With the published unemplyment rate at over 10% nationally and the practical unemployment rate standing at 17.3% nationwide, and Oklahoma's published rate at roughly 6.5% as of December 31, its easy to convince yourself things are hopeless. Tulsa published rate of 4.2% stands thirteenth out of the 50 largest cities in the nation. It's current budget upset has dominated local media, giving us a daily reminder of our own fiscal and emotional fragility. There is a difference between knowing its not your fault and you just have to stay with the effort over a long period of time, and giving up in the most literal sense of the act.
When exiting the consitutional convention, Ben Franklin was asked if we had a We live in an era when information is published by numerous sources and delivered on the internet. Think tanks have websites, government have websites, universities have websites, talk radio repeats the website information, and you can listen to all levels of education and information on call in shows. Such is the extent of our freedom that the river of facts and statistics flows in to an ocean of analysis and comment by literally everyone. Its good that we know these trends and factoids, but that freedom also demands that we have the emotional strength and self awareness to keep them in perspective. And its not easy.
If memory serves me correctly, it was Benjamin Franklin as he exited the constitutional convention who was asked by a bystander what we had in the way of a nation. Franklin's reply was a succinct, "A Republic, if you can keep it." As so much of Franklin's wisdom did, the reply inferred that the new nation would take work and vigilence. That short statement over 250 years ago describes what it takes to protect our freedom in general (work and vigilence), dealing with the freedom of information that flows from it (careful thought and evaluation), dealing with looking for a job in this economy (perserverance and direction), as well as dealing with ourselves during the search (perspective and more perspective).
There are three mental things to face during a layoff period, before we ever get to the job search. The blame game - Why me? The minimization game, consistency of effort - What good am I doing searching now? I'm simply pumping resumes in to cyberspeace and no one's seeing them? The end game - When am I ever going to find a job? There isn't any response to what I'm doing here.
The blame game is easy. It makes sense in a way. People of faith are fond of saying everything happens for a reason. Whatever your denomination, and none is a denomination unto itself, it's easy (human nature?) to get stuck on the reason being you. Layoffs are a numbers game. They are not a performance review. If you were truly incompetant, you would have been warned and fired if you did not respond, long before the layoff ocurred. Since the definition of profit is narrow and does not include all the costs of doing business, some level of profit is required to survive. Layoffs are an act forced on a business by external forces in the market place. When the market circumstances dictate and survival is a requirement, only then are names chosen. No one act of an individual employee caused a name to be put on a list at the time of a layoff.
The minimization game is more difficult. I am one person, my efforts are insignificant. If I'm insignificant, my efforts can have no meaningful effect. If these efforts have no meaningful effect I am lost in the job market. Although it sounds inconsistent to say, the individual needs to look backward. Experience is valuable, its a group of accomplishments to the credit of the individual. Its knowledge acquired through practical means. Its unique since all employees bring their own perspective to a job. Although its possible experience is duplicated in some way by numerous others in the market place, its a personal asset the employee offers and has value to someone.
Ah, the end game. A cliche searcing for a home, but in this case the end game means getting a job and therefore covering the house payment, groceries, utilities, et al. This is also an unknown unless you are independently wealthy, connected to people in high places, or simply in demand. Certainly everyone looking for a job could have gone after MBA's, CPA's, PhD's, MD's, and the rest of the alphabet. In many cases the cost would have been prohibitive, taken away from higher prioirty expenses, or resulted in a debt burden that was unwise (MD's excluded here). Not everyone can get in to grad school. Not everyone can get out of grad school. We are all unique with strengths in various areas of life and education. The time it takes to find and land the next job is governed by our effort. Hiring is a decision in control of others with input from us, the job seekers. We are engaged in providing the decision makers with the best information we can publish, not controlling their decisions.
All three above traps result in the job seeker assuming he or she is impotent and dilutes effort dedicated to finding a job. They result is the self fulfilling prophecy of continuing unemployment. No one is completely without skills, no employer will pass on a chance to hire an individual that can contribute to the organization. This aspect of life, is a merry go round. Get on it, stay on it, you will pass by the job eventually. But only if you stay on the ride and keep reaching out for the ring.
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