Re: Viewing Unemployment in a New Light
Over the past ten years, the US unemployment rate has held at an average of around six to eight percent, or roughly over twenty million Americans are out of work at any given time. Not too long ago, I was among that group. I had lost what I thought was my dream job— the job that would catapult me to exactly where I longed to be in my career. Losing that springboard was hard enough, but worse, I had lost my income, my benefits, and in many ways, my identity.
It took me almost a year to find a new job, and even then, I was forced to take something that was not exactly what I wanted because, well, bills. While out of work, I depleted my unemployment benefits, drained my savings and 401K, and exhausted most of my friends' charity. Although I was grateful for a great job at a great organization, not pursuing my passion and purpose did not make getting back into the rhythm of being back at work any easier. To compound the situation, I still suffered from the residual effects of losing a job I could have loved and spending a year out of work. I constantly waited for the other shoe to drop, convinced that this opportunity, too, would be taken from me. It was only as the pandemic began to close in, rendering millions of Americans to shelter in place and putting millions of Americans out of work, that I oddly enough began to feel an odd, almost guilty security about things. There was no valid reason for this as my job was definitely less secure under a pandemic. One day I mentioned this feeling to a coworker who had recently experienced some job insecurity. In their case, they were lucky that his situation ended quite happily; however, while they shared their experience with me, I shared my unemployment know-how with them, should they need it. Happily, they did not. But in listening to my own confession of my current comfort level, they responded, “Of course you feel secure. You are more prepared for this than anyone I know. You know what to do when you are out of work, and you also know that eventually, you will find another job. The rest of us aren’t so lucky.”
My coworker had hit the nail on the head. My many pains and costly mistakes during my year of unemployment had taught me exactly what not to do while unemployed. I could look toward the future knowing that my job's security (outside of continuing to perform at a high level) was out of my hands. But if I did lose my job, I at least knew what to do immediately. I knew the time-driven priorities, and I knew the steps to take to be sure that I widely used my time to build my resilience. And I knew there would eventually be a way out. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, I chose to create Re: Working. In reflecting back over the time when I was out of work, I realized that I had been given an opportunity that I sadly wasted. Instead of looking at being out of work as a curse, I should have looked at it as an opportunity— a chance to develop myself and direct my career to where I wanted it to go. Instead, I had waited for something to happen for me, which forced me to take an option that, although it was a good one, was probably not the one for me.
Now I have taken on a new opportunity. Or rather, I have created an opportunity for myself. Over the past year, I have written a book and created a website, Re: Working. I have now chosen to help others avoid the mistakes I have made. I have found a passion and a purpose. I now want to help others use their period of being out of work as an opportunity. I want people to rethink unemployment and change it from being a period of gloom and stagnation to building strength, confidence, and resistance. I hope that you will join me and let me help you on your Re: Working journey.
