Calling all job hunters!

[Smurfysmiles]

What do you do when you''re not job hunting? It''s only my first day with no job and I feel so unproductive!!! I looked for jobs, put my resume out in more places, updated web sites I usually update for personal clients, cleaned, watched the today show, played with my cats...what now? lol What do you do to keep from going stir crazy?

 

[elrohwen]

I volunteer. I work with bunnies once a week and it takes up a big chunk of my day. I love it. I would do it more often if the rescue wasn''t 45 minutes away.

It is really hard though. I''m not naturally a high energy person, so I''m not one to run around finding a million activities to do. And I''ve love to take classes in something fun, but $30-50 per week isn''t really smart if I''m not working.

I do cook quite a bit. It''s fun to plan out dinner and I''ll start working on it around 4 or 5 to take up the time until DH gets home.

If you''re going to watch tv, I recommend recording stuff throughout the day (if you have a dvr) or watching movies. If you don''t have anything you want to watch, then don''t watch! It''s really boring and awful to jump from channel to channel when there''s absolutely nothing interesting on. Limit yourself to shows you actually like.

 

[April20]

When I was laid off the summer before last, I did volunteer work and also scoured the thrift shops for things to resell on Ebay. I made slush money this way. It is amazing what people will buy!

 

[kama_s]

I recently switched from taking time off to job hunting, and sadly the pharmaceutical industry is not doing well right now. I'm also very picky about what I apply to, so not much going on right now and I would assume it'll be another few months of this at the very minimum. So essentially, I have been looking at it as an extended time off. Some of the things I do:

- Help with my husband's consulting business: He has a day job, but he is well known for his area of specialty, so he frequently gets asked for help or to speak at conferences etc. I've picked up some of the stuff he does just out of curiosity, so I'm doing a bit of his consulting stuff for him now.

- Taking up new hobbies: I took up pottery last year and I'm going to soon start glass painting/blowing.

- Take additional courses for fun: I really want to learn to speak french fluently, so I'm taking higher level courses at a nearby french school.

- Meet with friends for lunch: This is my favourite part of being at home. I love that I get to see my friends so much more now. I meet a few of them for tea/lunch 2-3x/week. You don't have to go out and spend money either. This morning, I had a friend come over for breakfast. We ate english muffins, yogurt with granola and had a few cups of coffee. It was cheap and a whole lot of fun.

- Cook! Like Elrohwen, I've taken up cooking. I try out new recipes, make more complicated meals now. I love that I have the time to spend a good 2 hours or so to make a delicious meal at home, rather than trying to come up with quick 30 min meals because we're both tired from the day.

- Listen to all my jazz CDs and read! With a cup of tea! Oh, how I love a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon.

- The house is always frikkin clean and we both LOVE it. We can have unexpected guests come over at any time.

- SLEEP IN!! I wake up between 8-8:30am every morning..WOOHOOO!

I'm so going to miss this wonderful phase when it does come to an end!

 

[Smurfysmiles]

Wow thanks for the great ideas ladies! I actually just got a packet in the mail today of all the spring/summer community classes, what a coincidence huh! I think it would be really fun to volunteer down at the animal shelter too, really really great ideas that I don''t know why I didn''t think of them myself! Thanks so much!!! I especially love that thrift store idea, pretty scrappy

Also great idea about learning another language since dh and I would like to travel to a couple different countries (greece, france (although i already know some french, could probably use a brush up) italy, etc) Also today I definitely slept in til 8:30

 

[monarch64]

When I was unemployed I spent 8 hours a day, 5 days a week searching for employment, whether it was browsing, tweaking my resume, customizing cover letters, networking, or whatever job-search-related task. You have to treat the job hunt like a full-time job.

 

[Smurfysmiles]

Date: 3/2/2010 3:25:56 PM
Author: monarch64
When I was unemployed I spent 8 hours a day, 5 days a week searching for employment, whether it was browsing, tweaking my resume, customizing cover letters, networking, or whatever job-search-related task. You have to treat the job hunt like a full-time job.

