Laborless Day, Where have all the Good Jobs Gone - CareerAlley

Laborless Day, Where have all the Good Jobs Gone - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Come my little friends, As we all sing a happy little working song Amy Adams Imagine youve got an interview (finally) for your dream job. Youve been out of work for awhile, but have been working 8+ hours a day in your job hunt. Youve had other interviews and leads, but none have lead to a job. Today is the day, you are ready for your interview and off you go. You arrive at Big Company for your interview and are led into the interview room. The first 15 minutes of the interview are great, you are giving the right answers and asking the right questions. Then, Mr. Interviewer asks a strange question I see Mr. Unemployed, that youve been out of work for several months now, what have you been doing? What have I been doing? you think. Ive been spending every waking hour looking for a job, what do you think Ive been doing? This is not funny, nor is it meant to be. This has happened to many people that Ive spoken with. Typically, it is when you hit that magic 3 months unemployed mark, but not always. Today is Laborless Day in the US (well, not technically Laborless Day, but it feels like it for some), Labor Day would be the politically correct name. For many (9.7% to be exact for the US), today is laborless day (and not just in the US). Even if you are out of work, there are other things you can and should do while you are looking for work. The longer you are out of work, the more difficult it is to explain what youve been doing. Of course, looking for a job is the right answer, but there is an expectation that youve done more than that. Sounds crazy but its true. So what else can you do while looking for a job? Staying current and staying productively busy are a few of the things you should be doing. So how do you stay current and productive while you are looking for a job (as if looking for a job is not productive)? Ive listed a few ideas below which are be supported by my usual list of links. Consulting Even if youve never consulted before, there are many consulting firms that are looking for individuals who can leverage their subject matter expertise (SME is the industry acronym). This can be done on many levels. There are pure consultants, where you give specific advice or provide a specialized service and there are those who provide professional short-term services (like accounting or engineering). Following are a few links: Have you thought about consulting? This is an older post that provides some background on consulting, links to a few consulting firms as well as links to sites that help you with consulting on your own (versus through another firm) Consulting Career, Job and Training Information This is an in depth article by Careeroverview.com that provides quite a bit of information on consulting. The article leads with a great overview, followed by skills required and how to approach consulting. There is also background on the industry. This is a good place to start. Jobs in Consulting This is an great link that provides interesting background information and some leads. Provided by Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University, this article provides skills required, key job areas, salaries trends and a full list of consulting firms (towards the bottom of the article). Some of the links are old, but many work and this article is worth a read. Contract work So what is contract work? Contract work is where you agree to work for someone (or a company) on a limited basis (usually based on a time period). Sometimes you are hired through a contractor and sub-contracted and many times you contract directly with the company. There are many pros and cons to this type of work, but it does keep you current and does provide some needed cash. Additionally, these roles sometimes lead to permanent employment. Following are some links to companies. Contract Jobs This article, from About.com, includes all the links to information you need for contract jobs. The links include salary guides, background information, a large list of companies that hire contract help as well as guides and specific industry information. Definitely worth a read. How to get contract work in three easy steps Another article on contract work (this one a how to), this one is from Sitepoint.com. This article provides key information as to the How, Where and What. While the article is more Tech focused, the techniques should work for all industries. Temporary Employment Not much of an explanation is needed here, it is basically a job that will give you both a current status as well as a few $ in the bank. Similar to consulting and contracting, some temp jobs do lead to full time employment. Not as much background information is needed here, other than where to look. Ive listed a few temporary help firms as a kick-start. Kelly Services Kelly Services is a global company that a wide range of temporary help. From professional to staffing solutions, Kelly is a recognized name in many countries. Their main site has several tabs at the top, but you will be interested in the Careers tab (top left hand side) or Find a Job (bottom left hand side). Click on Careers, enter your country on the next page followed by the additional filters that fit your needs and you are on your way. Robert Half International RHI is another global temporary help (professionals) company. Their careers page has links on the left hand side for Job Search (with additional categories to narrow your search). Click through the various options to see what interests you. This should get you started with staying active while you actively look for a job. Good luck in your search.