Nov 23, 2011
By Chuck Yager
Many Americans pick the Thanksgiving holiday to reflect on what they are thankful for. If you’re one of the many people right now who don’t have a job or are stuck in a terrible work environment it can be pretty challenging to find things to be thankful for. As my father likes to say, being thankful depends on how you look at things. You can look at your situation as bad, or you can look at your situation as an opportunity to make things better.
If you are job searching while actively employed, your situation is pretty good. It has come to light in the last year that hiring managers prefer to find people already employed. You can make your situation even better by doing a few things. Reaching out to people on LinkedIn and staying in touch with a good recruiter are both no-brainers. You may also want to try giving back to those people. Offer referrals to your recruiter and letters of recommendation to your LinkedIn contacts, people appreciate that and will show it when they have a chance by helping you in return.
If you are not employed it may not be as easy to find things to be thankful for, but you must if you are to be in a position to move on and once again be part of the work force. Add this to the suggestions above.
When you find a recruiter you trust, do what they say. They are in a position to know what the client wants to see, as long as it is ethical, make those resume changes. Lower your expectations about pay, anything over what your unemployment benefits or your severance package pays is a raise, be thankful for that raise because the longer you are away from work the harder it will be to get that raise.
Be thankful for the opportunity to give back. Many people who are unemployed don’t do enough during their time away from work. Use this time to volunteer your skills to someone who needs it but can’t pay a large fee. The candidates who do this (keep working even though they are not working) are the ones who are forgiven for having long unemployment stretches by hiring managers. It shows you where able to keep busy and used your time wisely and too keep your skills sharp.
Keep things in perspective, choose to be thankful for what you have and the many opportunities you have to make things better for your self and people around you, giving back often creates it’s own rewards, like happy friends, a full resume and offers from people you never would expect to see your work in the first place.
