Things To Do when You are Unemployed

That's right get creative. Share with the world your ideas, your feeling your thoughts of things you can do while you are out of work. It will amaze you at all the things that come into your head. Granted they may not come all at once. This is true as the ideas for this lens came to me over time.

As you read through the rest of this lens I hope that it gives you ideas of things you can do while you are looking for a job. And remember those first couple of days you can use to rest if you wish. Sort of defuse so to speak. Then start using your time with what I am sharing and at the same time get out there and find a new job.

I hope you enjoy both the job search and the rest of what I will share as you go forth back into the world and the job market.

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On the day that you can first register for unemployment do so. Depending on the state you are in there may be a one week waiting period as the paperwork's processed. To find out for your state - Click on this link then Click on your state Take time to read as you click on the links to get you to your states information.

After that make sure you claim your benefits on the day that they can be. Otherwise the payment to you may be off by a day or two. Also make sure you do the claim in the morning not the afternoon or evening. Again this may postpone the funds coming to you. Experience talking here. I once claimed benefits on the correct day but in the evening not the morning. The direct deposit was there on the day after I was used to seeing the funds direct deposited.

And remember that your unemployment only last so long. So keep track of that time. Create a spread sheet if you have to to track the weeks as they go by. Another thing to take into consideration when it comes to the unemployment and that is taxes. The government will take their money when ever they can. Either when they pay you or at tax time. So you may wish to take the money out now otherwise you may find out that your tax return will be a bit less or that you will be owing at tax time. And this is federal and state taxes.

Yes I have worked on production lines. And I admit it is not my first choice of jobs. But I did have one that went from working the line to something I enjoy. And that is janitorial. It was not intended to go that direction. But enough people complain about the way things looked and no one was willing to step forward. I just grabbed a scrub brush and mop and went to work. And that was on my lunch without them asking. This turned out to be two hours per day that I was not on the line. This job was also through a temp agency. So when it ended they sent me on other cleaning jobs. Even though it was only a temp position they kept me employed from job to job. So a temp agency can become a full time job. Just make sure you are comfortable with the agency that you are working with.

They would cost me twice as much as the meds would. At one time the one medication that I was on cost over $300 per month. The a generic version came out and it went down to just over $200 per month. This time when I became unemployed I was looking at one week going to refill my medication. I went to the pharmacy and let them know that I needed a refill and had what I thought was enough to cover the cost. At that point they let me know that the cost of the medication without insurance was $39.95 to refill. I am pretty sure they thought I was having a seizure with the amount of time I was standing there dumbfounded. The medication cost had gone down a bit more than I thought.
I was paid bi-weekly and each time about $40 taken from my check. Add into that the $15.00 co-pay and we are looking at almost $100 for a $40 dollar med per month. I know that there are other reasons to have medical coverage but in this case of unemployment no health insurance was the way to go.

Sometimes when you are not working you need a little help with the groceries to help feed you and a family. There are several different food shelf out there that are trying to help. Some are once a month. Some are every week. And still others will provide three meals a day.

Some people wonder is there a way I can pay these people back? The answer is yes you can. And you can do it right away. Volunteer your time. I know as this is what I do. Pick up frozen goods to deliver to deliver. I pick up several boxes of frozen veggies and get them to a local food shelf. The interesting thing is if there is too much there are a couple of other food shelf's in the area that the overflow can go to. When the time comes for the food to be given out volunteer you time to help give out the food. One location you walk around with the people and help fill up bags of food. Another is they walk around the tables and fill up bags with your help. This one I help to carry their bags.

With the one I help to carry the bags they will often times have bread left over. The interesting thing is that it would go to waste in less then a week. So we load it up and take it back to the place where the frozen veggies came from as sort of a thank you for helping. The last time I did this they said "We don't have anything for you today." The response - "I am not here to pick up but to drop off."

So as you can see there are always ways to say thank you for helping while in a time of need. All you have to do is look around.

Unemployed

Yes I did Google this word twice and got these results.

About 35,200,000 results (0.19 seconds) Or About 263,000,000 results (0.24 seconds)

(Here is when I start sounding old.)

When I was a kid people would knock on doors when looking for a job. They didn't have the internet like we do now. Job listings were printed out on paper for folks to read and fill out many sheets of paper. My Cross pen never ran out of ink. But it did come close once or twice.

As you are looking for new clothes check them out. It will amaze you what you can find there. Trust me on this one. I don't just look for ties even though that is the first thing I check. I have found a couple of jackets that would look good in an interview.

Its not just you that can do the shopping there. My daughter has found many things that fit her "choice" of fashion. My son found a new clock radio for his room for less then $4.00. Now if it could only wake him up.

Remember that you are searching on the web. When you post your resume there people from all over the world can see it. So don't let it surprise you if you get job offers that are nowhere near where you want to be. Trust me on this one as I have gotten them for other cities in my state. I have gotten them for other states. And even for other countries. For some folks that don't mind a move that is OK. For others that are happy where they are not so much.

This is a common recommendation but I saved it until the end. Why you ask? For the simple reason that I kept the websites until the end.

Most folks will update their hard copy resume that they will send to a possible employer. But not everyone will remember all the different sites that they have uploaded their resume to. That is part of the reason that I had the suggestion to have a section for your job sites. This way you can start at the top and work your way down. And then have the ability to, update your online information.

If a recruiter sees that your current job has no end date or list - to present they are more likely to think that you are currently employed. But if it has a start date and and end date they are more likely to believe you are looking for work.

As I said at the top of this one - Update Your Resume.

This is true for direct hire or a temp agency

Find out if you like what they do as a company. How they place and treat their employees. Look for feed back from the people that they do business with. Would you be willing to refer anyone to this company as a customer or as a fellow employee.

I once went on an interview without looking into what they did first. It was almost an hour drive to get there. After talking for a while I found out that the product that they supported was not G rated for the family. When I learned this I apologized for the time that they spent but I would not feel comfortable with this position.

So as you can see I learned by experience on this one. And it is not something I wish to repeat or for anyone else to have to encounter for the first time.