What Do You Do With All That “Free” Time or A Day in the Life of A job Hunter by Susan Murphy

Without going too political I want to say how offended I feel when I see news articles, political candidates and Facebook commentary belittling people who are on unemployment and calling them lazy, or a drain on society.  If you have never been in the position of having your livelihood go away, be sure to thank the Lord for you are very blessed. If you are like the many, many, many of us who have to get through a rough patch and look for new, meaningful work, than you will know how big a job it is to job hunt.  So for the under-educated on the world of job hunting I present Tip #8: A day in the life of a job hunter:

5:30 am - Get up, feed cat and get sons up to drive them to archery practice at the High School.

6:05 am - Call unemployment line to check in and go through the long list of questions to be able to get your unemployment benefits for that week (benefits you earned by the way)

6:15 am - Grab a quick breakfast and bring it to your computer to check today's job listings on a vast number of sites you put together.

7:45 am – After sprucing yourself up head downtown to volunteer at a networking breakfast. Volunteering is your payment into the event that day thanks to great people who run the organization.

11:00 am – Whip on over to the local Workforce Center to take a class on Job Hunting Over 50, Advanced Excel, Resumes, Interviews, Advanced LinkedIn, etc., etc., etc. You name it, I’ve taken them all.

1:00 pm Zip home to grab something to eat and make a series of calls to set up appointments to find ways to lower your car insurance and find health care for the upcoming months, or anything else that might make your bills go down.

2:00 pm Work on any applications to jobs you found that morning and submit.  This includes writing a killer cover letter and updating your resume to be pertinent to the work.

2:25 pm Stop for a few minutes to say hi to your son coming back from school and see how his day went. (Sometimes this time becomes driving other son to his job or picking up younger son from afternoon activities.  Return to job applications. Continue with applications and submit.

4:45 pm to 6:00 pm Cook dinner for sons and eat together whenever possible.

   

6:30 to 8:30 pm Attend a weekly career support job search seminar.

9:00 to 10:30 pm Help son with his homework by drilling him on vocabulary, reading over an essay and/or listening to his presentation for the next day. One of the highlights of your day.

10:30 to 11:30 pm Do dishes, hand washing, clean cat box or whatever little chores you still have energy for.

Midnight or maybe 1:00 am Climb into bed and read for a bit to try get your mind to relax and let go of the day.

Next day: Rinse, swish, repeat.

You get the picture.  This is not an exaggeration but a page out of my calendar.  Job searching is hard work so be kind to others who are in the midst of it and for heaven’s sake, you job searchers be kind to yourself!

Determinedly yours, Susan

You Still Have a Job to Do by Susan Vagnoni Murphy

One of the best pieces of advice I can give is you is to continue your life as if you are still employed. This is Tip #7 and I cannot express how important it is in helping you stay productive and maintain sanity. People who are not in your shoes may not understand how uncomfortable it is to not have that job to get up for each day. It saps your sense of purpose and sense of self. However, by giving yourself goals and keeping to a schedule you can make this the perfect time to create a renewed sense of how valuable you are.

So, how do you conduct yourself as if you still have a job?  Here is a quick list of habits to keep or create to keep you job-ready:

1.       Have a regular, early rising time.

2.       Maintain a personal dress code.  You never know when you will run into someone you may want to impress. Dress a step up from the crowd - you will feel better for it.

3.       Use your calendar and keep it up to date. Find activities to get out of the house that give you things to do and to look forward to.

4.       Find ways to keep working. Ex: If you are a writer, keep writing; if you are a teacher, find someone to tutor; if you repair cars, find one to work on (maybe help a friend).

5.       Increase your skills.  This is an optimum time for professional development, or to fill in the skill gaps you have.  Organizations like DEED, the Workforce Center, HIRED, Goodwill, Mentoring Partnership of MN and online webinars offer a great variety of free classes and workshops to keep you moving forward as a lifelong learner.

6.       Make a task list for the day and check things off as you would the projects you tackled in your previous job.

7.       Get out there and network.  Making new contacts and caring for those you already have are crucial to being in-the-know and staying in people’s minds.

8.       Volunteer – it will lift your spirits and let you use your talents.

9.       Guess what, you have the time for all that reading you kept putting off! Catch up on business journals, leadership books and articles that you never had time for while you were working.

10.   Always give yourself goals to work for and keep records of everything you are working on. You can’t remember everything you’ve done without keeping a list. Being able to recall and recount those activities could come in handy during a job interview.

