discouragement-creep.
First, acknowledge that this interim period is exactly that…an interim period. Though it feels permanent and immovable, it will change at some point. Seasons give way to still more seasons which are new and offer new expressions of hope and possibility…hold on to that with all your might.
Second, acknowledge that the search for reemployment is both a sprint and a marathon. This process has been characterized by many as brutal and potentially debilitating. In other words, be a ruthless realist and prepare yourself for the long haul. In this saturated labor market it may well take you longer than 6 to 12 months to land on your feet. Keep in mind that “good fortune” or “good luck” in the job search process is where opportunity meets preparation. In other words, those who appear most “fortunate” in this process are looking constantly for opportunities (networking, calling, emailing, “showing-up and following-up”) and engaging in constant personal preparation (expanding skill-sets, acquiring new professional/technical skills, attending workshops, enrolling in the local community college for continuing education, volunteering, and interning).
Third, surround yourself with solid friends…this is absolutely and unequivocally indispensible if you plan to get through this season of unemployment. Those who have no advocates or champions are the ones most at risk of sliding into a more permanent depressive disposition. Sometimes, the only voice that can keep you going are the voices from beyond yourself reminding you to keep moving, to take one more step, to believe.
Fourth, network, network, network. Get on Linked-In (www.linkedin.com) or another networking program and extend your professional network (www.xing.com; www.ryze.com; www.ecademy.com).
Fifth, nurture faith and belief. Explore and get involved in a faith community that can connect you to support, encouragement, and hope. Much of the empirical research I have examined relating to surviving involuntary job loss mentions the meaning of a faith community for those who are dealing with the discouragement of unemployment.
Sixth, sleep, eat, and exercise. These are the no-brainers for staying internally balanced but are often the first to get expunged from a routine. Whatever you do, take care of yourself first so you can take care of the business of finding work.
When you go to bed at night, when your mind refuses to turn-off at 2:30 am and stress and fear loom large, and when you wake in the morning, remember Churchill’s famous quote, “Never, never, never, never give up.” And with all due respect to Churchill’s quote, when it comes to persevering in the search for employment, I would add at least three more “nevers.”
Press-on….
Jeffrey
Thanks