As I sit here four months into the job hunt, I am reminded of an old Twilight Zone episode entitled: Time Enough at Last. Short synopsis: a nerdy old introvert wanted nothing more than to be left alone with his books; nuclear war wipes out everyone on Earth except him; he happens upon the library and in the midst of his enthusiasm drops his glasses, stepping on them; the poor guy is left with all the books he could ever want to read, but no glasses, and... nothing but time on his hands.
Quite the dilemma, eh? I can feel for that poor man now. How often, while employed, did I look forward to an extended period of time off with no obligations? (That's rhetorical, don't try to answer it). I've now reach the end of the 90 day period through which I had originally expected to navigate the waves of unemployment. I now have all the free time I could ever want, but only desire to get back into gainful employment. Being social creatures and driven by a desire to contribute to the community, we need that daily dose of human interaction (well, except for those weird guys on the fringe living in shacks in the woods) which is often provided through work and family situations.
Direction and focus become ever more important as you approach this point. Fighting off the depression of being sidelined, and the feelings of inadequacy that accompany those politely written rejection letters leads a person to a critical fork in the road. Do you give in and sit around the house doing nothing; give up? Or do you roll up the sleeves and evaluate the results of the past 90 days; adjust your strategy? I choose to adjust. Reaching this point and being able to make that decision signals that the fighter within has yet to give up. After all, that is who I want potential employers to see right? (Not the guy sitting around playing video games.)
So I've decided to take on part time employment. I need that reason to get out of the house on a daily basis, even though it will negatively affect my unemployment "benefits". But in the end it is better to be out around people and perhaps avail myself to more networking possibilities. There are plenty of part time opportunities out there, it's just a matter of searching and applying. I can still job hunt and interview around any schedule I pick up in the meantime.
So there you have it: be careful what you wish for. And good luck if you're also in the job hunt!