Oh yes, don’t forget to find time to do something fun.  You used to go out for a happy hour or a work event.  You can still do that – just find a new crowd and let off a little steam; you earned it!  I am rooting for you - Susan

What You Gain from What You’ve Lost - by Susan Vagnoni Murphy

This will seem like very odd advice from a job-seeker blog…especially as a start my 14^th week on the hunt for good employment.  Tip #6 this week for my fellow hunters is Gratitude.

Are you still with me?  Thanks for not closing this page. 

No, I have not lost my mind.  I have, however, spent countless hours out there networking, volunteering, gathering information and just talking to as many folks as possible. Let‘s face it, going out and doing all of this is partially my choice but has also been forced upon me by circumstance. But somehow, what has risen out of it is an unexpected feeling of gratitude.

During the events, workshop and hours spent looking for new work, I have found from some AMAZING people I may never have had the chance to meet. For example: I have encountered an inspirational woman who speaks on her experience losing an arm to cancer 12 years ago. She acknowledges the difficulties while exuding true gratitude for her journey.

At a recent event, I had a lovely conversation with a woman who moved to Minnesota years ago and became a CEO. She shows her gratitude for a difficult journey by creating a foundation lending support to victims of sex trafficking in her birth country of Korea.

I have reconnected with past colleagues and employers, reminding me of how fortunate I am to have had them shape my early workplace experiences and renew my faith I my abilities.

I have found friends I somehow carelessly lost track of, and learned how they overcame their challenges; like a sweet author friend of mine who struggled with acceptance of her unique life experiences by writing a book that brought her to so many others who felt the way she did.

I have joined support groups for job seekers, like the one at a Lutheran Church in Minneapolis (I am a Catholic from Saint Paul) that is filled with gracious, giving, supportive facilitators who lend their time and resources to give us job hunters a weekly boost.

I am grateful for even the smaller things in life, like lower gas prices to save on gas money and warmer weather allowing me to walk more and put off the winter coat purchases. When you are on unemployment, these things really matter.

I urge anyone else out there to be open to gratitude during the hard times in your life.  As Tony Robbins says, “When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.”

I am wishing you abundance (and of course a great job!).  -Susan

Tip #5: Be a Joiner by Susan Vagnoni Murphy

If your job hunt is dragging on I know it can feel like you don’t belong anywhere.  It doesn’t seem right that so much of our identity is wrapped up in our jobs. We are so much more than that, but we lose sight of it after the multiple times someone comes up to ask us what we do and we have to say, “Well, recently I was…” Painful.

If you are like me, you have already tapped family and friends and networked your brains out to see what possibilities are out there; and also for the mere human contact. Now is the time to go beyond the comfort zone. So when you are feeling you have no place in the universe you fit in, it is time to find a new place to belong. My Tip #5 is: Be a Joiner. This can take many forms - the most useful of which is a job support group. 

I recently started with a great group that was recommended to me.  It is called Career Walk. We meet weekly and get help with assessing skills, preparing for interviews, and learning how to create a positive job hunting experience. We also support each other.  This group happens to be held through a church, which leads to another tip I got along the way: many of the church-based groups have amazing success rates in helping people secure a good job.

Just being in a room with folks who are facing similar challenges while hearing their stories can help you feel much less alone in your own process. The state employment sites have many suggestions for groups, workshops and classes, and the ones I have attended have all been very worthwhile. 

Here’s hoping you find someone to walk alongside you in your job journey. - Susan

Let’s Be Practical by Susan Vagnoni Murphy

I realize I have been talking a lot about the mental process of dealing with a job search which I believe is a huge part of the process.  Today, however, I want to talk about the practical side.  Tip #4:  be proactive. For me that means trying my best to anticipate what might be needed in the best and worst case scenarios.  

Here has been part of my preparation:

• A couple days after my job loss I attended a networking event (which was good) but I had no business cards to hand out (which was bad, and hurt a little).  I went to an office supply store and bought business card paper and went home to create my own cards.  It was what I could afford, and I have the skills to do a nice layout.  It has my name, photo, contact info and few of my top skills listed.  Now I will be prepared for the networking conference I am attending tomorrow and won’t feel so much like a fish out of water.

•  I applied for a job in a company where the CEO had written a couple of books. I went to the library to find and read them to be prepared should an interview come up.

• I was lucky enough to have an old friend who teaches students at the University of Minnesota and one of his lessons is on a good resume.  We sat down and did a thorough run through of the new resume I prepared and he gave me a lot of great ideas.  You may not have someone with those skills in your network, but you do have a lot of friends and colleagues who could lend you a hand crafting the best resume. Tom was one of four people I had review mine.

