Just getting a job isn’t enough

If you’ve been unemployed long enough and are surrounded by caring and helpful people like I am you will have to get used to the advice that you should take any job.  The job is the goal, nothing else matters.  Not the money, not the circumstances, not the benefits.  Nothing else.  There is no real thought behind this statement but there is a lot of emotion.  I’ve already discussed how being unemployed makes other people uncomfortable and how your unemployment will make people you meet wiser than you.  Put those together and you get, “You just need to get a job, Period.”

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Start a consulting company

As your time among the unemployed begins to lengthen from days into weeks and then months you will become aware that something is happening to your resume and online presence on sites like LinkedIn.  You are developing an employment gap.  People put different emphasis on the importance of having a gap but no one thinks it’s a good thing.  Depending on the person interviewing you and the type of field you’re in, this gap could possibly become a real issue.  This can happen in any field but fast-moving technical fields can be the worst.  If your unemployment reaches the year mark it could become critical.  But take heart.  You don’t have to have an unemployment gap, start a consulting company.