Help for the Long Term Unemployed

The term "long term unemployed" gets tossed around so much that we should start with a working definition of this group. For all practical purposes, these are people who:

1. were previously working, 
2. lost their job due to a variety of factors, and 
3. have been without work for at least 6 months. 

These people, all 4.7 million of them at last count, are struggling to find a toehold back in the workforce, but their challenges are different from other people who have not worked in a long time:

• Students graduating from college after 4 or 5 years,
• People (predominantly women) returning to the workforce after taking time off to raise children or care for someone else,
• Military personnel who have recently been discharged and have not held a civilian position in several years.

Each of those above groups will find their own challenges in locating a suitable position, but the long-term unemployed also have to content with the stigma of being unemployed. It's easier to explain that you were in college, raising kids, or serving your country, but what do you say about your time if you have been unemployed for over a year?

We know that you should never lie on a resume, so how do you contend with possible employer concerns about your skills or productivity?

Keep your skills sharp

Get involved! Can you volunteer your services at a local charity or non-profit? If so, you'll also increase your network and maybe hear about some new opportunities that don't make it onto the online job boards.

Consider taking some classes or embarking on a self study course. There are tons of free classes out there now for self-motivated people who want to increase or maintain their skills and knowledge.

Consider a change
 Don't get stuck in a resume rut. Consider changing your resume from chronological to functional, so that you can highlight your skills and accomplishments instead of gaps or the last job you have 7 months ago.

That work you did for the non-profit? That now goes onto your resume. The skills you picked up taking online classes? Those can be used to freshen your Linked In profile and bolster your resume.

Maintain structure

Have you noticed that it's hard to get much done without work commitments to keep you motivated? Guess what, as an unemployed person, your full time job is looking for a job. Keep that frame of mind and we'll talk about how that looks in another post. To get you started, consider setting aside some time each day for learning. Employers want to know that you can learn quickly if they hire you, so keep exercising that brain "muscle."

That should get you started. For those of you in this situation, what have you seen that worked or didn't work for you?

Solve the important problems to get ahead

If you only do one thing for your career today, watch this video from Stanford's Entrepreneurship Corner. There are some solid nuggets of career advice in there, but the main one we're talking about today is what I call "solving the important problems", otherwise known as "how to get promoted."

The job description that you responded to initially, interviewed, and negotiated your salary for is the bare minimum that is expected from you. If your employer just wants that particular job done, they probably considered hiring a contractor. If you have a full time job with benefits, then your employer is hoping and betting that you will grow your skills and abilities to solve tomorrow's problems. In other words, if you simply do what is asked of you, your tenure at that position is likely to be short. Managers can't afford to hire someone each time the job requirements change and their employees have "topped out" their potential.

What this means for you is that your job description is the bare minimum to pull a paycheck. If you want to be promoted and offered new responsibilities, then you need to show that you:

1. Already handle the stuff you were hired to do,
2. See new problems that need to be addressed (your boss' or boss' boss' problems), and
3. Take action to propose a solution or solve those new problems.

Notice that I said "Propose a solution or solve" in #3. Seeing a problem, calling it out, and shrugging your shoulders doesn't help you much, and it may get you the reputation as a Negative Nancy (or Negative Nate). People probably know how bad it is. They generally haven't left it that way on purpose.

Show your employer that you're ready for the next promotion up, and you're more likely to get it. If you don't, then you have a real-world example to show your next employer when you leave to seek the next step in your career.