I agree but well, sometimes 8 hours a day is not ALWAYS possible. Somedays I'll be on a hot lead and spend 13 hours on it and somedays well, there's just nothing and I have my resume tweaked (did that today actually). I've also redone my entire online portfolio which was no easy task and ended up learning some new software in the process (kinda rare for web design with the basics out there-flash, dreamweaver, photoshop, etc. but sometimes people want you to use some weird software you've never heard of and you download it and teach yourself). Not making an excuse to be lazy or anything, just saying, it's not always possible to find something related to the job search every single day fykim
Also if I'm jobhunting 8-4, that's 8 hours and dh works til later in the night, which puts me right back to bored again lol, just looking for filler activities because i hate hate hate being bored is all

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 3/2/2010 3:15:13 PM
Author: kama_s
I recently switched from taking time off to job hunting, and sadly the pharmaceutical industry is not doing well right now. I''m also very picky about what I apply to, so not much going on right now and I would assume it''ll be another few months of this at the very minimum. So essentially, I have been looking at it as an extended time off. Some of the things I do:

- Help with my husband''s consulting business: He has a day job, but he is well known for his area of specialty, so he frequently gets asked for help or to speak at conferences etc. I''ve picked up some of the stuff he does just out of curiosity, so I''m doing a bit of his consulting stuff for him now.

- Taking up new hobbies: I took up pottery last year and I''m going to soon start glass painting/blowing.

- Take additional courses for fun: I really want to learn to speak french fluently, so I''m taking higher level courses at a nearby french school.

- Meet with friends for lunch: This is my favourite part of being at home. I love that I get to see my friends so much more now. I meet a few of them for tea/lunch 2-3x/week. You don''t have to go out and spend money either. This morning, I had a friend come over for breakfast. We ate english muffins, yogurt with granola and had a few cups of coffee. It was cheap and a whole lot of fun.

- Cook! Like Elrohwen, I''ve taken up cooking. I try out new recipes, make more complicated meals now. I love that I have the time to spend a good 2 hours or so to make a delicious meal at home, rather than trying to come up with quick 30 min meals because we''re both tired from the day.

- Listen to all my jazz CDs and read! With a cup of tea! Oh, how I love a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon.

- The house is always frikkin clean and we both LOVE it. We can have unexpected guests come over at any time.

- SLEEP IN!! I wake up between 8-8:30am every morning..WOOHOOO!

I''m so going to miss this wonderful phase when it does come to an end!

This is one of my favorites! I also wake up at 8-8:30am and find that''s a good time for me.

How do you make yourself clean? This is where I have a really hard time. I feel like I should be cleaning a lot, but I just can''t bring myself to do it. I do keep the kitchen clean, that''s the one area of the house I''m anal about. I vacuum, but other than that I just kinda let stuff go as usual

I find it very hard to get motivated to clean.

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 3/2/2010 3:25:56 PM
Author: monarch64
When I was unemployed I spent 8 hours a day, 5 days a week searching for employment, whether it was browsing, tweaking my resume, customizing cover letters, networking, or whatever job-search-related task. You have to treat the job hunt like a full-time job.

I would agree with smurfy that this is not always possible. If I could take a job anywhere in the country, I would certainly be at it all day long. As it is, there are very limited options for our current area and a lot of it involves waiting (especially for jobs at DH''s company, which would be my ideal). There really just aren''t many jobs here that I''m remotely qualified for so it''s not really possible to spend that much of my day job hunting.

 

[kama_s]

Date: 3/2/2010 3:42:16 PM
Author: elrohwen

Date: 3/2/2010 3:15:13 PM
Author: kama_s
I recently switched from taking time off to job hunting, and sadly the pharmaceutical industry is not doing well right now. I''m also very picky about what I apply to, so not much going on right now and I would assume it''ll be another few months of this at the very minimum. So essentially, I have been looking at it as an extended time off. Some of the things I do:

- Help with my husband''s consulting business: He has a day job, but he is well known for his area of specialty, so he frequently gets asked for help or to speak at conferences etc. I''ve picked up some of the stuff he does just out of curiosity, so I''m doing a bit of his consulting stuff for him now.

- Taking up new hobbies: I took up pottery last year and I''m going to soon start glass painting/blowing.

- Take additional courses for fun: I really want to learn to speak french fluently, so I''m taking higher level courses at a nearby french school.

- Meet with friends for lunch: This is my favourite part of being at home. I love that I get to see my friends so much more now. I meet a few of them for tea/lunch 2-3x/week. You don''t have to go out and spend money either. This morning, I had a friend come over for breakfast. We ate english muffins, yogurt with granola and had a few cups of coffee. It was cheap and a whole lot of fun.

