Job
Hunting while being unemployed is up there in the stress level with
divorce, death in the family, or moving your family cross-country
. . . but it doesn't have to be. If you prepare yourself by assessing
your strengths and financial options and making this effort a full
time job, you may find that you don't have time to worry about not
finding employment.
Outplacement
services may call this period chaos, a cycle in your life when everything
seems to come apart. If you are over 50 it can even be more difficult.
Being laid off or downsized can make you numb and cause you to question
your ability as a productive worker and even an asset to yourself
or your family. Focusing on your strengths, networking with friends
and former associates, and looking at your options for a new career
can give you renewed energy.
There
are many places you can turn to for assistance in finding other career
options or pursuing other jobs. Review the list we provide below and
decide which ones are best for you.
Outplacement
Agencies:
Outplacement
agencies can be provided by your previous employer if you have many
years of service, are laid-off, run into politics in the company's
culture, or are just plain being downsized. They provide active
job database searches, recruiter lists by state and career search,
secretarial services, mailing services, private networking areas
with long distance phone capabilities, and support groups.
One
of the large outplacement services such as DBM (Drake Beam Morin,
Inc.) are usually available for assistance through your former employer. If you are
outplaced to an agency such as DBM, thank your HR Department and
start running from day one when you arrive.
Consider it a compliment
from your company if you are provided the services of an outplacement
agency and be proud of using the name. It speaks highly of how your
company thought about you. Business is business and downsizing is
a part of the American landscape. Now the question is what are you
going to do about it?
Career
Consultants:
Look
for career consultants in employment publications and on the Web. Their intent is similar to that of an outplacement
agency except you pay. There are other agencies for those who are seeking employment in senior management, but usually from headhunters.
Recruiters:
Recruiters
are like an analogy found in the New Testament; "The wind
blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell
where it comes from or where it is going." And how true
this also is with recruiters.
One day they breeze into your life
and the next day it is as if you never existed. But don't take it
personally. Their incoming resumes probably outnumber their available
openings by a factor of 1/100 or more. If they need you, they will find
you. If they don't need you, you won't hear from them.
A
Retained Recruiter is also called an Executive Recruiter, and seeks
employment for candidates whose in the six figures or more. If you
hear from a retained recruiter, it is because a position exists
for the company that has retained his services, and hence the name.
A
Contingency Recruiter is one that recruits an individual for a specific
job opening but is paid only if the candidate is hired. In general,
one can probably say that the contingency recruiter works the lower
end of the management salary scale.
Temporary
Placement Agencies:
Mostly
for secretarial and temporary positions, a temporary placement agency
finds a candidate a non-permanent position. However, temporary placement
agencies such as Manpower also hire senior executives to fill 3-6
month positions in a various locations through the country.
Job
Banks:
You
can find job banks on the Internet by using the search engines provided
by your Internet provider. A list of those can be found on a link at the top of this page.
Services range from free to paid--from
general jobs to specific job markets . . . from corporate sites
offering open positions to sites with recruiter-posted job openings.
Many sites allow you to post your resume and update it when your
skills increase or your address changes.
A
few sites charge for posting your resume, some offering to provide
your name to head-hunters. However, unless you have the skills needed
to meet the requirements of a hot work place, don't waste your money.
Instead, use the free sites for posting an interesting-read cover
letter and well thought out searchable resume.
The free services
may also allow you to post several versions of your resume based
on the industry you are seeking to work in while also sending you
weekly e-mails of new related jobs that have been posted on their
site. Again, click on the link above for job banks.
However,
watch out for sites that offer expensive annual memberships or commitments
for monthly payments over a series of months for other job search
services. If you're unhappy with the first month's service some
will not stop "charging" your credit card until the commitment
is completed saying, "you agreed!" These can be profit-added
schemes of a few free search engines that show up innocently in
your opt-in e-mail from the job search service. While it provides
a measured monthly income for the search engine's bottom line, its
support for the user in finding a job can be questioned. Beware!
Start
your job search by clicking the link at the top of the page for job search engines. Having been downsized,
I know what you're going through and why this site was created.
Starting
a home-based business:
Starting
a home-based business is a very exciting concept . . . and that
is all it is until one takes action and investigates their options.
The local library, as well as the obvious sources such as Amazon.com
and Barnes & Noble, could be a good place to start finding a
book advising one how to develop an effective business plan.
But
first, rather than look through book titles and authors at random,
one is much better off first visiting their local Small Business
Association (SBA). These government sponsored local offices have
information on hand that will instantly put anyone on the right
track to planning for their business while providing a history of
others who have tried to go down the same path, and what exactly
happened to their business dreams. The SBA will also tell that for
every ten businesses that startup, only two may have some success
. . . and even that will have to be reevaluated after three years
of business.
The
SBA will also tell horror stories of how others had put unbelievable
amounts of money, such as $30,000 onto their own personal credit
cards to keep their dream going, when in fact they should have shut
it down years before. They will also advise the benefits and pitfalls
of a franchisee, where personal investments can start at $60,000
and go up to $200,000 and beyond, depending on the brand name and
location.
But
once a business plan is established and approved by the SBA, the
next step will be to find a local or nearby SCORE Association where
retired executives from corporations dedicate their time looking
over business plans, their being totally and brutally clear about
its chance of survival. However, if one is instead unemployed they
can look into going into government-sponsored programs like the
SEA Program provided by the Department of Labor, which if not changed is self-employment
assistance with unemployment benefits continued as long as one is
attending all the classes.
One
can also look into retraining where their state may provide up to
$8,000 in tuition to an approved certified school while the applicant
can continue to receive their unemployment benefits, too. Of course,
these applicants are required to meet the school's grading standards
while they are attending the selected institution along with finishing
the course and receiving a certification of achievement.
One
will quickly discovered that a business URL can be easily lost in
the virtually world as if it were like a single spec of light lost
to an astronomer's eye, the light's saying, "pick me, pick
me," yet still will be lost among the billions of other
dots in the night's sky.
Older
unemployed people, rather than start a new businesses, may simply
take what they have learned in the business world and became consultants
using their establish network of business contacts. Others become
contract trainers going from 1040's to 1099's forms.
Of
course, the golden ring is to find that niche that people will come
to through word-of-mouth, one starting with a known list that will
try their service to start the ball rolling. In any event, check
out the following links when thinking about starting a business.
SCORE
- Excellent
source for business advise from retired executives (www.score.org)
Small
Business Association - Government
site (www.sba.gov)
Government
Microloans - From
the SBA (www.sba.gov/sbdc)
Some
other things to think about when looking for a employment:
1.
A good starting point for searching for local jobs is to log onto
an Internet search engine that is supported your state's unemployment
office. For instance, New Jersey provides The Workforce New Jersey
Public Information Network (WNJPIN), a virtual one-stop career center
system that can be found on the Web at http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/.
Search engines like these will sometimes offer added-value assistance
that can help an applicant prepare for an interview or write an
resume.
2.
If
unemployed and you think you would like to learn how to start up
a small home-based business, ask your unemployment office if they
support the Self-Employment Assistance Program (SEA
Program) sponsored by the Department of Labor, where you can learn
how to develop a business plan, among other things, while still
receiving unemployment.
3.
Also
check out for any Workforce
Retraining programs that
are budgeted from your state's unemployment office. Some may pay
for retraining at approved education resources and
will continue your unemployment benefits as long as you quality,
keep your grades up and graduate.
Finally,
we hope all this content has helped you in determining your future.
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