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3 Things You Can Do to Get a Job and One Thing You Must Never Do

15 million people have lost their jobs, they’re unemployed. They got fired, laid off, made redundant or let go. The vast majority of these people didn’t wish to be without a job and most of them can’t afford to be without a job and income.

So, what do you do now? After going through some of the stages of ‘grief,’ denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, you will think that it’s time to take some action. Before you take action there are 3 things you can do that will help you be successful with your “next step.”

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Albert Einstein. This applies to looking for a job, and even getting a job. If you got great results the last time you looked for a job and you loved the job you had then do what ever you did again. If you get great results then you’re in excellent shape.

This advice is for those people who struggled to get a job, sending thousands of resumes to online “job search sites,” or even to companies, and then you never heard back from anyone. Do that again, expect any other result and you’ve diagnosed yourself as being insane.

What can you do that will work?

1.   Write down exactly what you want. IF you call up a friend and tell them you’re now unemployed and you’re looking for a job and they ask you what you’re looking for and you say, “Oh, anything, I think I’d like to try something different.” You lose, wasted conversation. IF you say, “I’m looking for a bookkeeping job or an office manager job and I really like working in the dental field.” Now you’re going in the right direction. The more specific you are the better chance you have of getting a referral or a lead.

2.   85% of all job openings are never advertised anywhere. It’s called the “Hidden Job Market.” Here’s how you tap into that. Tell everyone you know that you are looking and what you are looking for and let them know you will follow up with anything they give you. And then when you go some where, follow up with who ever referred you or gave you that lead, they may know of more openings. Volunteer. When you do volunteer activities you’re around more people, you can ask others how you can help them and when they ask you how they can help you, you can tell them. Join a Job Hunting Support Group. More people to be around and more people for you to help and who can help you.

3.   Social Media Marketing. You can connect with thousands of people in the Social Media venues. There will be many people in the same position you’re in. You can offer to help them; they might offer to help you. Email, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, forums, blogs, online discussion groups are just some of the places you can connect with other people. Again, offer to help someone else, others will offer to help you.

4.   This is the Bonus thing you can do. Churches and Synagogues all across the country are helping people find jobs. They are forming support groups to help with networking, resume writing, career coaching and more. You don’t have to be a member of the church; you don’t have to attend the church. Most of them say that they feel an obligation to help their members and anyone else who needs help.

You don’t have to get another job. You can start a local business, you can freelance, you can work on the internet, you can work at several part-time jobs. You can take some time off and think about your life. IF you need income and the best way for you to do that is getting a job again then get the very best and latest “Job Hunting” information you can. You don’t always have to buy this information, a lot of it is on the internet, a lot of it is at your library. Get it, read it, pay attention to it and put it into effect.

Just a quick note here. After you’ve gone through the ‘grief’ process, denial, anger and depression, there is one thing you should not do: never, ever give up.

Your attitude will decide how you come out of this. If you just keep moving forward, keep taking some action in the direction you want to go, put one foot in front of the other, make one more phone call, you will be OK. And you will come out of this better than you were and very possibly in better financial shape than you were before.

Health Insurance

It’s on the TV news in the newspaper and on the radio, health insurance. If you had health insurance through your employer you might think you lost it when you got fired. Some people did. There are federal laws that make your former employer offer you COBRA health insurance coverage.

Our COBRA premium would have been $900. Under the Obama Stimulus Plan laws it’s $250 a month. You have to qualify for this, but believe me it’s not hard. Some people spend more for their prescriptions and medications than their monthly premium, then it makes total sense to get the COBRA coverage. You’re saving money.

I KNOW it’s hard to spend money when you don’t have any coming in, YET. (You will, just keep moving forward.) But this is one time when you’ve got to do the math. If your cost of medications is anywhere near your COBRA premium, bite the bullet and get it.

On the  Articles Page there is a good article about COBRA.

Fear – Gut Clenching Fear

I wake up at 2 AM and think, “What if I can’t make some money, what happens then?” And it’s like I have ice water in my stomach and a giant hand is squeezing hard. I’m very much sick of feeling anxious almost all the time.

The reminders are everywhere. In the newspaper this morning a local Nursery, trees and plants, is having a GIANT 60% OFF Sale. Why? Because they’re closing 2 locations. That’s great if you’re in the market for some trees to put in your yard.

People, other human beings who work at these 2 locations will lose their jobs. How many? It doesn’t matter, ONE is too many. Those people will cut back on their spending, less groceries, the grocery store orders less food.

OK, enough whining. What to do? Please, send me Resources for this Blog. Tell your story, or the story of someone else and remember always put, “What’s Next:” that’s the important part.