by Stephanie Bryant

Created on: January 25, 2007   Last Updated: January 08, 2012

When an employer looks at your resume, they want to know what you've been doing with your life. They want to know that you didn't spend a year laying on a couch in full-on depression, eating potato chips and wondering why you got out of bed.

If you have a period of unexpected unemployment, the first and foremost thing to do is to keep busy. Whether you embark on travel, education, or volunteerism while you search for a new job, what you do with your time will make it easier for your next potential employer to hire you.

Try to do spend this time doing the kinds of things that society and employers value, like improving yourself through education or travel, or your community through volunteerism. If you see an opportunity to create something, do it. If you have a chance to travel, go, especially if the place you travel to has people with whom you can network for a job.

It will help if you "get your house in order" during the first week of unemployment by cleaning up all the clutter you managed to accumulate in the last few months of your job. Those months were probably stressful and bad for your personal life and household neatness.

As a tip: keep an online personal journal or blog about what you did that day, even if it's password-protected or friends-locked. If all you can say is that you beat the boss villain in Final Fantasy XII, then you need to go out and look for other things to do in your life and community.

When it comes time to talk to a potential employer about what you were doing during this time, think about what you really did, and try to present that in a positive light:

• Did you clean your house and declutter it? "I worked on my house, fixing and improving my personal environment so I can be more productive at work."

• Did you embark on a diet and exercise program? "I started running/bicycling/tennis, and have found it's an excellent way to quickly clear my mind and recharge."

• Did you take a class, even if it's not related to your job? "I took some courses on sewing and poetry- did you know that as you age, if you don't stimulate your mind with education, it'll stagnate?"

• Did you travel? I once knew someone who had spent an entire year traveling around the US after his dot-com dot-bombed. At the same time, he struggled to get his alcoholism under control, but the travel is what he emphasized on job interviews. "I traveled all over the country and met hundreds of fascinating people. Seeing the country really helped re-focus

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