- Cook! Like Elrohwen, I''ve taken up cooking. I try out new recipes, make more complicated meals now. I love that I have the time to spend a good 2 hours or so to make a delicious meal at home, rather than trying to come up with quick 30 min meals because we''re both tired from the day.

- Listen to all my jazz CDs and read! With a cup of tea! Oh, how I love a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon.

- The house is always frikkin clean and we both LOVE it. We can have unexpected guests come over at any time.

- SLEEP IN!! I wake up between 8-8:30am every morning..WOOHOOO!

I''m so going to miss this wonderful phase when it does come to an end!

This is one of my favorites! I also wake up at 8-8:30am and find that''s a good time for me.

How do you make yourself clean? This is where I have a really hard time. I feel like I should be cleaning a lot, but I just can''t bring myself to do it. I do keep the kitchen clean, that''s the one area of the house I''m anal about. I vacuum, but other than that I just kinda let stuff go as usual

I find it very hard to get motivated to clean.

I know what you mean. I just tend to do a little bit everyday. So 30 min to an hour to tidy up, make the bed, clean the washroom etc. And then once a week I''ll dust/vacuum etc. We live in a condo though, so cleaning 1300 sq feet is much easier than cleaning a house!

 

[Smurfysmiles]

Date: 3/2/2010 3:49:07 PM
Author: kama_s

Date: 3/2/2010 3:42:16 PM

Author: elrohwen

Date: 3/2/2010 3:15:13 PM

Author: kama_s

I recently switched from taking time off to job hunting, and sadly the pharmaceutical industry is not doing well right now. I''m also very picky about what I apply to, so not much going on right now and I would assume it''ll be another few months of this at the very minimum. So essentially, I have been looking at it as an extended time off. Some of the things I do:


- Help with my husband''s consulting business: He has a day job, but he is well known for his area of specialty, so he frequently gets asked for help or to speak at conferences etc. I''ve picked up some of the stuff he does just out of curiosity, so I''m doing a bit of his consulting stuff for him now.


- Taking up new hobbies: I took up pottery last year and I''m going to soon start glass painting/blowing.


- Take additional courses for fun: I really want to learn to speak french fluently, so I''m taking higher level courses at a nearby french school.


- Meet with friends for lunch: This is my favourite part of being at home. I love that I get to see my friends so much more now. I meet a few of them for tea/lunch 2-3x/week. You don''t have to go out and spend money either. This morning, I had a friend come over for breakfast. We ate english muffins, yogurt with granola and had a few cups of coffee. It was cheap and a whole lot of fun.


- Cook! Like Elrohwen, I''ve taken up cooking. I try out new recipes, make more complicated meals now. I love that I have the time to spend a good 2 hours or so to make a delicious meal at home, rather than trying to come up with quick 30 min meals because we''re both tired from the day.


- Listen to all my jazz CDs and read! With a cup of tea! Oh, how I love a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon.


- The house is always frikkin clean and we both LOVE it. We can have unexpected guests come over at any time.


- SLEEP IN!! I wake up between 8-8:30am every morning..WOOHOOO!


I''m so going to miss this wonderful phase when it does come to an end!

This is one of my favorites! I also wake up at 8-8:30am and find that''s a good time for me.


How do you make yourself clean? This is where I have a really hard time. I feel like I should be cleaning a lot, but I just can''t bring myself to do it. I do keep the kitchen clean, that''s the one area of the house I''m anal about. I vacuum, but other than that I just kinda let stuff go as usual

I find it very hard to get motivated to clean.

I know what you mean. I just tend to do a little bit everyday. So 30 min to an hour to tidy up, make the bed, clean the washroom etc. And then once a week I''ll dust/vacuum etc. We live in a condo though, so cleaning 1300 sq feet is much easier than cleaning a house!

Speak for yourself! We do too but I always feel like it''s a mess lol. I attribute this to the cats picking up random things (socks, bottle caps, my hair brush, etc) and dragging them all over and leaving them wherever they see fit

 

[kama_s]

Date: 3/2/2010 3:45:53 PM
Author: elrohwen

Date: 3/2/2010 3:25:56 PM
Author: monarch64
When I was unemployed I spent 8 hours a day, 5 days a week searching for employment, whether it was browsing, tweaking my resume, customizing cover letters, networking, or whatever job-search-related task. You have to treat the job hunt like a full-time job.

