Tag Archive for: unemployment

What To Do When Unemployed for a Long Time

Have you been unemployed for longer than six months and struggling to get noticed? Do you proofread, dress well, send thank-you notes, and still struggle to figure out why you haven’t been hired? According to research from Northeastern University, long-term unemployment works against you in the hiring process. A break of six months of more greatly decreases your ranking among job candidates. So what should you do when you find yourself unemployed for a long time?

1. Volunteer

Even if it’s not totally related to your field, volunteering could open up new opportunities in a related field that you may enjoy. For most members of the workforce, fitting volunteer positions range from pro-bono accounting to teaching job skills to underprivileged populations. Even if you think you’re in too obscure a specialty to find a good volunteer experience, try to find just one aspect of your desired job that can be improved or demonstrated through charity work. Keep in mind that anything can “look good” if you can sell it; think of this as a chance to find a good “example of a time when____” for interviews. You’ll also build your network with volunteer managers and your peers– and maybe find a gushing new reference.

2. Research your own industry from the outside perspective

Working in one place for too long can make you out-of-touch in a new environment. Take advantage of your free time during unemployment and make sure you’re an expert on other new developments in your field, other parts of the sector, up-and-coming individuals, and nearby conferences you can attend.

3. Get up-to-date on the job search market

Times change fast; what companies are looking for now may not be the same as a year ago. If you’re struggling to figure out why you’re not getting hired, take a look at what basic skills your industry generally requires. Forget ‘what to do when unemployed;’ what you really need to know is ‘what to do– or not to do– when interviewing.’ Take a few minutes to research good questions to ask, as well as follow-up etiquette and expectations. For competitive positions, even one newly-established faux-pas may be the difference between getting that job and remaining unemployed. Fashion also changes fast, so if you’re looking for a high-level job or just looking to make a stellar impression, catch up on high corporate fashion– or just fashion in general– for your interviews.

4. Take classes

This also counts if you teach yourself new skills (see our tips for finding self-help sites). If you’re a little bit shaky on basic computer skills, odds are you should start with that. If you get through all of your industry and market research and recognize a demand for other competencies you don’t have, they should become your priority.

5. Start your own business

If you have job skills that you can market on your own, why wait for someone else to hire you? Anything from an Etsy shop to freelance consulting or tutoring can be shaped into learning and leadership experiences. Even if you don’t want to work for yourself, a brief entrepreneurial experience can give you a step up in the job market and solve the problem of unemployment bias.

6. Take a temp position

Why sit around wondering what to do with your unemployment when you can be back at work instead? Even temporary placements are great learning and networking opportunities. Since each company is different, a few short temp gigs can be turned into examples of flexibility, versatility, and all the new programs and tasks you’re now proficient at. At the end of the day, a temporary job still fills the gaps in your resume and pushes back on the stigma of long-term unemployment.

 

While joblessness can be stressful for any number of reasons, the feeling of “what do I do now?” shouldn’t be one of them. With so many ways to improve your skills and resume, there’s no reason long-term unemployment bias should work against you.

What you need to know about Online Courses for Job Skills

Whether you’re looking to flesh out your resume, refocus your career path, make the most of unemployment/childcare leave, or simply add some variety to your intellectual life, an online course can help you achieve your goals with minimal disruption to your life and finances. However, taking the wrong class can be a waste of time and even money. Here are some aspects of an online course for job skills to consider before you enroll.

1. Timeline

Both the pace and length of a class can affect much you get out of it. Studying a new language over the course of one summer will get you about as far as “where is the bathroom?” If you want to learn a language for work-related communication, plan on a years-long commitment. Similarly, if you have a 60- hour workweek, childcare duties, or other time-consuming responsibilities, then a fast-paced, high-workload class may not be right for you.

Luckily, the abundance of learning options on the web offer flexibility for everyone. Saylor, for instance, allows for self-paced units. Sites like Open CourseWare provide college-level materials without the structure of a class setting– great for a review or learning within tough time constraints. Open 2 Study, on the other hand, offers month-long courses with week-long units. If you have even more time, check out this list of classes you can take over ten weeks or less.

2.  Course Level

Online Course Job Skills

Identify the right online course for your lifestyle and desired job skills with these tips.

Taking an advanced data analytics class when you never took basic statistics is a recipe for disaster. Sometimes, the most useful courses are introductory topics that help you build the foundation for a new system. Maybe you need an online course for job skills that will help you work up to a more relevant one. If that’s the case, try starting at Coursera, which offers a range of classes to help you start a new subject. If you want more guidance, Alison features a series of progressively more advanced courses, called a learning path. Finally, if you’re seeking deeper expertise in a field, you might look into a university’s Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)…

3. Source

Yale, Harvard, Stanford, and many other top-tier universities offer free classes online, a great option for industry veterans. However, if you’re not ready for a college-level course, your time may be better spent at other sites (just make sure to run a quick google search for credibility from new sources). Remember that colleges aren’t the only reliable institutes on the web. For instance, Microsoft offers a number of classes for tech-phobes and game developers alike.

4. Relevance

The thousands of class options out there can be distracting or daunting. From the start, make sure your course is relevant to both your field and the specific job you want. Consider searching for classes by topic, like digital marketing or data science, to make sure it’s an online course for job skills you need.

 

Whether you used to love school or hide in the corners, online courses provide an opportunity to all kinds of learners to improve their job prospects. Make sure you commit to the right course by considering its pace, level, origin, and relevance to your career goals!