The Monster Blog

Top 6 Things Missing in Life Due to My Job Search Bubble Existence

After the holiday weekend, the summer seems to have taken off on a positive note with a mixed but perhaps slightly brightening economic picture. Nonetheless, I feel as if I exist in this limbo state, encased in a job search bubble just floating along on a breezy hazy summer day. While I have an established routine and a disciplined approach to the quest for a new position, I have a sense of loss in missing out on things or events that occur in the average workday while living in this job seeking bubble. Am I missing out on something important? Could my absence make a difference now and perhaps longer term?

So here they are, the top things I’m missing by looking for work instead of going into work:

1. The routine camaraderie of entering into the security gates at work with all the other lunch-bag carrying folks. The quick hellos and how-are-the-kids to those folks you have seen for years, day in and day out. In short, I miss that sentimental feeling. While we now have all sorts of e-media to keep in touch, it is not the same as seeing the familiar faces you know and trusted. However, I do know all these people are there for me and would be happy to lend an encouraging word or reference, if I reached out to them e-wise rather than seeing them in person.

2. The routine drive to and from work listening to my favorite radio personality’s jokes and funny perspectives to start the day in an upbeat fashion. Now I listen to business radio to make sure I am abreast of current business conditions and monetary policies that could affect my job search.

3. The coffee breaks and finding 10 or more fascinating folks to catch up with about their work projects. I miss the intellectual stimulation and how many of the threads knit together in very interesting business possibilities. My current laser-like focus on the job search doesn’t leave that much room for intellectual creativity, so I’ve put that on the backburner. Granted, I am refocusing some creativity in novel approaches to the reemployment tasks at hand.

4. Having a sense of accomplishment in reaching goals on projects that are building steadily to a revenue outcome. The hunt for a new position just seems to be an ongoing stream meandering through a forest without a visible horizon or endpoint. Although, you could take the longer term view in that landing a new professional slot is the end goal and that having a new income cadence is the desired revenue outcome. In essence, the project is me, not a business case.

5. Being part of various teams on many different levels is something that has been really missing in my life for the last two and half months. While I still have my running club, it is just not the same as being on the same teams and having the same mission to attain a deliverable. The support and funny exchanges while working hard are just not the same coming from one or two individuals over a week compared to the daily work life within team frameworks.

6. Missing out in participating in the corporate blood drives and other charity events as part of the company identity in the community. Of course, I volunteer my blood and time to good causes as an individual contributor now. Somehow the impact of me just donating a pint of blood doesn’t seem to compare to the company effort of 108 pints collected during a blood drive. Still, one pint of extra blood could make a significant difference to another individual in surgery, so I keep that important thought in my mind.

How do you feel about your status in seeking a new job? What catalyzing ideas have you leveraged to step out of the job search bubble?

Working on your own job search? Check out these articles for expert advice:

· "Sizzling Summer Job Search Tips"

· "Refresh Your Resume"

· "Improve Your Job Search"

· "6 Tips to Enlist Your Friends in Your Job Search"

· "The 5 P’s of Job Search Progress"

The Top 5 Worst Pieces of Advice Given to Me During My Job Search

So while I am conquering my anxieties with positive action steps in my job hunt, I've received some rather amusing bits of advice. I've managed to always graciously smile and say thank you outwardly, while inwardly wondering what is occurring in people's minds as they share these bits of advice.

#1: Take the Summer Off

So my top piece of bad advice received still has to be "take the summer off." Somehow this suggestion of taking a 3-month hiatus from job seeking doesn't suggest that the well-meaning friend really understands my position in life. While it would be a dream to take the time off, having to be 100% financially responsible for my young sons, Owen and Evan, makes it clearly not an option. Then I get the funny look as if I had been reckless in the first place by having my children. Somehow that was even less of an option, and unbeknownst to many, I pushed off motherhood as long as I possibly could -- until I was secure in my professional life. HA! Lesson learned: There is never a perfect time in life to have children from a "settled" professional standpoint. Moreover, the job market looked very robust several years ago. The tides have changed, and this summer is not the time-off one for me as I am using my savings.