I would agree with smurfy that this is not always possible. If I could take a job anywhere in the country, I would certainly be at it all day long. As it is, there are very limited options for our current area and a lot of it involves waiting (especially for jobs at DH''s company, which would be my ideal). There really just aren''t many jobs here that I''m remotely qualified for so it''s not really possible to spend that much of my day job hunting.

Agreed. I think if you''re in a generalized field, like HR, and can work in any industry, you can keep busy all day with just applying to positions. My area is very specialized, and it''s not everyday that a position comes up that would be suitable for me. I''d rather not take a job that I don''t enjoy, so I don''t mind holding out.

 

[zoebartlett]

In the past when I''ve been job hunting, I''ve also:

Used some spare time to go to the gym (or at least my complex''s mini-gym)
Continued to send out resumes/cover letters/application packets
Cleaned out our closets and worked a little on the garage (it''s still a work-in-progress)
Caught up some books on my reading list
Caught up on filing mail, etc (I hate doing this!)
Given our house a thorough, deep cleaning
Met my husband for lunch once a week or so (it was something to look forward to, and it broke up the day a bit)
Tried to stick to a schedule (meaning, I''d plan my day out as if was a regular work day -- I didn''t sleep in really, etc.)

I''ve tried to make sure to do at least one really productive thing each day. I''ve tried not to give myself too much time off from the above things because I didn''t want to lose motivation to keep busy.

Good luck finding a new job Smurfy! Dust to you!!!

 

[Smurfysmiles]

thanks zoe!

and dust to all the others who are job searching right now as well

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 3/2/2010 3:53:53 PM
Author: kama_s

Date: 3/2/2010 3:45:53 PM
Author: elrohwen

Date: 3/2/2010 3:25:56 PM
Author: monarch64
When I was unemployed I spent 8 hours a day, 5 days a week searching for employment, whether it was browsing, tweaking my resume, customizing cover letters, networking, or whatever job-search-related task. You have to treat the job hunt like a full-time job.

I would agree with smurfy that this is not always possible. If I could take a job anywhere in the country, I would certainly be at it all day long. As it is, there are very limited options for our current area and a lot of it involves waiting (especially for jobs at DH''s company, which would be my ideal). There really just aren''t many jobs here that I''m remotely qualified for so it''s not really possible to spend that much of my day job hunting.

Agreed. I think if you''re in a generalized field, like HR, and can work in any industry, you can keep busy all day with just applying to positions. My area is very specialized, and it''s not everyday that a position comes up that would be suitable for me. I''d rather not take a job that I don''t enjoy, so I don''t mind holding out.

I totally agree with this! So many of the jobs in my area are for people with 5+ years experience in electrical or computer engineering. I have 3.5 years experience in process/chemical engineering. There really isn''t a point in applying to jobs where I''m not even close to reaching the minimum requirements and I wouldn''t want to do it anyway.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

When I was unemployed I made job hunting. 9-5 every day. I got up ate breakfast, showered got dressed and got to work. I applied to any and everything that looked remotely interesting or that I was reasonably qualified for. I had probably a 15% return on the resumes I sent so sending out as many as possible was the best thing I could do.

 

[monarch64]

Date: 3/2/2010 3:53:53 PM
Author: kama_s

Date: 3/2/2010 3:45:53 PM
Author: elrohwen

Date: 3/2/2010 3:25:56 PM
Author: monarch64
When I was unemployed I spent 8 hours a day, 5 days a week searching for employment, whether it was browsing, tweaking my resume, customizing cover letters, networking, or whatever job-search-related task. You have to treat the job hunt like a full-time job.

I would agree with smurfy that this is not always possible. If I could take a job anywhere in the country, I would certainly be at it all day long. As it is, there are very limited options for our current area and a lot of it involves waiting (especially for jobs at DH''s company, which would be my ideal). There really just aren''t many jobs here that I''m remotely qualified for so it''s not really possible to spend that much of my day job hunting.

Agreed. I think if you''re in a generalized field, like HR, and can work in any industry, you can keep busy all day with just applying to positions. My area is very specialized, and it''s not everyday that a position comes up that would be suitable for me. I''d rather not take a job that I don''t enjoy, so I don''t mind holding out.

