I know this blog is about employees, but let's face it, there are a lot of unemployed fabulous folks out there right now who would love to be employees. And I know many of them, and feel for all of them. I was unemployed after 9/11 and it was brutal. Please give lots of love, compassion and (if possible!) job leads to those brave courageous individuals who are fighting the unemployment battle daily right now.
And if you don't have a job lead – give them my absolute best tip for the unemployed:
You have one thing that all of the employed people don't have - TIME.
Lots of valuable, incredible, time. Hours of it in fact. And while these hours may seem ruthless as you wait for the phone to ring or for your e-mail to ping - they are a golden opportunity to do the very thing that CEOs and managers wish they had time to do - read. That's right read – they wish they had time to read all of the latest and greatest business books, articles, blogs, magazines and information on their industry.
And why do they want to read? Because they want to learn.
And what do they want to learn? How to make their company better.
How can you shine like a lighthouse in the sea of applications? With your brilliance! Your brilliance gained from all that you have read and learned.
So here’s the clincher to do step: Weekly send an e-mail or a note to the CEO/owner of the companies you would like to work for telling him/her about the valuable A-HA or gleaning that you found in such and such article/book/magazine that you thought they would appreciate. Chances are they will appreciate it – and they will remember you as the innovative individual who brought that great idea to them – definitely hiring material.
Give to give. Give to help.
It will come back, it always does.