Friends / Family / Church
It is so important to talk to your friends, family, and church about your job search situation if for no other reason than they are your support system. The job search is too stressful to carry it on your shoulders alone.
I've known job seekers to leave the house every day at the same 8am time just like they were still going to their job because they didn't want to let their family know they'd been laid off. They didn't want them to worry. And they then went off to try to look for a job and come home at 5 just like nothings changed... even though it did, in a big way.
That's a terrible way to handle this situation. That means that you, the person who's looking for the job is bearing the weight of the job search all alone, and it's crushing. It's just too much.
So the first thing I want you to do when you find yourself out of a job is tell your friends and family and church if you have one. It's good for you.
If you want a more practical reason than that, think of this: if it's good for you, it will be good for your job search. If you have a happy, healthy attitude, it will show. You project what you're feeling inside to potential employers. There have been studies that show that people with positive attitudes get jobs faster than those with negative attitudes.
And here's an even more practical reason: your friends and family and church peeps know people, just like your "official" network does. For instance, I'm someone who knows a LOT of people. I have hooked so many people up with jobs in so many ways, completely outside of recruiting. You have no idea what connections your friends and family might have, and very often the most informal relationships can hook you up with a great job lead.
But friends and family could easily prove valuable even if they don't have a lead or someone for you to talk to. For instance: I know someone who wanted a waitressing job at a restaurant and couldn't get hired. She was their hostess, but they wouldn't move her over to waitressing for a year, they said. So she talked to a friend of a friend, and that person started coaching her on how to move up faster. They told her to first memorize the menu. Then, on a slow day, find a waiter to follow around and see how they do their job. When someone doesn't show up, offer to take their shift. Help the waiters clean up so they can see that you're dying to do their work.
Not everything is as easy to transition into as a waitressing job... but: Every job has "insider" tricks and tools that would help you move into that job if you knew what they were. And someone in your network just might know what you need to know to do that.
Talking to your friends, family and church family is not as valuable as contacting hiring managers, but it can definitely help you into the job you want.
Peggy McKee is a career coach and the CEO of Career Confidential, a website dedicated to helping job seekers find a job fast. See the website here => http://careerconfidential.com/blog/
Find links to 25 fast job search tips in the entire Fastest Way to Find a Job Series here => http://careerconfidential.com/fastest-way-find-a-job-series/
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