#2: Stick to a One-Page Resume

Another bit of advice after a somewhat helpful review of my resume was to shorten it to one page. This piece of input really had me flummoxed. Having had a logical and progressive 20-year work-life, suddenly squishing it all down to one page seemed to be a disservice to any firm considering employing me for my seasoned expertise. I promptly went out to 5 more (actively employed) friends and double-checked my resume style and approach by using two pages. I was reassured over and over that my experiences deserved two pages, and I had creatively already shortened it with special mentions. Additionally, I had received great guidance with rationale explained in writing up my resume by using Monster's Resume Writing Service.

#3: Become a Nurse

The third bit of slightly off-the-mark advice was to consider training as an RN or LPN. While nursing is a great skill and a very much in-demand profession, it would take about two years or more (and personal funding) to become licensed or registered. On one side, having the technical degree would simplify some of the requirements, but many of the basic courses would have to be taken at night (while working in some fashion during the day), further complicating the child-care coverage. Of course, anything is doable, although this avenue seems laden with lots of undesirable trade-offs (make less money, spend more time away from the kiddies). There is the possibility of finding at least some scholarship monies for the coursework, but that doesn't begin to cover living expenses.

#4: What About Teaching?

Along those same lines, someone suggested I revisit my educational background and augment it with teaching credentials (again self-funded). Already possessing a technical degree does lend itself to being quite employable -- once the additional teaching credentials are in place. Here again is a dilemma of having to go an additional 6 months without a revenue stream as student teaching is a key requirement. The other rub is that a starting teacher's salary is about 66% less than the bottom end of my current profession’s salary range. It would take 7 years or so to perhaps be on par again. The one obvious benefit of a teaching career would be having summers off.

#5: Forget Working Altogether

And my last or least favorite bit of advice received while I’ve been searching for a new professional home: Just drop out of the job market altogether and be a professional mother to my sons. Clearly this advice is an extension of #1 (Take the Summer Off), and my family's financial support considerations are unchanged from the first paragraph. However, this bit of advice would indeed work out for me if I suddenly won the lottery. As the New York Lotto tagline goes, "Hey, you never know."

How have you dealt with or reconciled unusual bits of advice during your job seeking? What’s the worst advice you’ve been given?

What's Keeping Me Up at Night During This Job Search?

It’s about two months into my hunt for a new professional home. Kicking my job search into high gear has been an intense start-up process. Fortunately, there is a substantial variety of tools for all types of job seekers. Nonetheless, these thoughts cross my mind every night: "Will I ever find another job again?" or "What if there's no real fit for me at local companies, and I'll have to pull up stakes and move several states away?" or "How much more to the bone can I live without jeopardizing my well-being or that of my two young sons?” After all, I am 100% responsible for them. So lots and lots of "what-ifs" along those lines run through my mind.

On the more positive side, I also have thoughts attached to various promising job possibilities, interviews and networking moments. For example, if this one particular likely job application and its interviews come through to a job offer, what will it mean to my altered professional life? The permutations cover thoughts such as longer commuting time, having to possibly engage an additional part-time sitter, more expenses associated with a long commute, etc., etc. Then I sit back and say, "Whoa, Jane, just take one day at a time and cross those bridges when you get there."

I’ve also heard on the radio that some firms are rehiring many of the same folks they let go in past months or last year. They’ve discovered they laid off the folks with experience (and larger paychecks), giving up the expertise to remain financially competitive. So now another thought that keeps me awake is the possibility I could be rehired by my former employer. Is it better to go back with the devil you know rather than the one you don't? Or should I just never look back and seize this opportunity to move forward in my professional life? So many folks have said to me that there is certainly something better awaiting me, and they say it with great confidence.

Most of these anxious ideas running around in my head come at the end of a long job-hunting day, whereby it is not clearly evident I am making progress. Despite my best efforts of tracking all conversations, networking opportunities, linking into new contact points and going on interviews, I still sometimes get bogged down by my worries. My gut instinct to squash those worries before bed is to become physically active in cleaning my house. I can’t go out for a late-night run, which would be my preference, since I can’t leave my sons alone in the house.

