"The Job Seeker's Guide"LIABILITIES
Household expenses: mortgage, gas, electricity, 'phone, council tax, and so on.
I have known a lot of bright people in my time, none of whom has, so far, managed to come up with a system that avoids paying household bills such as these. It's time to add up the cost of your survival in order to calculate a budget.It's time to look at the financing of operation "find a job".
Click Here To Learn How To Manage Your Resources
Don't be bashful, don't hide the truth from anyone who requires, and is used to getting, a regular supply of money out of you. Do not blunder along hoping that some guardian angel is going to find you a new and wonderful job, without anyone ever knowing you were unemployed. Self delusion is O-U-T, OK?
Having faced the bank you are over the worst; most people are reasonable. You should by now be wallowing in a feeling of well being having faced a task that by choice, if you had one, you would rather not have faced.
Credit card companies are easier, altogether more understanding. You may be covered by an insurance scheme and discover that you are not required to meet your repayments at all. Check it out. If you are not covered, not to worry. Credit card companies would rather have a little money at regular intervals, however small the amount, than none at all. In any event they don't want to get your back up. They work on the premise that one fine day your ship will come in and you will hit the town in full spending mode once again. Credit card companies may be owned in whole or in part by banks but they are an altogether different breed.
Similarly you may have indemnity insurance on overdrafts, store cards and other forms of credit. Check them all out. If you are not covered, not to worry. They too would rather have a little money at regular intervals, and keep you sweet, than come the heavy hand and lose you forever. The rule is keep them informed and if you are trapped into making a promise, keep it. If you are unable to keep the promise contact them before the date you undertook to do so. IN WRITING.
The knack is KEEP IT SIMPLE. Say only what needs to be said. The less you write the less there is for anyone to interpret what you say in the way that suits them best. You are, in effect, starving the enemy of ammunition.
I will close this part of the section with an illustration of the sort of letter suitable for banks, building societies and other people who might find it a little perturbing that the flow of money from you has slowed down to a trickle.Dear Kind Understanding Person to whom I owe money,
You would be amazed at what is claimed to have been said by recipients of telephone calls. People in a predicament should not telephone people to whom the are obligated for the purpose of passing on information relating to their problem. They may delude themselves that they do good by doing so, but they do not!
They telephone these people because they need to ventilate, unload their problems and receive sympathy, understanding, re-assurance and help.
What they seek is a basic human need, and there's nothing wrong with that. There is however a lot wrong with ringing up people and deluding one's self that they may prove to be sympathetic allies.
You are lost, you are in trouble, you cannot hack it. They have instructions to take a course of action in these circumstances and they will not consider or consult YOU.
Remember, these are people whom you may need to carefully and skilfully manage over the coming months.SO SHUT UP
The biggest liability, the one that will drag you to the bottom of the pit of despair is not the bank, not the agreement you have to negotiate with your creditors or any liability of that kind.
You may well be nurturing within yourself a massive self destructive force that will grow and grow. A force that will rob you of the spirit you need to put yourself in front of people who have jobs to offer. People who need to be convinced that you are the right choice for those jobs.
By facing up to a few unpleasant tasks you have, or should by now be building up your SELF WORTH.
You will need it in abundance, every day.
People who will be interviewing you have to be secure in the knowledge that you ARE the right candidate before they will offer you the job . You must believe you are worthy of the task or you will fail to convey that message.
To believe this you must believe that you are worthy of the task.
We all have feelings of doubt from time to time that inhibit our ability to achieve a set task or course of action. For every dark side there is usually a lighter side, a spark of confidence that convinces us of our ability to do what has to be done. This feeling of comfort and confidence, call it what you will, comes as a result of planning and thinking through the tasks that lie ahead.
I have a simple yardstick when I set out on a journey. I check the mileage and the destination.
North - South journeys I divide the mileage by sixty
That gives me the time my journey will take in hours. Two hundred and forty miles, North to South, four hours. Easy.
