"You've been unemployed for HOW LONG?" "If you're qualified and marketable, then why isn't anyone hiring you?" "Do you seriously think you're going to find a job after all this time?"
These are just a few of the last things you want (or need) to hear when you are unemployed and searching for work. So, where do these comments stem from? Perhaps they have something to do with the harsh realities surrounding unemployment today. Today's research shows that the longer you're unemployed, the harder it is to find work. In fact, for every month that someone is unemployed, it generally takes twice as long to find a new job. But despite these predictions, there are thousands of people who defy the odds and prevail, managing to land the positions they seek and quickly take themselves off of the unemployment list. The question is: "How do they do it?"
Let's face it... finding a job is significantly more time consuming than holding a job. Job hunting can't be a once-in-awhile task for anyone who is really serious about it. On the contrary, finding a job must become your passion and must include clearly defined goals and objectives -- regardless of the job you're vying for.
For serious job seekers, finding work IS their job. They get up in the morning as if they were going to the office. But instead of preparing for a commute, they wait for their laptops to load up. They remove distractions and don't not allow themselves to stop along the way. Serious job seekers are committed to submitting as many resumes and applications as they can possibly get out in a day. No limits. The more, the better. They're working the phones, analyzing their social media contacts and finding any to get their foot in the door.
Here's a quick stat to chew on: For every 50 resumes a job seeker sends out, only one response comes back. So if you think sending out one resume is going to land you a job, your odds are just about the same as the odds of winning the lottery. When it comes to employment, serious job seekers consider all possibilities. Although you might have left a particular position that you loved at a level that really worked for you, the serious job seeker considers all possibilities -- even if it means taking a step down the corporate ladder.
One might wonder why, if it were this easy, more people aren't finding employment faster. The truth is that none of this is easy. The secret to success is all about commitment and maintaining a positive attitude, both attributes that are easily lost when people are struggling and questioning their self-worth. Most people lose steam and perseverance when the clock starts to tick louder and louder each month. Not to mention the increased anxiety that people experience when their cash flow starts to dwindle away. The true answer to these challenges is to find a support system, a cheering squad, a coach or any other means of support that will help to keep you focused, enthusiastic and optimistic.
Family Centers' Reaching Independence through Employment (RITE) Program does just that. Based in Fairfield County, CT, RITE provides individual support to those who are job seeking in the form of designing the job search, career exploration and counseling, vocational coaching, providing encouragement, and addressing issues that might be getting in the way of finding success.
The RITE Program maintains a success rate of more than 83 percent of those clients who came to the program unemployed and successfully secured employment within a three to six month period of time. This success rate defies the unemployment rate by a landslide. Why? Because the RITE Program helps the average job seeker become the SERIOUS job seeker -- the job seeker who understands that quitting is not an option until he/she ultimately lands the job that he/she is seeking. Again, there is no magic answer to finding employment other than stick-to-itiveness, keeping your eye on the goal and not letting up until you've reached it.