Recently, I've been encouraged by a wise gentleman who tells me that while the job quest progress may not be self-evident right now, it will all gel together in a most surprising way when I least expect it. Meanwhile, I just keep trying to direct my thoughts in a positive direction despite the late-night worries and strive to run all other things in my life in the same direction to a happy end.

What is your key worry that prevents you from getting fitful sleep at night while unemployed?

Getting Back in the Interviewing Groove

Lo and behold, during the final stages of planning our mini-vacation to Chicago, I received a call to a much-desired interview with a local subsidiary of a multinational firm. The position is aligned with my marketing skills and, at the outset, looks like a good fit. The resume did its job and opened up the door for this first conversation with this firm. Now I’ll have to dust off my interview savvy from 9-plus years ago and weave in some of the new learnings to insure the next steps happen with this firm.

You may have heard the old joke: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?”

“Practice, practice, practice!”

And the same applies with interviewing. I’ve decided I need the practice in order to be comfortable answering new, challenging types of questions I hadn’t encountered years ago. Fortunately, one of my running buddies knows an actively employed HR person who is doing some volunteering at a local community center. So he’ll connect me with her, and I’ll see if she is willing to spend a half hour conducting a mock interview. Of course, I’ll read up on potential questions and practice in front of a mirror, but having this HR person’s perspective shall be immensely helpful. As they say, you never know who knows who, and I openly talk about my job search steps every time I meet with my running buddies.

Preparing for the interview is part of getting my groove back. Part of that preparation includes researching the firm -- beyond what is posted on the company Web site. Often the local library has a business section or even a business librarian who can cull out relevant articles in the papers and other media. I’ve also been told that the local unemployment office has resources either on site or at the state level to do this type of research on your behalf.

Once I’ve done my homework about the firm, I need to draw up my list of questions. It is critical to learn more about a firm that might be your next potential employer for many many years. The first interview is all about the fit; after all, since you’ve got the interview, it most likely has been determined that you have either all or most of the skills to do the job. HR or the hiring manager has chosen you based on your resume to be one of the top candidates, given how time-consuming interviewing can be for everyone involved. So the fit check, both by the people interviewing you as well as you them, is critical for moving on to the next steps, whether it be a second interview or an offer. Having prepared questions on my end indicates a desire to be part of the corporate fit.

Lastly, I need to do an inventory of how I will present myself in person with respect to attire, accessories and being pulled together. At the initial interview, nobody needs to see that I am a mother of two very active, small boys. I’ll need to be sure my interview bag is clean of any children’s toys or papers. While it is very sweet and endearing to find a surprise toy or love note drawing from my boys in my bag (on most days, the little boy wonders do sneak something in), it would be an awkward pause in the beginning steps of an interview conversation to pull out a scribbled drawing rather than a clean notebook. Maybe this would be a funny scene in a sitcom, but not in real life. Just like getting back in the dating scene after a divorce, you don’t wish to scare away a potential love of your life -- or the right employer.

How have you geared up for interviewing again? Any funny, yet important lessons learned to share with your unemployed compatriots?

How to Balance Summer Fun and Your Job Hunt

Ahhhh, the longest day just passed and we are officially in the summer season. So that means it is time for the beach and trips to the parks, mountains, aquariums and other fun spots! Oops, wait a minute. Can I really have fun while the prospect of continued unemployment is looming?

With Owen and Evan’s preschool almost over for the academic year, I have to figure out how to balance their vacation and educational needs in the next 2½ months with my job search. For them, mommy still has to work very hard even though she goes to a different office (library, unemployment services room -- see #7 in this blog post). But from a preschooler's view, summertime means more fun with mommy and friends.

Since having a routine is reassuring to little ones, I'm holding a junior version of a planning meeting with my boys. This way, they can have input in their priorities for the summer and we can figure out together what makes fun and sense for everyone.

