Katie Roberts Career Consulting

Many successful clients who become unemployed don’t realise how long it can take to secure a new role. Despite indicators the job market is improving, redundancies and unemployment continue to dominate news.

Regardless of your background, or previous success, if you’re unemployed, you can feel a little lost, anxious or lacking in confidence. Even if you chose the period of unemployment by leaving a previous role voluntarily, it can still be difficult. Despite this, there are ways to feel better. Whether you’ve been searching for a new role for a while or just taking a planned break, there are many things you could be doing to boost your chances to secure that next role.

1. Stick to a schedule: While it might be tempting to sleep in every day and while away the days reading a new book or catching up on your favourite TV series, it’s best to treat Monday to Friday like a working week. Get up at a reasonable hour, dress like you’re leaving the house (even if you don’t), and aim to complete some job search tasks every day. By all means take some time out, but sticking to a schedule is a great way to introduce some positive new habits like regular exercise or a healthier eating regime; or tend to those activities that you never had time for while working full time.
2. Consider your future. Take this opportunity to really think about whether you are in the right career. Research your market and decide if it’s in good shape. Think about whether you could undertake study or work towards diversifying your skills to move into another area.
3. Prepare yourself: Think about what your perfect job looks like. Research job sites and the careers sections on individual company’s websites. Meet with recruitment companies and revamp your resume, cover letter and LinkedIn profile or enlist a professional to prepare a resume and cover letter for you. Develop a job search strategy and start submitting applications.
4. Think positively: When faced with challenges, we can be prone to negativity. Accept it may be a challenging period and this is a natural emotion, then try to encourage positivity by engaging in activities that help you think clearly and optimistically.
5. Volunteer: This is an excellent way to use your extra time while helping to feel valued and more confident. It can also provide opportunities to gain valuable experience and contacts if you volunteer in an area related to your job qualifications. At the very least it will look great on your Resume since it shows initiative.
6. Consider Contract Work: Another way to fill time between full time employment, is to find temporary work through an agency or previous work contact. Not only that, it can help you find a full time role by exposing you to new areas, helping you develop new skills, increasing your contact network, or even as a result of the temp role turning into a full time opportunity.
7. Network. The more people you talk to, the better. If you’re not on LinkedIn, now is a great time to create a profile. Invite colleagues to connect and let them know you are seeking new opportunities.
8. Complete a course: Decide on any certifications or courses that would contribute to your employability. Don’t forget to check out free online courses if you’re not in a position to commit to paid courses. Again, at the very least, it will help you stay busy and focused on something worthwhile, while hopefully helping to develop some new relevant job skills.
9. Get your finances in order. Depending on your financial situation, you may need to seek financial advice or talk to your bank about loans. Do this quickly, so you have one less thing to worry about.
10. Seek professional help. Career Consultants provide independent advice and up-to-date information on current job markets. They can help with career transition by advising how to position yourself in the market, identify job opportunities and present yourself effectively to employers. They’ll also help boost confidence and ease some of the anxiety.

There are many things you can do to keep yourself busy, improve your skills and aid your job search. Don’t forget to take some time out to treat yourself now and then and use the time off to attend to personal tasks or home projects that you often put off because you’re too busy.

Would you would like help developing a winning resume, detailed job search strategy, or update to your LinkedIn profile? Perhaps you’d like to work on your interview skills. If so, please see our Career Counselling, Professional Resume Writing Services and LinkedIn Writing services.

If you are an employer and would like to assist employees through redundancy to help them secure a new role, please see our Outplacement Services.