• I am taking advantage of the State’s job search workshops and skills building opportunities.  I recently went to see where I was on my computer skills (that was a confidence builder!) and I am doing online and in person trainings to try to up my talents.

These are just some of the many, many ways I am not only working toward getting that new job, but also keeping myself occupied – which  is a whole other blog to come.

Positive thoughts to all you job seekers, Susan

Acknowledging the Loss - Tip #3 by Susan Vagnoni Murphy

Once I got pass the shock of having lost a job that really meant something to me, it seems I felt the need for a stiff upper lip and an “okay I can move past this” attitude.  Nothing wrong with that…unless you know what an emotional creature I am.  (I think it comes from my Italian side, but maybe it’s just my membership in the human race). 

I was reminded today by a very wise executive coach and kind friend to take time to grieve what has been lost and what is not going to happen.  When I heard that I actually let out an audible sigh of relief.  I was being given the permission to feel the sadness I have. And I cried.

Now I am not saying this is an open ticket to wallow on the proverbial “pity-pot”. I have been doing as many of the "get moving tasks" as I can. I have had some great conversations with friends helping me define my skills, polished the resume, networked, sent applications, and am taking workshops and trainings to gain some new knowledge.

I also have tried not to isolate myself - which is a defense mechanism I go to. I tend to feel like the Debbie Downer people will run from if I share too much about my job situation. (Note: save the heart-wrenching stuff for the closest of friends and family. They love you so they will put up with more.)

Each of us handles job lost in our own personal way.  I just want you to know I feel your loss, and it is okay for you to feel it too.  We will get past our grieving process, but it is important we don’t skip over it.

Warmly, Susan

Timing is Everything by Susan Vagnoni Murphy

 (Written July 24, 2015)

If you’re lucky enough to lose your job in the same month as your next birthday consider the bright side; you will most likely get a lot of social media offers for free meals and drinks from the restaurants you used to be able to afford. 

Tip 2: Take advantage of every free offer, unused gift card and free event available to you at the time of your job loss. 

Having had enough challenging life experience to always live frugally my sons and I are well acquainted with discount programs, member discounts, and mega coupon use to try to get the best for our bucks. It brings a little tear of pride to my eye as a see one of the boys pull out the reusable bag or refillable cup just to get the 5 cents off or the larger size for less. At this junction in your job search time it is best to make the most of all these type of resources you have.

For instance, we actually got to see a much needed movie by finding 4 Fandango gift cards between the 3 of us that all had some money left on them.  With a little snuck-in-snacks we got a break from the summer heat of our apartment and a mental break from our lives for virtually nothing. We even got points on our movie membership card toward some unknown bonus in the future. For those of you like me who are “of a certain age”, use that AARP connection to its fullest. I saw another free movie on them. Thanks AARP!

Take a scan through your Facebook or other social media accounts and search for online coupons after your daily job search work is winding down. It is part of the self-care you really owe yourself to keep on an even keel and not upset the family by building up too much stress. You are all in this together.

See at the interviews! Susan

So you are looking for a Job – Me too! by Susan Vagnoni Murphy

(Written July 23, 2015)

I am like many of you out there. I am beginning a job search and feeling all the pain and fear that go with it.  So to try to turn this not-so-pleasant period into a positive, I thought I would write a new blog to try to share what I learn, along with hopefully-helpful tips. And maybe get some helpful suggestions back from all of you.

After ten years working successfully at a company I love, my job was just eliminated.  There seem to be many reasons, but the main one I was given was that the company had grown to such a size that they wanted to make changes in the marketing department.  Needless to say, as anyone would be, I was devastated. As a single mom of two teens I was petrified.

Let me start with Tip One right here: Start logging everything you are doing to pick yourself up and find work.  I mean everything from calls, to emails, to social media contacts, to soul searching sessions. It will come in handy to help you keep your sanity and it will fill in the gaps on the Job Search Record you will be keeping to receive your unemployment.

Maybe Tip One has two parts: Keep faith in what religion you hold dear.  You will need it, because your faith in yourself and others is hurting right now.  I realize you may not follow a formal religion, but you most likely follow a personal doctrine or set of values.  Hold tight to those if that is your path. I have been praying my heart out and I am blessed to have friends and family who are doing that for me as well.  Believe me, it helps you get up in the morning to know someone is on your side and you are not alone.

Okay enough blog for now; back to working on my resume.  If you are looking for work as well, let me know how you are doing.  I wish you resilience, luck and a strong support system.

Best, Susan