Three Things to Consider for the Recently Unemployed
Are you just waiting to land that job? You can do more than apply and wait. Get some hard thinking done.
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The fallout from the credit crunch has been grim for a whole lot of people. Are you one of them? If you’re recently (or not so recently) been made unemployed, is ‘Get another regular job,’ on the top of your To-Do list?
That is pretty reasonable, and probably exactly where it should be. Conventional employment is the most regular and reliable means of , well, paying for rent, utilities and groceries. You know, little things like that.
But in my opinion, you should consider adding a few things to that To-Do list.
1 First, how about a skill review? Sift through your work experience, personal interests and general inclination for any knowledge, chops or aptitudes that could potentially be little money makers. Heck, throw in the ones you don’t see as potentially lucrative too. You never know.
2 Check out your country’s/state’s social benefit system rules and procedures. In the UK, registering as self-employed is no bar to receiving state benefits (depending on your level of need/income, of course). There are even socially sponsored programmes to give you a helping hand into self-employment.
Don’t assume that becoming self-employed is an all-or-nothing, sink-or-swim affair that may leave you floundering if you can’t get revenue flowing in instantly. No without checking it out first, anyway.
(Bear in mind that, though you may be eligible for benefits, that often also means you’re required to complete reams of paperwork, too. Fun!
3 Don’t assume that employment and self-employment are mutually exclusive.
It’s true that contracts of employment are often so written as to bar a member of staff from engaging in any other form of employment. (And presumably, thereby using up all of their energy and creativity and bringing only the dregs of themselves to their regular main employment).
However, if you find yourself currently out of work, why are you worrying about it? When the time comes that you’re offered a new job you have three possibilities/choices. Either a) your contract doesn’t mention other income-producing activities, or b) extracurricular earning is explicity barred to you, so you ‘fess up immediately. Many employers won’t necessarily enforce such a clause – it may just be there to prevent any employee taking the mickey.
Oh, and c) is the option, should your new employer bar all external employment, of just staying schtum and hoping for the best. Needless to say I don’t recommend this option, unless you don’t care whether or not you remain in conventional employment.
There you have my thoughts on re-grouping considering your options and evaluating the possibilities of self-employment, should you find yourself in the dole queues. Don’t dismiss them: an afternoon’s hard thinking could put the power back in your hands. A job? What’s a job? Our working life can be something you build for yourself, brick by brick, and when you’ve built it, you own it.
