Support Your Partner Through the Job Search

Supporting a husband during unemployment can be stressful. How can you alleviate your fears, find answers to questions, and offer the support your partner needs? As soon as possible, you and your partner should sit down together and make a plan.

Unemployment places a strain on both the job seeker and their spouse. Maintain an attitude that treats unemployment as a temporary, manageable situation. The more the two of you stay patient and focused, though challenges may arise, the quicker a new job will be found.

Find some tips to jointly support the job search here.

What to do When You Loose Your Job

It’s emotional and traumatic to be laid off, and even worse to be fired. You’re out of work, you’re out of a paycheck, and you will lose the bond you have with your co-workers. Give yourself some time to mourn a bit, especially if you loved your job. It’s a loss, give yourself some time and space to grieve.

Then you need to get practical and get over it. The quicker you get a job search up and running, the faster you’ll be thinking about your new job.

See a comprehensive list of activities to get you going here.

Consider a Volunteer Position

While your full time 'Job' is obtaining a new one, consider the benefits of a volunteer position. This new non-paying opportunity shouldn't be full time but it will give you a break in your routine. You will need to rework your resume to point out the skills you can bring to the position. In the resume editing process you might see some improvements you can make.

Consider the volunteer job as temporary. Gaining the benefits of a change of pace, you may develop skills or discover additional exposure that can be included in your ongoing master resume.

For tips on writing a cover letter or e-mail see more here.

Find and Make the Most of a Mentor

Having a career mentor can be the secret sauce to career success. A mentor is someone who’s in your corner and wants to help you succeed professionally. This is most successful when you both spend time coming up with a strategy for success and have a clear understanding of the long-term goals of the relationship.

A career mentor helps you figure out how to achieve your career goals. They can help you make decisions that move your career forward, offer advice and insight when you face challenges, and provide general feedback about your goals and plans.

See how to use a mentor in your job quest here.

Preparing for a Layoff

Being prepared for a layoff is good advice even when the economy is robust. Keeping you resume up to date and watching for shifts in your industry should be on-going activities. Whether you know layoffs are coming or you just suspect it, there are some steps you can take to prepare for a layoff before it happens.

Preparing now will allow you to have a solid plan in place. Just know that getting laid off and getting fired are two different things. The former isn’t because of bad performance, that’s important to remember.

See 14 things to consider here.

Virus Have You Idle? Consider Senior Services

If you have been laid off from the virus, consider a volunteer or temp position in Senior care. Use your skillset to make a compassionate impact in the lives of seniors. Temporary opportunities are available in communities throughout the local area and be of benefit to our senior population.

Do a internet search on 'Senior Care' or see a link here.

Stable Job but Reasons to Leave

Even with a currently stable job, it  is sometimes necessary to escape a  hostile working environment. If you are dreading going to work every day, then the anxiety may have deleterious effects on your productivity and health. 

Hopefully by evaluating some common situations, you will be able to carefully reevaluate your position and make a sound decision. 

See five situations here.

You Should Have an Exit Plan

We all get older and we get wiser. At some point we will 'exit' to retirement. Recognize that technologies are still evolving and the new hires are ikely more tech savy than you. 

Pay particular attention in the later part of your career to develop the ability mentor your ultimate replacements with your experience. Pass on your wisdom of how things work and let the younger apply their technology.

See points for a graceful career evolution here.

You Should Always Be Looking for a New Job

Happy in your current job? Great! This is the time to keep your eyes open. Perusing job postings even when you're not actively looking is one of the best times to search for a new gig. Basically, when you're not really in need of one.

The future is unpredictable, keep your 'irons in the fire'. When the moment arrives and you realize it's time to move on, by keeping your job search in motion, you'll have an updated resume, polished interview skill set.

For more detail see the article here.

Deal With Rude Co-Workers

What should you say to a hostile or unpleasant colleague?

When a co-worker is rude to you, it can be hard to know how to respond.  But when someone is rude over and over, and you're required to deal with the person as part of your job, it can cause real stress and make your working life much less pleasant.

You can ignore it, you can speak up or you can report it. For more details see te article here.

Career Lessons Learned Too Late

In achieving success, you will have to make big sacrifices. Many people ardently heed this advice — and make sacrifices on a permanent basis and then learn too late that there’s more to life than just chasing success. Yes, you must make sacrifices but it should be for the short term. You should be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

There are three aspects to our lives - Personal, Spiritual and Professional. A fine balance needs to be maintained between the three elements to lead a satisfied and contented life. 

For important career lessons most people learn too late, see the complete article here.

Bounce Back from the Interview

For job seekers, patience and perseverance are important, but you'll also need a bit of thick skin and keep your eye on the prize. The odds of you going on a string of interviews with different companies and having every one lead to an offer are rare.

Here's how you can bounce back from rejection quickly and professionally.

• Accept rejection
• Always take the high road
• Ask for feedback, but keep expectations in check
• Maintain a positive attitude
• Keep a kudos file of praise from colleagues.
• Evaluate and move on quickly

For details on bouncing back see the complete article here

Fired? Here’s How to Recover

What happens when you're not downsized out of a position but, rather, are let go as a result of your poor performance? Here are some thoughts on being fired.

Getting fired can constitute a pretty harsh blow, so it's natural to want to take some time to wallow in your disappointment. But don't spend too much time harping on your dismissal.

Consider the benefit of sending your old boss a nicely worded note a day or so after you've been fired. It's to salvage a degree of professionalism in a situation where you otherwise come away not looking great.

One question you're pretty much guaranteed to get asked during new interview you go on; "Why did you leave your last job?" Be forthcoming about why you were let go, take responsibility for the actions that led to your dismissal.

For more detail see the article here.