Saturday 21 May 2011

How to Improve Your Skills While Out of Work

Unemployment is a scary and negative experience for most people. People struggle with being unemployed for many reasons, including the normal bills that still show up, the embarrassment of being let go and the uncertainty of their future. It important to recognize that unemployment can also be a time to improve skills and better your chances of climbing up the professional ladder. Job experts claim that the average amount of time it takes to find another job is seven months. There are many things you can do in these seven months to improve your skills in regards to your profession.
1. Volunteer
Take the free time off of your hands and give back to the community. This can be a satisfying experience. Looks for volunteer opportunities in the industry in which you used to be employed. Finding place to volunteer is not difficult because everyone is always looking for a helping hand. You can add your volunteer experience to your resume and even use the person you volunteered for as a reference. This will make your resume even stronger when applying for new jobs.
2. Side Jobs or Gigs
Is there always a profession that you wish you would have gone in to? If so, look on community job boards for short-term gigs. These are usually low-paying jobs that last anywhere from a few hours to a few days. You can either learn new skills that interest you or sharpen your current skill set further. Participating in these side jobs can also be a form of networking. Get to know the people you are working for and question them about potential job opportunities.
3. Start a Hobby
A hobby doesn't have to be something like building model cars or collecting baseball cards. A hobby can be anything you do for enjoyment on a regular basis. If you want to stay connected to the industry in which you used to work- start a blog about the industry. Get people talking and visiting your blog for news, reviews and any other relative information. You can also start a club or hobby group. Find people with the same interests as you and turn it into a social event. There are thousands of things that you can do to get your mind off of your unemployment and on to things that will make you a better employ next time around.
These are just a few ways to improve your skills while being unemployed. It is easy to get discouraged when unemployed and you may have no motivation to sharpen your skills. If this is the case, you should accept your current situation and better yourself so that you can land an even better job in the upcoming months. For some people, unemployment is inevitable - especially in today's economy. Use this time, that you might not have otherwise gotten, to do something that you never had the time to do. A few years down the road you will look back and smile thinking about it.

1 comment:

  1. This is a great article! It is so discouraging to be unemployed and it is very easy to get down on yourself and sometimes very difficult to find the motivation to stay positive through the process of finding another job.

    Keeping your mind off of the "negatives" is so important and you have shown some very simple, but very effective ways to keep people going through those tough times. Networking is also extremely important and all three of these suggestions are excellent ways to network, make new friends and, who knows? Maybe you can even find your next job in one of these ways!

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