Sunday, March 29, 2009

In Pursuit of Plan B

Today is Sunday as you’ve probably already figured out. Can I tell you how busy I’ve been and how I wasn’t able to get through my “to do” list. For me that’s a real first, especially for a Sunday when my “to do” list is usually somewhat abbreviated. I believe it has a lot to do with my pursuit of my Plan B. Later I will go into a little more detail as to what Plan B for me actually entails. For now, I would like to define it as something that is different from what you actually thought you’d be doing. Or, how about, something that gets you thinking and moving, that is constantly evolving towards putting you in the job you love and deserve? How’s that?

Well that’s what it represents to me. People have asked me what it is that I want to accomplish. Typically we all think of leading to job making X amount of dollars. In this economy/environment I believe it is a challenge just to talk to people to see how you might fit in or grow something. If I might digress for a moment, I applied for a job with a major bank today. It took me two hours to complete the application. This is me, ya’ll, the woman who can fill out applications in 10 seconds flat. Part of the application was to take an aptitude test which included many of those dreaded word problems. You know what I’m talking about; if Suzy was running x miles per hour and Johnny was running Y, when would they crash into each other? But this was more in the lending business. Anyway, on top of that, I received a questionnaire from another company I applied to asking me to document a marketing plan I had put in place. This, mind you, was only one of seven questions in the questionnaire. I’m telling you this to point out how darn hard it is getting. Have you tried to volunteer lately? There are waiting lists with most organizations, at least in my part of the country. Therefore, I’ve included in my Plan B as a reason for me to talk to people. Plus, my plan B is something I believe in.

OK so what’s my plan B? All I’ll tell you is that in alignment with creating this blog and posting to it each week, I want to continue to help other unemployed people out there. I am especially concerned with those individuals that are not getting help from outplacement firms and/or who are living alone and are at risk. There are a lot of people out there who are at risk, because if you don’t get out and talk to people or reach out in some way, you may get caught up in your own internal soundtrack, which not be a comedy or action flick. What I’m trying to do is to set up a support group/networking group in my home town, so that people can get together and go over job search strategies, trends, stress busting methods, and just laugh a little. It’s not as easy as you might think. Now this is good for me, because it has gotten my creative juices flowing and I’m talking to more and more people. Before I forget, this wonderful woman at my local library suggested two websites to look for local meetings; www.craigslist.com and www.meetup.com. I haven’t been to craigslist but I did go to meetup. Just type in unemployed in topic or interest and your zip code and voila, it will bring up the meetings close to you. What’s funny is there is a lot of truth to it being harder to give something away than to sell it.

So far, I’ve received lots of good advice and I’ve met some interesting people. I continue to move forward. Everyday, through this Plan, brings up other things I haven’t thought of which I continue to pursue. Then that leads to something else, which leads to something else. Who know’s where I’ll end up? All I know is that the search or journey is leading me to a lot more places than sitting in front of my computer for hours ever has. I finally “get” what networking is all about. It is a journey that keeps your mind active and your options open. By the way, I do continue to search for jobs every day, and so should you. Just think about adding a little something else to the day OK?

Once again, continue to feed the positive wolf and let’s give a big hoorah for the extra dollars in our unemployment checks. I know the people in my state have a smile on their faces today. Yes, the deposits went in on Friday! Check your account!

Good bye for now and lot’s of luck in your search.

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