This will be a unique summer for all of us, so I wish to maximize the amount of time I can spend with them without neglecting the job search. With vacation time at the doorstep, the boys are finding it appealing that they can sleep-in late most mornings. That would give me an extra hour of early morning job search/networking time. Another idea is to be sure they have at least a half hour of swimming/beach time midafternoon; that way they expend lots of energy and feel more inclined to go to bed on or before time, and it leaves me another 4-plus hours of evening job-seeking time.

Maybe the boys and I will even do a little fun project together to help me with the position quest. One idea is to do the traditional lemonade stand (we live near a busy foot/bicycle path to the beach) and offer up free lemonade in exchange for career insights, advice, leads, tips, etc. For all others, it would be 25 or 50 cents depending on the size of drink. Of course, the lemonade profits would be theirs for their summer fun expenditures or to bank for a rainy day (a learning concept already in active place for them).

Around Fourth of July weekend, I'll even plan in a few mental days off for myself and take the boys on an educational adventure. We will do a road trip out to Chicago to visit my sister and her boys (about the same ages as Owen and Evan) and stop at a few museums on the way. They love dinosaurs, so we'll stop at a site where you can excavate for fossils with special tools. Part of the educational adventure will also be planning with free maps and books from the local library. Although, in the back of my mind, I will keep the networking approach skills I've learned active and strategically engage in conversations before, during and after the trip. I'll just leave the computer at home, but I’ll take the cell phone along for perhaps sudden interview calls as well as for road safety.

How do you plan to combine your job search with your other life needs this summer?

Need to kick-start your own summer job hunt? Check out our “Sizzling Summer Job Search Tips.”

Managing Expectations in Terms of Timing for the Job Search

This experience has been rattling around my brain for a week or so: I encountered three of my fellow former colleagues who are equally as unemployed as I am (laid off the same day), and I asked the routine, “How’s the job search going?” Surprisingly, each one of them expressed anxiety and extreme frustration in not having landed a new position within 5 weeks of being laid off. It had never even occurred to me I would expect to be employed that fast again. Yet, almost to a T, each one of these presently unemployed colleagues voiced the same expectation. I was wondering why.

I had heard somewhere in my early stages of ramping up my resume and refreshing my interviewing skill sets that it would take anywhere from 4 to 6 months to land a comparable position. Additionally, I learned in that same conversation that even in good economic times, landing an equivalent new professional home takes 4 to 6 months. This statistic, based on actual reemployment data, resonated with me and I tucked it away in the back of my brain as a security blanket.

Fortunately, I’ve always listened to the financial experts (not a strength of mine) who say that 6 months of salary saved is the minimum to have in case you hit turbulent waters. About 5 years ago, when I purchased a home, my anxiety meter went through the roof because my 6 months of savings wasn’t banked. I worked like crazy to restore my 6-month financial blanket, which coincides roughly with my expectations for securing a new position.

So back to my former colleagues and their frustrations at not being reemployed almost instantly. I asked them a few questions without getting too personal about their financial well-beings. As I peeked under the covers of their reemployment expectations, I found that each of them was fundamentally annoyed about not being attached to a work routine. Their expectations for quick reemployment were exacerbated by their needs to have a structured daily life. It seems perhaps they vested too much of their beings into their work life and were having withdrawal symptoms. On the other hand, perhaps my longer-term expectation is not anxiety-inducing enough to put my job search into turbo mode?

As with most work/life issues, there is always the common desire to achieve a balance. In terms of managing the expectations for a job search, you need to find a happy place so you are not driven crazy by undue worries.

Another challenge when it comes to managing job search expectations is your greater circle of family and friends. Here’s where I have had some amusing conversations. In particular, my more senior female friends (60s and 70s) are very worried for me. (Perhaps they take that burden on for me, thus freeing up my energies to be positive?) On a monthly basis, I meet with this circle of ladies for book club. I enjoy these senior ladies’ company and always learn so much from them. I always have a funny story to bring home about the books for my boys, so they also see/learn the skill that reading brings great pleasure and fun.