Then find something to do to prepare for interviews, etc. Make sure your car is cleaned out, make sure your interview suit/apparel is cleaned and in good repair. Polish your shoes. Think about these posts. Would you give excuses such as the ones above in an interview situation? Practice interview questions--you can find good examples online. Write out a list of interview questions to ask employers. I can think of about 10,000,000 things to do to take up 40 hrs. per week just LOOKING for employment.

 

[kama_s]

Date: 3/2/2010 4:25:56 PM
Author: monarch64

Date: 3/2/2010 3:53:53 PM
Author: kama_s

Date: 3/2/2010 3:45:53 PM
Author: elrohwen



I would agree with smurfy that this is not always possible. If I could take a job anywhere in the country, I would certainly be at it all day long. As it is, there are very limited options for our current area and a lot of it involves waiting (especially for jobs at DH''s company, which would be my ideal). There really just aren''t many jobs here that I''m remotely qualified for so it''s not really possible to spend that much of my day job hunting.

Agreed. I think if you''re in a generalized field, like HR, and can work in any industry, you can keep busy all day with just applying to positions. My area is very specialized, and it''s not everyday that a position comes up that would be suitable for me. I''d rather not take a job that I don''t enjoy, so I don''t mind holding out.

Then find something to do to prepare for interviews, etc. Make sure your car is cleaned out, make sure your interview suit/apparel is cleaned and in good repair. Polish your shoes. Think about these posts. Would you give excuses such as the ones above in an interview situation? Practice interview questions--you can find good examples online. Write out a list of interview questions to ask employers. I can think of about 10,000,000 things to do to take up 40 hrs. per week just LOOKING for employment.

Thanks Monarch, but I didn''t ask for any advice

Everything on your list is done and done for me.

 

[monarch64]

Kama, post was not directed towards you. Quoted it thinking Smurfy was in there somewhere. Forgive me, I''m at my hard-won, hourly-paid, no-benefits job I''ve kept for a year and a half simply because it is SO HARD to find a job nowadays, even with a degree and a sh*t ton of experience. My bad. Just trying to multi-task and screwed up.

 

[monarch64]

Btw, a lot of what I see in this thread is excuses when presented with the treat-it-like-a-FT-job-approach. Smurfy wants to travel this summer and I''m pretty sure would like to have kids in the not-too-distant future. The sooner she buckles down and just does everything it takes to get another job whether it is in her field or not, the sooner she can have money to live the life she wants. That is all.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

With exception of a few very select fields (medical research and engineering being two), most jobs have skill sets that can be laterally transferred into other positions and industries. In addition, some industries call a job by one name and others call it by another. A graphic designer in my opinion (and I''ve worked in the creative industry my entire career) is not a position that is SO specific that you can only apply for design jobs. Many positions, like those in marketing, advertising, product development, editing, copy editing, composition (laying out print pages), web design, etc use skills that the average graphic designer has. All I see here is a lot of talk and excuses and no action.

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 3/2/2010 4:41:17 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
With exception of a few very select fields (medical research and engineering being two), most jobs have skill sets that can be laterally transferred into other positions and industries. In addition, some industries call a job by one name and others call it by another. A graphic designer in my opinion (and I''ve worked in the creative industry my entire career) is not a position that is SO specific that you can only apply for design jobs. Many positions, like those in marketing, advertising, product development, editing, copy editing, composition (laying out print pages), web design, etc use skills that the average graphic designer has. All I see here is a lot of talk and excuses and no action.

Very good points. Though Kama and I were mostly the ones sharing what we do when we''re not job searching

 

[monarch64]

And Smurfy, back to you: think of it this way, now you have additional time to work out, get around to organizing things or doing things you''ve had to put off because you were at work...try to see this as a positive and constructive time in your life. I''m being tough about this because I''ve been there. It''s not fun. It can be depressing. You have to be PROACTIVE and take initiative. Think about what you will say when an interviewer asks you about the period of unemployment. You will need to turn it into a positive. Work on those things NOW, I am urging you, so you can be prepared when you DO get interviews. Be prepared to talk about how you used the time off, you''re not going to want to tell them you filled the gaps and periods of boredom with playing with your cats.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I understand elro and as you see I put in exceptions. My comment was more directed toward the claims of exhausting all job listings in one day. These days you can''t just depend on general and industry-specific job boards, you''ve got to branch out, research individual companies and check their job boards for postings. Many companies avoid job boards all together because they get swamped with resumes these days. Another option is getting linked up with a recruiting agency. My point to Smurfy is that Graphic Designers go by many names and are utilized in just about every industry. She''s doing herself a disservice to marginalize her position and only seek job postings in standard places. That''s where everyone else is going to look and where the most competition is going to be.

