Skills to Learn While Unemployed to Make Yourself More Employable
.gif)
As somebody who has been unemployed more than once, unemployment can be depressing, very frustrating and extremely worrisome. In addition to sending out resumes and networking, I highly recommend using the free time that you have at your disposal to learn new skills to either make your life more manageable or to increase your employability. Obviously, unemployed persons usually don’t have the money to enroll in formal training programs but thanks to the Internet and social media there are a variety of free tools and options out there for people looking to pick up new skill sets.
100 Skills You Should Learn (for Free) While You’re Unemployed
People Skills and Networking Become a better networker, small talker and listener to improve your job prospects. Life hacks From making your own coffee to saving gas, here you’ll learn valuable skills that save you money, too. Productivity and Task Mastering Stay productive and learn to stay on task, avoid procrastinating and set goals even when you’re unemployed.
Computer and Internet Skills
These skills will turn you into a better Googler, blogger and typer.
- Online research: Besides helping you find a job, solid Internet research skills will make you a desirable job candidate.
- Learn how to use different operating systems: Train yourself to learn how to use Macs, Windows and Linux systems.
- Hack Google: Learn all of the Google shortcuts and business tools.
- Build a high-traffic website: Promote yourself and show potential employers how you can improve their websites.
- Use Facebook productively: Turn Facebook into a business tool for networking, branding and more.
- Basic web design: Employers will snatch you up if you know even basic web design.
- Blog: Becoming an expert blogger takes time, so use your unemployment to learn the technical and business side of blogging.
- Telecommute: Learn how to work with others online.
- Learn to type: Typing quickly and correctly saves you time and makes your work look more professional.
- Create a podcast: This fun and simple skill could increase your job prospects too.
Organization
Organize your personal and professional life by learning these skills.
- Be punctual: Being punctual forces you to map out your day according to appointments and to-dos.
- Use spreadsheets: Spreadsheets are great organizing tools and are used at almost every office.
- Sort email: Set up folders, archives, filters and searches to organize all of your emails.
- Prioritize: Prioritize your tasks so that it’s easier to work down your to-do list.
- Use a calendar: Make use of an online calendar to set up alerts and more tools to help you stay organized.
- Improve your memory: Practice different techniques to improve your memory.
- Organize your closet: A better organized closet will help you stay on top of chores and get ready faster in the mornings.
Writing
Write better emails, use better grammar and influence others with your writing.
- Write better emails: Write effective, impressive emails and subject headings.
- Learn correct grammar: Poor grammar will hurt your career prospects in a heartbeat.
- Persuasive writing: Learn how to write more persuasively and passionately.
- Write for the Internet: Writing online pieces is completely different than writing for traditional media.
- Write the perfect cover letter: Write a better opening and remember to include all the important details.
Confidence
These skills will boost your confidence and make others take notice of you.
- Work on body language: Learn how to stand confidently, make eye contact and relax.
- Trust yourself: If you’re constantly worried about what other people think of you and your decisions, you’ll come across as weak and inexperienced.
- Examine your soft skills: Discover what soft skills make you a good employee: leadership, dedication, or the ability to motivate others.
- Master the job interview: Be prepared, be confident and research the company and person you’re interviewing with.
- Handle rejection: Stay confident and inspired even when you aren’t getting call backs.
Promotion and Branding
The skills you learn to promote yourself now will pay off later.
- Design for branding: Learn how to think creatively and visually in order to promote your brand.
- Understand copyright: Learn about copyright laws and how to get your own patent.
- Promote yourself without bragging: You’ve got to learn how to relate to people and make them interested in you and your experience, without bragging.
- Know — and own — your best attributes: Show off your ability to close a sale or put on your resume that you’re the one to call if a decision needs to be made.
- Being accountable: Monitor what’s being said about you online and on social networks, keep track of your brand’s reputation, and own up to any mistakes or issues people have with you.
- Use Twitter effectively: Learn how to use Twitter to boost your brand and reputation, not diminish it.
- Develop your message: Learn how to create a focused, engaging message.
- Write a press release: Even if you don’t work in PR or marketing, being able to write a press release is a valuable, desirable skill personally and professionally.
- Follow up: Make sure you follow up on promises and after meeting new people.
- Identify an audience: Learn how to rework your message depending on who you’re speaking to.
Speaking and Communication
From better storytelling to learning a new language or becoming an effective public speaker, these communication skills will make you more influential and confident.
- Learn a foreign language: Speaking at least two languages greatly increases your desirability as a job candidate.
- Storytelling: For presentations and networking, it helps if you’re a good storyteller.
- Keep it simple: Don’t babble; instead, learn to speak clearly and simply.
- How to make transitions: Making smooth transitions in your talks and presentations will strengthen your speech overall.
- Deliver bad news: You should learn how to be diplomatic and break bad news considerately.
- Consider things from different points of view: Relate to your audience and act like a fair leader by considering various points of view.
- Give a compliment: If you’re uncomfortable giving compliments, you’d better learn how to get over it.
- Negotiate: Negotiate salary, job offers, payment, and more.
- Conflict management: Learn how to be more diplomatic and solve problems in the workplace.
- Speak to executives: Don’t be afraid to talk to the boss, just make sure you do it the right way.
Finance
Save money and learn smarter budgeting tips here.
- Open a Roth IRA: Use a little of the money you have saved to start a Roth IRA for the future.
- Pay taxes as a freelancer: If you’re freelancing between full-time jobs, you’ll need to learn how to do your own taxes.
- Turn eBay into a money-maker: While you’re out of work, learn how to use eBay to make extra cash.
- Haggle: Get better deals on food, entertainment, clothes and more when you learn to haggle.
