Earlier, I mentioned that I got a new job in 3 weeks, in a completely different field*. I thought I’d talk about that a little bit, because it seems like there’s a big notion that it’s impossible to find a job in this economy. Yes, people are unemployed for a while. I don’t think that has to be the case. Here are the things I’ve learned over the past couple of years:
- Our world has changed. You’re most likely not going to just get a job the same old way. The classifieds became Monster.com and such. Neither are very effective now.
- Most industries have changed too. The demand for factory workers and assembly line just isn’t there like it used to be.
- You need to learn a skill. This takes time. Start studying something new.
- You have the time to learn the skill, you’re probably just not prioritizing.
- A college education doesn’t mean what it used to. In 20 years, it’ll probably be basically irrelevant.
- Doing something is better than doing nothing.
- Dead time is a killer. Volunteer.
- Unemployment money is more often unhelpful than it is helpful.
- You probably have more opportunity than anyone did at your age from the generation before you. Exponentially.
I’m going to try to elaborate on these in a bunch of posts coming up. Hopefully it’s helpful, and I know it’s helpful for me to process.
Nothing comes easy. It takes work. I’m convinced the landscape is much more positive than it’s being painted.
*And as a disclaimer, the period between jobs was about three weeks. That was because I also used a lot of time before that learning new skills, and had done freelance and volunteer work for a year prior. So, it technically took me a year or so from the point where I decided to learn a skill on the side to having a full time job doing it.
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