by Siew Cheng Hoe

Created on: August 20, 2009

Dealing with unemployment is more than dealing with lack of income. You have to deal with your shame of losing the job. You have to deal with the fact that money no longer flows to you on a regular basis. You have to deal with time management. You have too much time on hand.

When you were holding a job, you felt proud to introduce yourself as: I am a Manager or I am an Engineer. People did respect you for the work that you do. To put it more accurately, people respected the job title rather than the person holding the title.

Now that you are unemployed, you are feeling worthless. You were hurt when the company dismissed you as if you were just a piece of old furniture. You were hurt when your service is no longer required was conveyed to you. You felt helpless and vulnerable without a job.

You must learn not to take it personally. Unemployment does not mean you are worthless. It means the company has no money to employ you.

Without a job, who are you? Dealing with unemployment means to accept and love yourself as a person.

You can no longer introduce yourself as the Manager or Engineer. Your children can no longer tell their friends that my daddy is a Manager.

Dealing with unemployment means you have to deal with your feeling of shame and worthlessness. You have to keep asking yourself without a job, who am I?

Bear in mind that when you proudly introduced yourself as the Manager or Engineer, people respect your title, and not you as the individual.

Without a job, you are selling yourself to the world as a unique person. You are an individual with talents and feelings. The period of unemployment is the time to let people see the person that used to hide behind a nice, flashy title. How to deal with unemployment starts by dealing with your self-esteem.

You can make use of the period of unemployment to reflect on life. You can make use of unemployment to plan for the future.

You have worked for many years, and you know that you still have to work for many years before your retirement. A year of unemployment is not such a long time considering that an average person is likely to work for forty years.

The period of unemployment is a time for you to assess your skills and interests. You may choose to return to school to learn the latest technology. You may choose to learn new skills and venture into a new industry. You may want to set up a small business so that you are no longer under the mercy of others.

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>