Yes, I’m one of the many people who are unemployed now, and our ranks seem to be growing every day. It’s a scary time, and things can be stressful, but at the same time, I am trying to look at this as an opportunity.
In the past, I’ve never had to look very hard for a job. They either came to me, or else I posted my resume on Dice and waited for the recruiters to come knocking at my door. That doesn’t seem to be doing the trick in this environment. One benefit of this is that it is forcing me to stretch outside of my comfort zone a little. I’ve been making it a point to let just about everybody I know know that I’m looking for work. I usually just work it into conversations in a matter-of-fact way. I’ve gotten some pretty helpful advice just by doing that. I’m making more of an effort to keep in touch with former colleagues, figuring that the more people I stay in touch with, the better the chance they’ll think of me if some asks them if they know any good project managers. Beyond that, it’s nice to stay in touch with people – something I haven’t always been very good about doing.
I’ve also been exploring the world of social networking more deeply, LinkedIn in particular. An acquintance told me about some groups on LinkedIn that I might find useful and I’ve started participating in them to some extent. I have connected with a couple of people that way and found out about job openings that I might not have otherwise. I also decided that it might be helpful to try to connect with other people in the same situation, so I’m trying to form a job search support group here in Portland, OR where I live.
Beyond this, I’ve started to think more deeply about what I want to do with the rest of my life. Although for the time being, I still would like to have a conventional job, I am interested in being self-employed and/or starting my own business eventually. I’ve always been interested in web design and development, so I offered to create a website for my sister’s house painting business. I’m still working on it, but it’s getting close to being ready to launch, and I’ve learned a ton by doing it. I’ve also landed a paid gig helping an acquaintance develop a site for a small business that they are starting. I also mention to anyone I can that I’m interested in doing web design and development and people are starting to seek out my advice and assistance which is rewarding. One of the reasons I enjoy doing this is because it combines both the visual and artistic/creative with the technical and programming side. I’ve always been interested in both technology and the arts and my dream is to combine them more in my daily work.
I figure that if all of these efforts lead to having my own business someday, great, and if not, I think the more knowledge and skills I develop, the more value I can bring to a future employer.
In addition to all that, I’ve been getting a little more involved in my music activities. I sing with an a cappella choir called PDX Vox and have also joined a smaller a cappella group made up of PDX Vox alums. I’m starting to do some arranging and composing, and really enjoying that. I’ve wanted to do that all my life, and I’ve always believed that I could, but just never took the plunge until recently.
It’s strange, but I’m almost busier being unemployed than I was when I was working!