I had a book club meeting about 3 days after I was laid off and mentioned my situation to these friends. At the next month’s meeting, many of them looked at me with soulful sad eyes and asked in quavering voices, “Did you find a new job?” I gently shared my outlook, prospects and rationale as to why I believe my expectation of landing a new position will take 4 to 6 months. Then they all felt better, and so did I.

How do you manage expectations for yourself and others? What approaches work best for you and why?

Have you been laid off? Check out these resources:

• "The Layoff Survival Kit"

• "Bouncing Back After Being Laid Off"

• "Laid Off? Six Steps to Manage Your Finances"

How to Handle the Most Frequently Noted Misconception About Being Unemployed

Arghhhh! OK, I feel better.

Yes, it is frustrating to be unemployed! However, even slightly more frustrating is the so-very-frequent mention by well-meaning friends and family: "Oh, now that you are unemployed, you have more time to do x, y or z.” So totally off the mark! In fact, I am getting less sleep per day given the multitude of tasks I do for my job search. Sleep is then the priority after the fundamentals of caring for my young boys, Owen and Evan, is done as well as the normal household routine. Job searching takes all the hours I’ve constructed for my daily duties; therefore no time is left over for more of x, y or z.

So I am struggling with the perfect answer to people’s misconception that I have more time. Also, I am always pondering how to turn these remarks from friends and family into a proactive dialogue to have them further engaged in my job quest. For example, dear friends invited me recently to their beach home for the weekend with the kiddies in order to relax in a different setting. They went on to say, “Well, since you are not working, you can drive back really late on Sunday night and rest Monday.” Actually, resting on Mondays is not an option. I jump-start every week crisply Monday morning with a whole planned calendar of executables and target goals to be accomplished. I proceeded to show my friend my daily logbook of scheduled tasks to highlight the point practically. This physical interaction then prompted my friend to recite a quick list of “oh yeah, contact so-and-so and so-and-so about the openings at these firms.” In short, disproving the misconception and showing why I didn’t have more time while being unemployed resulted in a few more possible job avenues to pursue.

I have used my physical job search logbook to keep myself focused and on track. It is almost my bible that I carry everywhere with me. For every little tidbit of job info, I make a notation under that day’s activities. It helps me address the statements from my friends about having more time to run errands, volunteer for charities or do more sports in a physical way.

And that’s the biggest rub for me -- having more time for sports. My running club buddies can’t seem to understand why I am not ramping up my running distances. They think I could target a marathon! “Of course, Jane, you have all the time in the world now that you are unemployed.” HA! I would really be thrilled to have a solid hour plus to really run longer distances, but that would steal time away from all the hours of the job search. I cap myself now at a half hour or a 5K run/jog these days. That is a balance that works for me despite my having to explain to my jogging friends that I would welcome the discipline of training for a marathon, but it just is not the time for me to do that this year.

As a quick reality check, I went back through my logbook of job search-related tasks. I note by each action item a check when I ticked off a completed task and a note if it needs to be revisited. While I could do these same actions on a mobile device, something about the physical book commands more presence when reviewing it with friends and family. The logbook is also my guilt-meter in egging myself on to do even a little bit more for my job search. The analogy of pushing yourself the extra mile in running applies to the employment-seeking undertakings. The last time I had some free time or extra time was under the entry labeled 4/19-Sunday. It simply reads: REST.

How do you deal with this misconception of having more time since becoming unemployed?

Looking for tips on handling your own layoff? Check out our special report, “Laid Off -- Now What?”

Or share your frustrations on the Vent! message board.

Missed Moments in Networking and What You Can Learn from Them

Increasingly, networking is helping people land the unadvertised job openings in this volatile job market. Every day offers up an opportunity to network with people who may have positions bubbling up on the backburner. So given the last six weeks of unemployment, it has been key for me to keep in mind that every conversation is a chance to network. This active approach to networking is a strategy to be incorporated in everyday thinking and doing.

Every night, I play back my day’s adventures in a “fairy” tale to my young sons, Owen and Evan, when they ask, “Mommy, what did you do today?” By sharing my adventures in an entertaining way out loud, I have had the V8 “coulda, woulda, shoulda” moments.