East - West journeys I divide by fifty. Simply and effectively I travel the country, comfortable in the knowledge that I will not be far out with my estimated time of arrival.
My confidence comes with having a reliable system, and I suffer no mental anguish worrying if I am going to be where I should be at the allotted time. I had to get the formula right only once. I learned from analysing a few journeys and establishing a simple plan of action when faced with a problem. The problem triggers the plan of action, problem solved. Mental exertion, minimal.
Getting to be where I require to be at a certain time is no longer a liability.
O.K. I can hear the sceptics among you saying WHAT IF?
What if the road's blocked? What if it snows? What if a thousand things?
If it can be foreseen, like the snow for example, make provision for it. If it cannot, then it's TOUGH LUCK. That's all it is, nothing more, nothing less.
Fix this into your mind now, then accept it forever and never again let it cloud your judgement. You simply cannot foresee every eventuality. If you pondered deeply over every step you were thinking of taking you would never set off to go anywhere or do anything.
Tell everyone, leave out no one. Tell all before they all find out for themselves
Tell them you are unemployed. Do not make excuses. It is not your fault. Even if it is don't admit it. State the facts, or as economically truthful a version of them as you can come up with. You do not have a job. Money is going to be tight for a while. Do not speculate as to how long that time will be.Remember this:
The more you say, the more your listener is able to interpret what you say to his or her advantage. This is true of whatever you say, wherever you say it. This is not the time to air your eloquence. Keep your message brief and to the point. Couch what you have to say in terms that cannot be used against you and your interests.Tell all the people who expect regular amounts of money that your supply has dried up, temporarily, and you may be unable to meet your commitments as promptly as before.
Start with the bank. They can usually be relied upon to put the worst possible interpretation on your situation and thoroughly depress you. They work hard at it and have been doing so for a long time.Do not, I repeat, do not telephone them. Do not telephone anyone.
Write to them. Do not be tempted to telephone anyone unless it is a matter of life or death. Especially people who are used to being on the receiving end of money from you at regular intervals. Writing, and the ability to write, is going to be a basic requirement from now on so start writing.Having faced the bank you are over the worst; most people are reasonable. You should by now be wallowing in a feeling of well being having faced a task that by choice, if you had one, you would rather not have faced.
Credit card companies are easier, altogether more understanding. You may be covered by an insurance scheme and discover that you are not required to meet your repayments at all. Check it out. If you are not covered, not to worry. Credit card companies would rather have a little money at regular intervals, however small the amount, than none at all. In any event they don't want to get your back up. They work on the premise that one fine day your ship will come in and you will hit the town in full spending mode once again. Credit card companies may be owned in whole or in part by banks but they are an altogether different breed.
Similarly you may have indemnity insurance on overdrafts, store cards and other forms of credit. Check them all out. If you are not covered, not to worry. They too would rather have a little money at regular intervals, and keep you sweet, than come the heavy hand and lose you forever. The rule is keep them informed and if you are trapped into making a promise, keep it. If you are unable to keep the promise contact them before the date you undertook to do so. IN WRITING.
The knack is KEEP IT SIMPLE. Say only what needs to be said. The less you write the less there is for anyone to interpret what you say in the way that suits them best. You are, in effect, starving the enemy of ammunition.
I will close this part of the section with an illustration of the sort of letter suitable for banks, building societies and other people who might find it a little perturbing that the flow of money from you has slowed down to a trickle.
Dear Kind Understanding Person to whom I owe money,
Please be advised of the following:
On Monday 20th March my employer told me that I was to be made redundant at the end of the month. This news came/did not come as a shock to me and I am endeavouring to come to terms with the situation.
Naturally my financial position is of great concern to me at this time and I am currently investigating what will be due to me by way of benefits.
I shall of course do my best to keep you informed of my situation and of my progress in pursuit of employment.
Yours sincerely,
Jo B. Hunter
DO NOT TELEPHONE-DO NOT TELEPHONE-DO NOT TELEPHONE
Do not telephone anyone to whom you owe moneyYou would be amazed at what is claimed to have been said by recipients of telephone calls. People in a predicament should not telephone people to whom the are obligated for the purpose of passing on information relating to their problem. They may delude themselves that they do good by doing so, but they do not!