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 3/2/2010 4:50:20 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
I understand elro and as you see I put in exceptions. My comment was more directed toward the claims of exhausting all job listings in one day. These days you can''t just depend on general and industry-specific job boards, you''ve got to branch out, research individual companies and check their job boards for postings. Many companies avoid job boards all together because they get swamped with resumes these days. Another option is getting linked up with a recruiting agency. My point to Smurfy is that Graphic Designers go by many names and are utilized in just about every industry. She''s doing herself a disservice to marginalize her position and only seek job postings in standard places. That''s where everyone else is going to look and where the most competition is going to be.

I 100% agree.

A recruiting agency is also a fantastic idea that I forgot about. In some industries, the only way you''re going to get an interview is to go through recruiters. Talk to people in your field and ask for phone numbers and email addresses or even do a Google search for recruiters.

 

[kama_s]

Date: 3/2/2010 4:44:45 PM
Author: elrohwen

Date: 3/2/2010 4:41:17 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
With exception of a few very select fields (medical research and engineering being two), most jobs have skill sets that can be laterally transferred into other positions and industries. In addition, some industries call a job by one name and others call it by another. A graphic designer in my opinion (and I've worked in the creative industry my entire career) is not a position that is SO specific that you can only apply for design jobs. Many positions, like those in marketing, advertising, product development, editing, copy editing, composition (laying out print pages), web design, etc use skills that the average graphic designer has. All I see here is a lot of talk and excuses and no action.

Very good points. Though Kama and I were mostly the ones sharing what we do when we're not job searching

True that! I thought we were just providing input on what one can do to pass time while job hunting. Ofcourse, it was already assumed that we were already doing the max that we possibly could on that front.

For me, I do spend majority of my day looking for positions. Sadly, in my field, you don't find positions posted on job sites. I have to go to each individual pharmaceutical company to see what they have up. And I do regular rotations every few days. Plus, I've had several mock-interviews and I've been quite busy with networking and gaining contacts. Got two suits all lined up (and used just this past week actually). Besides, I do spend a lot of time keeping up with all that is happening in my industry - reading articles and keeping abreast of research in my field. When I'm not doing any of that, I do some of the items mentioned in my list above

Thankfully, I don't have any financial considerations. I want to work because I am incredibly passionate about my field and my friends are getting quite irate with me breaking out in pharm/tox talk every few minutes!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 3/2/2010 4:54:25 PM
Author: kama_s

Date: 3/2/2010 4:44:45 PM

Author: elrohwen

Date: 3/2/2010 4:41:17 PM

Author: Hudson_Hawk

With exception of a few very select fields (medical research and engineering being two), most jobs have skill sets that can be laterally transferred into other positions and industries. In addition, some industries call a job by one name and others call it by another. A graphic designer in my opinion (and I''ve worked in the creative industry my entire career) is not a position that is SO specific that you can only apply for design jobs. Many positions, like those in marketing, advertising, product development, editing, copy editing, composition (laying out print pages), web design, etc use skills that the average graphic designer has. All I see here is a lot of talk and excuses and no action.

Very good points. Though Kama and I were mostly the ones sharing what we do when we''re not job searching

True that! I thought we were just providing input on what one can do to pass time while job hunting. Ofcourse, it was already assumed that we were already doing the max that we possible could on that front.


For me, I do spend majority of my day looking for positions. Sadly, in my field, you don''t find positions posted on job sites. I have to go to each individual pharmaceutical company to see what they have up. And I do regular rotations every few days. Plus, I''ve had several mock-interviews and I''ve been quite busy with networking and gaining contacts. Got two suits all lined up (and used just this past week actually). Besides, I do spend a lot of time keeping up with all that is happening in my industry - reading articles and keeping abreast of research in my field. When I''m not doing any of that, I do some of the items mentioned in my list above

Thankfully, I don''t have any financial considerations. I want to work because I am incredibly passionate about my field and my friends are getting quite irate with me breaking out in pharm/tox talk every few minutes!