For example, I was doing my local community garbage cleanup in my neighborhood roadsides when a gentleman walking by on his way home from the local university remarked on my good civic duty and seemed interested in a further conversation about garbage or non-garbage. However, I missed the sweet spot to follow up with a potential joke and then segue into networking dialogue with him. I was too focused on the job at hand to watch out for this obvious opening. As they say, you never know who knows who.

In another networking vignette, I was attending a local software awards gala dinner, along with more than 1,500 other professionals. I was sitting at a large table in front of the podium along with a laid-off colleague; we were right in the audience’s sightlines as they watched the esteemed speakers. Now, I was mindful that I had to drive home that evening, so I did not partake in the open bar. However, my former colleague had enjoyed a few beverages. As a result, he became a rather “happy and loud” former colleague. While I was slightly embarrassed, I also missed the opportunity to rise above his boisterousness and gracefully take care of the situation. Ultimately, I needed to parlay this person’s comportment into dialogues with other folks attending the awards dinner. So this incidence provided me a twofold lessons learned:

1. Don’t drink and network (remember, NADD exists -- Networkers Against Drunk Drivers), and
2. There is a silver-lining opportunity in every poor behavior incidence -- it is just a question of thinking on your feet and capitalizing on it.

Even the basics of being well-groomed is a simple, yet very real tool in the networking bag of tricks. Being pulled together in casual professional attire for every foray out of the house is important, as you never know who you might meet. While it is tempting to run out of the house to Home Depot with messy garden attire on, Murphy’s law will always take effect and you will run into a friend whose visiting sister-in-law happens to be the top recruiter in your favorite target firm. It is so very true that first impressions count!

What amusing missed moments in networking have you had? What stuck in your brain for you to learn from them?

For more tips, check out Monster’s Professional Networking Advice.

The Perfect Resume -- Now What???

A big part of the job search process includes using your resume. So I sought some help in writing mine, as I was uncertain about today’s content and style requirements for resumes, given that I wrote my last one 10 years ago. Why did I seek out help rather than reading through hundreds of examples and books and doing it myself? Well, as with a severe cold, usually self-medicating doesn’t work and a visit to the doctor greatly improves my well-being much faster.

Not wishing to agonize over my resume, I used Monster’s Resume Writing Service, which is powered by CareerPerfect. In addition to reducing my agony, I also gained a tremendous amount of insight into today’s state-of-the-art resumes.

The team at CareerPerfect does resume writing for a living. They transform any content or even just dialogues of career experience into a working resume. Here are a few immediate goals of a “perfect” resume:

• As a door opener or whetting the appetite of the reader

• Serving as a guide document or table of contents for the interview

• Working as a support document in the form of a leave-behind tool after the interview.

The process with CareerPerfect is initiated by a preliminary dialogue followed by the submission of a very easy-to-complete questionnaire. Also, a secure site is provided to upload your current data to be used for crafting the resume.

After several iterations and dialogues by phone or email, I arrived at a rocking resume. I was also able to ask a lot of questions to my writing team. They were very professional and engaging, and they made me immediately feel like they were in my corner rooting for me -- sort of like the kind of friends you pick up the dialogue with, even if you haven’t talked in a year.

Another benefit of using the service was the time savings. It was very reassuring to feel there was a team hard at work on my resume while I was occupied with volunteering at the global conference or paying attention to my young sons, Owen and Evan. In short, I was multitasking on my own being by using the service.

I also learned the fine lines between presenting myself as overqualified and coming on too strong. And learning about the concepts of keywords and how critical they are in the search tools firms use was invaluable. Unbeknownst to me, in the last 10 years, many firms have set up software algorithms to screen out “unmatched” candidates from making the hiring manager’s pile of resumes to read. The perfect resume in today’s market has to not only be specific enough to highlight your accomplishments, but also broad enough to be caught in your targeted companies’ fishing nets. It’s a unique duality I would have not been able to fully draw up on my own.

So the big question after finalizing my perfect resume: Now what?

