Finding a New Job (or just switching)

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.