These Five concepts can help you move forward, despite the odds.
1. Remember: You are not your job. Nor are you defined by your lack of work. As I've written in other posts, we all have many different selves. Even at work, we are often called on to wear multiple hats, to perform a variety of tasks. And we often find ourselves feeling almost like different people as we interact and engage not only with these activities, but also with different colleagues as we do them.
2. Try to find activities that bring out the parts of yourself that make you feel good about yourself. That can be volunteer work (which can, eventually, actually lead to a new job!), or taking a course in an area that really interests you. Neither of these activities is a waste of time. If you don't have money for a class, be creative. Find an online free course, or audit something at your local community college. Or find a friend who would be willing to teach you to knit in exchange for your helping organize the pictures on her computer. Not only will these activities make you feel better about yourself, but they will also keep you alert and keep your mind active. Very important in the long haul, when it's all too easy to let your mind go numb.
3. Talk to people every day in person, not on the computer. Go for informational interviews, but also go out for coffee with at least three people a week. Go for walks with someone two or three times a week. Make phone calls. Go outside. Challenge yourself to talk to someone new every day. Contact old friends, old school buddies, even old enemies!! And you don't have to say anything about looking for a job. Find out what they're doing. See if they want to get together for lunch or coffee or a walk or a movie. Jobs these days are frequently found not on online listings, but through social networks. The more people you connect to, in person (not on your computer), the better chance you have that someone will connect you to someone who will, eventually, help you get work.
4. Expand your options. Are you thinking too narrowly about what you are going to do for your next job?
5. And finally – the most important thing – is to remember that you can learn from any job. If you want to be a psychotherapist, you can learn about people washing dishes! If you want to be an accountant, you can learn about how books are kept at any store where you work as a clerk. If you don't really know what you want to be, a job can help you eliminate possibilities and can expand your horizons – even a job that seems to be beneath your skill level.
Keep moving. Don't stop. Don't give up. And don't be a snob.
With that mantra, you'll also keep learning. And eventually, you'll most likely find a job that leads to something else…and something else…and something else.
This job alert was brought to you by www.nigeriajobalerts.com
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