The Crisis of Change

I ran into a former co-worker the other day, both of us having made hair appointments around the same time. We hadn't seen each other in person since 2008, although we did keep in touch via email and FB.

When I was off work, I knew several gals in the same boat, so I kept an eye out for them as well. Anytime I ran across something that sounded like an interesting opportunity, I sent it along to my buddies. People wondered why I would share jobs I was applying for, but I looked at it this way: in an Employer's Market it's anyone's guess, so if I didn't turn out to be what they are looking for, maybe one of my friends would be.

Looking for work is one of the hardest jobs to have. There is a hollow feeling when you feel squeezed between responsibility and idleness. And even if the dismissal was a bottom line issue and your skillsets and work ethic were not the cause, it's hard to accept.

And then there's that Catch 22: how do you afford to keep up appearances (haircuts and nails and nice interview clothes and gas) with no money? You can't successfully interview without confidence. You cannot show your desperation, although the interviewer knows you are. It becomes a cruel game where the applicant is more heavily invested in the outcome because their life hinges on the decision. And often it comes down to ~ Do you get on with the interviewer? Balance their staff temperaments? Have the right skillsets? Laugh at the right times? Look and dress the right way? Happen to be in the right age group?

My co-worker's situation has become acute now that unemployment benefits have run out. She has to move in with her daughter's family. There was desperation and sorrow in her face and the tiredness   seemed to have seeped into her bones. Our parting hug was probably for good, and as much for safe travels as for regaining her independence.

There is a point no one talks about where discouragement overtakes the spirit and even opening up the work search engines seems futile. The out of work get a lot of criticism for this, that somehow they should soldier on despite days and weeks and months and years of failure. There is a misnomer that if unemployment benefits were not paid out, those out of work would find something sooner.

I don't agree. Discouragement is debilitating to those trying to find work. How many resumes will it take before we are like Pavlov's Dogs and begin to change our behavior: 200? 500? 1,000 or more? Anyone who has read Who Moved My Cheese knows that any crisis forces us into a corner of accepting and adapting to it, or not. We are, after all, creatures of habit.

I wake up grateful every day for the opportunity to work, the company that is such a pleasure to serve, and the people who have inspired and supported the process.  Unemployment was a great teacher of humility and self-discovery. Unemployment got my attention that my house needs to be in order going into retirement.

And so a seismic shift is beginning to occur within Randy's and my life, a refocusing on futures and what we will need when work is no longer a choice.  What will we do? What hobbies will fill our time? How will we afford the things we need and live an enriched and vibrant future?

It is never too late to begin.