But see that''s where I have the biggest problem with the OP. And for the record I''d react this way to anyone who posted this, not just Smurfy. This is the FIRST day not at the office. I don''t understand how someone can be bored out of their mind and looking for an outlet for entertainment when they''ve been out of the job for 12-18 hours. I can see maybe getting discouraged after a month or two with no hits, but the job search hasn''t even really started yet! If this is the way it''s going to start then I honestly can''t see it ending well.

It''s totally OK to be burned out and feel like crud about getting let go from your last job, but if this is the case then admit it to yourself. Then take a day or two (or a week!) off and decompress so you can approach the job search with a fresh mind and perspective. If immediate money is an issue, try and find a job that you will make a little cash but won''t make so much to be denied UE benefits (like waitressing) so you''ve got something to get you out of the house at night, you make some $ and you can tackle job hunting.

 

[kama_s]

Date: 3/2/2010 4:50:20 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
I understand elro and as you see I put in exceptions. My comment was more directed toward the claims of exhausting all job listings in one day. These days you can''t just depend on general and industry-specific job boards, you''ve got to branch out, research individual companies and check their job boards for postings. Many companies avoid job boards all together because they get swamped with resumes these days. Another option is getting linked up with a recruiting agency. My point to Smurfy is that Graphic Designers go by many names and are utilized in just about every industry. She''s doing herself a disservice to marginalize her position and only seek job postings in standard places. That''s where everyone else is going to look and where the most competition is going to be.

Two very good points. My husband found his job on Craigslist! And mind you, this is a huge internet company! And they''re only using recruiters for newer positions. I think you should at least network with 4-5 recruiting agencies to the very minimum. And look through their job postings as well.

 

[sunnyd]

Date: 3/2/2010 5:06:30 PM
Author: kama_s

Date: 3/2/2010 4:50:20 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
I understand elro and as you see I put in exceptions. My comment was more directed toward the claims of exhausting all job listings in one day. These days you can''t just depend on general and industry-specific job boards, you''ve got to branch out, research individual companies and check their job boards for postings. Many companies avoid job boards all together because they get swamped with resumes these days. Another option is getting linked up with a recruiting agency. My point to Smurfy is that Graphic Designers go by many names and are utilized in just about every industry. She''s doing herself a disservice to marginalize her position and only seek job postings in standard places. That''s where everyone else is going to look and where the most competition is going to be.

Two very good points. My husband found his job on Craigslist! And mind you, this is a huge internet company! And they''re only using recruiters for newer positions. I think you should at least network with 4-5 recruiting agencies to the very minimum. And look through their job postings as well.

CL is awesome!! And if you click on the jobs link instead of looking by category, you see a lot more stuff than you would by limiting by industry. My company has a posting out there, and I never would have thought they would! They''re desperate, I guess. Haha.

 

[Smurfysmiles]

Oh man..

Ok, I don't think I said I *only* apply to jobs for graphic designers and if I worded it that way and it came out wrong, know it is not what I intended. I do apply to any job I am qualified for (although I will not start my job search with the food industry or retail, that for me personally is a last resort). However, in the last couple job searches I have applied for receptionist jobs, multimedia manager jobs, video editing jobs, anything I could possibly bring some worth to. I have my resume on every search engine, it's really everywhere. I have my business suits nicely cleaned and hanging in my closet just waiting to go to an interview although I suppose my shoes could use some polishing. And I have been working with 2 different employment agencies. One is strictly technical and the other is more general work. I am by no means, making excuses to NOT job search, these are things I do after my job hunting work is done. And quite frankly I take a little offense that you think I am not doing anything when there are people out there collecting unemployment and sending out the very minimum resumes and putting absurd salary requirements down just to keep collecting...although I do appreciate the different opinions.

HH-I have been actively job searching since I found out there would be layoffs. This included sending out, on average, a minimum of 5-8 resumes per day, listing my resume everyday, contacting specific companies, making contacts, etc. So this is not my first day of job hunting. This just happens to be the first day at home.

But, the purpose of this post was to get some ideas on what to do after exhausting all possible job leads, preparations, etc.


eta: I'm not looking for entertainment. I am looking for ways to be productive. As I said in the original post, I feel lame not being able to think of things to do which is why I asked for suggestions. Being productive can include job hunting, volunteering, etc.
So....back to the topic What do you do after you have done all the job related things you can possibly do?