Unemployment management and Job Loss

Job Loss can be a stressful time in your life. Your job identifies a part of who you are. Every morning you wake up and go to work. Now that daily routine is lost. Self-confidence and esteem can be lowered quite dramatically because of the fact that you will probably take the loss personally.

You might ask the question why me? What did I do wrong? When there are job openings elsewhere you might not be as confident because  you have been dismissed from your last job and maybe you think you won’t be able to perform as well.

Grief is a normal part of losing a job. You have suffered a loss. There might have been a large social network that you would have established during your time at work, which you don’t have anymore. Going through this process of grief can lead to depression and anxiety, but can also build you up to a stronger person. The choice is yours.

In February 2010 the unemployment rate was 9.7% in the United States alone. 598,000 jobs were lost in January making it the worst in 34 years. Jobs are set to rebound from 2010 gradually at a 0.6% rate in all sectors, but that is nothing to write home so it will still take some time.

The worst thing you can do is to say everything is good when it’s not. Join a support network and surround yourself with members of your family and friends that will give you support.

Plan each day and have short-term goals that are realistic. This could be submitting your job resumes to different companies and agencies, scanning new job positions or maybe even looking in to a new venture such as internet or networking jobs. This could also include work at home jobs.

• Employers prefer your resume to be in chronological order so they can quickly scan over what you have been doing. Don’t duplicate anywhere.
• Be clear, concise and to the point. If your resume is in essay form your employer will throw it away. The employer only scans the resume.
• Be accurate, make sure you have edited your work and your spelling and grammar is correct.
• Make sure it is appealing for the reader. The paper should be of good quality and should catch their eye of the reader.
• Have a cover letter composed of a heading, introduction, body and closing sentence.
• If you have an interview send an e-mail expressing your appreciation

With a lot more competition in the job market today it is important to pay attention to all the finer details such your appearance, your use with words or the way you conduct yourself throughout the interview.

Keep your answers short and to the point, selling yourself at the same time. Don’t give your life history to the first person you meet. Be honest because a background check is there for a purpose. Don’t become defensive because this will most likely not go in your favour. It is also important to stay calm, be positive, keep focused and not to answer a question before the interviewer has finished answering the question.