- Lower your cell phone bill: Learn how to lower your cell phone bill when you’re tightening your budget.
- Get a tax extension: If you just can’t pay your taxes this year because you’re unemployed, learn how to get an extension.
- Consolidate debt: This skill may help you with a finance problem at work and alleviate some of the burden of high interest rates.
- Make a budget: This practical skill will save you money and help you trim expenses at work.
- Find a bargain: Learn when to go generic and hunt for bargains.
- Save: Practice restraint by setting up savings accounts and spending less.
Weird Skills
You never know when you’ll need to win a fist fight or have to know your tolerance for alcohol, so practice now.
- Win a fist fight: Man up and learn how to win a fist fight or street fight.
- Be more photogenic: Look more attractive and confident in photographs.
- Know your tolerance: Before getting wasted at networking events or office parties, know how much booze you can handle.
- Be a respectful house guest: Review basic etiquette and send a thank-you note the next day.
- Know when someone is lying: Be able to tell when someone else is lying to protect yourself.
Miscellaneous
From tying a tie to taking better notes, here are more skills you should learn while you’re unemployed.
- Stay on top of industry news: Make reading industry reports and niche news blogs a habit for when you’re unemployed and when you get a job.
- Get comfortable with international travel: Even if you can’t afford a plane ticket, read world news, learn a language and keep up with other cultures to broaden your horizons and show potential employers that you’re open to traveling for them.
- Tie a tie: Make sure you always look presentable by tying your tie correctly.
- Keep your brain active: Keep learning so that you’re in shape to tackle new challenges when you do find a job.
- Take better notes: Learn to take notes during interviews and meetings.
There you have it!
Until next time...
Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!
.jpg)
The(1).jpg)
The fourth quarter is over, earnings are being announced and new budgets for the upcoming fiscal year are being evaluated and tweaked. This means that we have officially entered layoff and closure season. Isn’t it great that big companies wait until right before the holiday season to let employees know whether or not they will have a job next year?.jpg)
In a previous.jpg)
The bad news is that the US unemployment rate is close to 10 percent. The good news is that the government is looking for scientists at FDA, NIH, USDA, CDC, EPA and other agencies. For those of you who haven’t applied for a government job, the process can be daunting and overwhelming. To alleviate some of the pain, Cyndi Fischer, MSA at the .jpg)
I have heard from many jobseekers, who—despite many years of work experience— are having difficulty finding full time employment. During economic down turns many companies cannot or are reluctant to hire full time employees. However, this doesn’t mean that there is work to be done. Consequently, many firms look for part-time, temporary or contract workers to handle the work that must get done to maintain operations.
.jpg)
Losing a job is a BIG deal whether you were layed off, fired or right-sized out of it. Not only do you have to worry about health insurance, bills and paying rent or making a mortgage payment, you must also deal with a myriad of self esteem and emotional issues that frequently arise after losing a job. While there are many articles and books that describe how to functionally conduct a job search after being layed off, there are only a handful that discuss how to cope with the stress and negative emotions that frequently accompany job loss.
We are living in financially uncertain times. While economic indicators suggest that the recession might be drawing to a close, most financial pundits agree that unemployment will continue to rise long after the economy has improved. Most people who have lost a job will tell you how emotionally and psychologically—not to mention financially—debilitating it can be. People who have been unemployed for more than a couple of months are typically desperate to find work. And, as the old adage goes “Desperate times call for desperate measures.” To that end, many unemployed workers may consider job opportunities that they normally wouldn’t consider during more certain times. Unfortunately, criminals, grifters and con artists are keenly aware of this and frequently prey upon and take advantage of unemployed workers.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) announced late yesterday that it intends to purchase Princeton, NJ-based Medarex for $2.1 billion. BMS and Medarex were working collaboratively to develop a monoclonal antibody called 
As the recession slogs on, it is likely that many more people will lose their jobs and you might find yourself in the unenviable position of having to commiserate or console a friend or colleague was layed off. Not surprisingly, this is often a difficult and delicate situation that requires some sensitivity and tact. .jpg)
Forbes Magazine released its 
Late Thursday, after 8 months of difficult and often acrimonious negotiations, Genentech’s board finally caved and agreed to allow Roche to purchase the remaining 44% of the outstanding Genentech shares that it doesn’t already own. The price: $95 per share—less than the $112 per share that Genentech’s board and management team wanted —but better than the $86.50 per share that was tendered last fall.
Late last week, Roche raised the price of its hostile offer to buy out .jpg)
Merck announced today that it was buying Schering Plough, the Kenilworth-New Jersey based drug maker, for $41.1 billion. The deal comes only six weeks after Pfizer said that it would purchase NJ-based Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Superficially, the deal may make sense for the two struggling drug makers—they co-market the cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin and also have collaborations in the respiratory diseases area. Also, Schering Plough has the European rights to the anti-arthritis drug Remicade and its 2007 purchase of the Dutch biopharmaceutical company Organon Biosciences NV provides access to several potential biotechnology drugs. Nevertheless, the impending merger will ultimately result in job losses and higher unemployment in the state of New Jersey.
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but according to a recent survey of 3,000 job seekers conducted by the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas the time it takes to find a job is growing longer. For example, the median time for job searches conducted by those winning positions grew from 3.6 months in the second quarter to 4.4 months in the third quarter of 2008. Also, it found that 13.4% of job seekers relocated to take new positions in the third quarter of 2008. While this is up from a first quarter figure of 8.9%, it is still lower than the percentage of job seekers (15%-16%) who relocated in 2006 and part of 2007. 
Much like Paul Revere back in the day, there have been repeated, urgent warnings about the impending recession that will strike the US economy. Not surprisingly, the Bush administration has done its best to deny the notion that the moribund US economy is actually in recession. 
