by Linda Reyburn

Created on: May 28, 2010   Last Updated: May 30, 2010

If you've lost your job and don't want to be the melodramatic weepy person who makes every acquaintance your counselor, you might want to airily tell others that you're now a consultant. Or tell them you've decided to restructure your existence and achieve some real internal change.  Fact is, you don't want to be labeled with the dreaded U word: Unemployed. That will leave psychological scars so that you might actually have to engage in internal change.

So besides updating your resume, scheduling meetings in coffee shops so you don't mope in your house, and rejecting offers of work for which you're not qualified, here are some things to do that will keep away the bills and let you have fun. Because no one wants to hire a desperate soul, any more than they want to date one.

House Tips

Sell your old junk to Ebay resale shops or hold a yard sale. (You'll meet your neighbors, which might lead to job prospects!)  Have some heirlooms appraised. Go through the cupboards in the kitchen, find things you'd normally throw out, and do an online search to see if it's an ingredient to a recipe you've never tried before. So when someone asks you an annoying question about "how is life these days", you can launch into a story about your new recipe extravaganza, and what actually lurks on store shelves these days.

Throw out old junk and update all the slow things on your computer. It will make you feel like you've accomplished something while you wait for people to call you back.  Everyone knows the parts in their closet that are mentally labeled "I'll wear it some day" and "I look stupid in this".  Stare at it too long and you'll start thinking "That's how my entire life is. Unaccomplished goals and dreams."  It is now time for

Drinking Tips

Every once in a while, go to a restaurant filled with satisfied customers, where you've gone before, and have an appetizer and a drink with a good friend who will NOT ask you, "How's the job search going?"  You will feel reconnected with the normal people world, begin to think that they all probably have problems too (that they're masking), your brain neurons will rest from their hamster-like frenzy, and you'll sleep better.

Ignore Online Job Searches

By definition, something that only works 13% of the time is a time-waster.  Since you already know that, put down the mouse and back away from those websites. 

People create jobs, so go to networking meetings or coffee shops or farmers' markets,

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