Having been unemployed before, I know how it works. There are rises and falls of productivity. There are days when you just want to lie in bed with the curtains drawn, the chocolate within reaching distance, the Netflix on streaming, and just soak up the beautiful sadness that is feeling like a failure. Other days you’re so bored, so fed up with the reality television you’ve been watching at a house that isn’t yours to relish in the guilty pleasure of cable, that you’re begging friends and family to let you help them do something. Can I dust your blinds? Can I chop up your carrot? No, no, it’s all right, I’ll go to the doctor and get your flu shot for you.
So this time, I set goals for myself. Of course I set career goals and professional goals, but mostly, as it goes in the world of long-term unemployment, simply setting goals is quite a feat to be mastered. My goal: be productive. For at least the time of a normal full-time job, be productive. Now this ranges from the dull - washing my boyfriend’s ACUs (I make a game out of how long I can go without touching anything velcro) - to the painful - the job hunt, scrolling through pages upon pages upon pages of “Jobs We Recommend for You!” on the five career search sites I’m subscribed to - to the more time-consuming, slightly career-oriented, and almost enjoyable advice research.
Out of my Mon-Fri nine-hour minimum productivity per diem, I spend roughly half researching tips and tools, techniques and trades, titans and twitters (... that one is a bit of a reach, but I was running out of t’s.) Saving money, finding coupons, finding a job, making yourself more marketable, what not to do in a job interview, the hue of eyeshadow that is appropriate for each level of work, and, the stuff I actually enjoy, the photo blogs.
Now, according to these job search advice columns, having a twitter account, a facebook page, a blog, and portfolio website is how you get a job in communications. Makes sense that they would want someone savvy in the field of talking. Of course, one must keep up with it, keep it updated with professionally relevant information, but “let your freak flag fly!” Ie: Let employers know you’re human, watch football, like nachos, etc. Since I don’t have much to do with my time as of late, I don’t really mind investing the hours into keeping my social media networking skills sharp. To my friends and followers, however, I deeply apologize. Unless you are a photog yourself, I doubt my retweets and facebook status updates quoting my latest obsession Photofocus.com are wildly interesting to you. If you would like, I can make it up to you by dusting your blinds. Or by chopping up your carrots... Have you gotten a flu shot yet?
Point being, as a person who thrives on challenges, project-minded, and goal-oriented, being unemployed with stepping outdoors donning the medal of your highest accomplishment of the day, it is difficult to keep the positive attitudes rolling. Here's some advice I found from google searches on staying positive in the demeaning world of job - seeking:
Catherine's Career Corner: 20 Ways to stay Positive in the Job Search. Unfortunately a few of these cost money. I'm not sure who is unemployed and is spending money freely on counselors to help you sort out your negative feelings and going to conferences and seminars, but a few of these are pretty legit.
The Job Box Report: 10 Ways to Keep Your Positive Attitude During a Long Job Search. This one looks a lot like the advice I would give. Particularly the three daily goals and the daily exercise.
There are a ton others but mostly say the same thing with a ton of babbling in between. (Sh, this isn't babbling, this is useful... for me...) By the way, apparently a lot of people are concerned about keeping a positive attitude during the job search, because google got me over 22 million hits tying "positive attitude" with "job search." (bing's results were worthless) And that's without the alternative terms of unemployment, job hunting, job seeking, looking for work, etc. So I guess if you take comfort in nothing those blogs say, for one, get your head out of your ass, and for two, you're not alone. I don't know about you, but that does make me feel a little better. And if you're a photog, this is a little something I like to keep in my pocket for a rainy day - most professionals say if you have a whole day of shooting, and you get one in six shots turning out to be something you're satisfied with, either you too easy to please, or you're a damn good photographer. I like to translate that into job-seeking terms. Applying to a lot is like snapping the shutter, just in case. And eventually, you'll come through with one that you're satisfied with. And maybe out of the fifty exposures, you might even get one you love.
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