I need to make the resume work for me. And it does! I was amazed. I submitted it last Thursday to one of my 15 targeted firms and, bingo, on that very Friday I had a call to discuss the resume.

On a funny note, my old employer had a dry-cleaning pickup service, and I had to inform the owner that I would no longer be using his services due to my layoff when I paid my last bill. He wrote me back and asked that I update him when I have a new professional home since I was a happy client of his. No problem to honor his request; I simply sent him a copy of my new resume with note “you never know who knows who.” While I’ve never met my dry cleaner in person in 9 years of doing business, he certainly knows my clothes, my personality and events in my professional life. Now with my resume, he will learn about the person inside the clothes who he has taken care of all these years.

Looking for help with your resume? Check out these resources and advice:

• Monster’s Resume Writing Service

• Monster Resume Advice

• The Resume Tips Message Board

More Job Search Resources Than You Want to Shake a Stick at -- and Free for Job Seekers

As my unemployment enters its 6th week, I am actually feeling OVER-employed. Why is this? Well, in addition to volunteering my marketing expertise, perfecting (nearly) my resume (more on that in an upcoming blog post) and going to all the networking job events and following up with contacts, I am booked almost nonstop every day.

I’ve also been allocating time to several free seminars, and then to even more resources I can take advantage of as a result of going to those seminars. This adds to my sense of being over-employed and not having enough hours in the day to process everything. As my ex-husband used to say (and I didn’t get a severance package from him!!), “more than you can shake a stick at.” I just need more hours, not sticks, to do all the steps related to researching opportunities, crafting cover letters tailored to the job postings and following up that’s part of my search.

One of the seminars was an introduction to Project Management Institute (PMI) training and certification. It’s 84 hours of training offered by my local state university and funded entirely by the Department of Labor (DOL). In short, FREE. This course would lead to certification for a skill set that I have done routinely and has been taken for granted by my previous employers. Having this PMI certification would be compelling from a commonly accepted criteria basis in any company as well as another talking point as to what I have been doing since being laid off. Of course, it would be hard work attending class and taking a 4-hour exam during the lovely summer months. The tug to go to the beach with my young sons versus sitting in a classroom several days a week is palatable, but my focus is on using all resources that come my way to regain an interesting marketing position. Additionally, PMI offers local and state networking meetings and other events that are powerful in linking up with employers that really crave this skill set to move their projects forward. In the first class that graduated from PMI this year at just my little local university, 8 out of 20 folks (40%) found new positions within 3 months of the coursework. All of them felt the PMI certification made a solid difference in landing their new professional livelihoods.

After this seminar, I went to an orientation seminar at the DOL. Again, all the resources are FREE! There are many local/regional Labor offices throughout each state and county, all funded by taxpayer dollars. (You can find your closest One-Stop Career Center here.) After I listened to the orientation seminar, I almost didn’t walk through the doors labeled “RESOURCE” in bold letters, but I was desperate to find a fax machine I could use for free. I had a critical one-page document to fax to an 800 number that day but was loathe spending money on faxing to a free number. So I thought, “Walk through those doors, ask nicely about using a fax.” And there it was -- FREE and not being used. Those 10 steps saved me money and at least a half hour of running to yet another location to find a fax service. As they say, time is money and the DOL helped me that day on both accounts. In fact, walking through those doors opened up a number of other possibilities for me.

These offices offer career counseling in a variety of ways. They are staffed with support personnel, computers, copiers, faxes, printed materials and job seeking courses. I was amazed at the number of workspaces available in a clean, spacious environment. They also supplied a very long link list of job and data banks to use for researching job opportunities. Again, more resources than you can shake a stick at.

The DOL is not just about unemployment checks. It can be a professional work home while you are seeking work. You can have a free office to go to every day to insure a routine and discipline in seeking employment. Some people may have an outplacement services package as part of their downsizing event, but not everyone receives this additional benefit. The DOL support facilities offer much of the same coursework and a structured environment to enable job seekers similar to outplacement services. Best of all, the DOL centers are available for use during the length of time you are unemployed and receiving unemployment checks.

What resources have you found to be free and compelling in your job search?