They telephone these people because they need to ventilate, unload their problems and receive sympathy, understanding, re-assurance and help.
What they seek is a basic human need, and there's nothing wrong with that. There is however a lot wrong with ringing up people and deluding one's self that they may prove to be sympathetic allies.
They have heard it all before, several times.
They have a job to do and you, a mere statistic in their world, could by your predicament seriously damage their statistics. The pouring out of one's heart to those people is tantamount to admitting you are out of control.You are lost, you are in trouble, you cannot hack it. They have instructions to take a course of action in these circumstances and they will not consider or consult YOU.
Remember, these are people whom you may need to carefully and skilfully manage over the coming months.SO SHUT UP
Least said soonest mended. The message is a simple one. Remember it.
When you have checked out exactly what your liabilities are you can put your hand on your heart, take a deep breath and say to yourself:"I have addressed some difficult and unpleasant tasks. I have faced up to my predicament, completed my liability limitation exercise and lived to tell the tale. A number of unpalatable tasks are now behind me. I am preparing to move on to the next stage, that of setting up a system that will be the foundation of my plan to get a job".
The last word I have to say about liabilities is without doubt the most important.The biggest liability, the one that will drag you to the bottom of the pit of despair is not the bank, not the agreement you have to negotiate with your creditors or any liability of that kind.
The biggest liability is, or could well be, YOU.
If you hide, withdraw into yourself, keep the truth hidden, put on a brave but false face, try to make out your situation is other than it is, you will certainly be that liability.You may well be nurturing within yourself a massive self destructive force that will grow and grow. A force that will rob you of the spirit you need to put yourself in front of people who have jobs to offer. People who need to be convinced that you are the right choice for those jobs.
By facing up to a few unpleasant tasks you have, or should by now be building up your SELF WORTH.
Take note of SELF WORTH, you will be hearing a lot more on the subject.
You may have it in abundance; you may just find it hard to bring to the surface. It may be buried deep within you, fighting to exert itself amongst your fears and uncertainties.The fact of the matter is, you need your self worth.
More than any other quality or attribute you will need for the task ahead.You will need it in abundance, every day.
People who will be interviewing you have to be secure in the knowledge that you ARE the right candidate before they will offer you the job . You must believe you are worthy of the task or you will fail to convey that message.
To believe this you must believe that you are worthy of the task.
THAT IS WHY SELF WORTH IS SO IMPORTANT.
Let's consider this: what is SELF WORTH? What good is it? How do I get it, if I don't have it in abundance already?
SELF WORTH is being confident. SELF WORTH is believing in your ability, being comfortable with yourself, the objectives you have set yourself and their execution and implementation.We all have feelings of doubt from time to time that inhibit our ability to achieve a set task or course of action. For every dark side there is usually a lighter side, a spark of confidence that convinces us of our ability to do what has to be done. This feeling of comfort and confidence, call it what you will, comes as a result of planning and thinking through the tasks that lie ahead.
Remember the little old lady who asked a New York construction worker how to get to Carnegie Hall? The construction worker replied, "Lady, practise, you gotta practise".
So it is with all of us. We have to practise. We carry out a multitude of tasks in our daily lives and we see many more being carried out. What we have to do is simply be more aware of what is being done and remember what we see to educate ourselves from the experience.I have a simple yardstick when I set out on a journey. I check the mileage and the destination.
North - South journeys I divide the mileage by sixty
That gives me the time my journey will take in hours. Two hundred and forty miles, North to South, four hours. Easy.
East - West journeys I divide by fifty. Simply and effectively I travel the country, comfortable in the knowledge that I will not be far out with my estimated time of arrival.
My confidence comes with having a reliable system, and I suffer no mental anguish worrying if I am going to be where I should be at the allotted time. I had to get the formula right only once. I learned from analysing a few journeys and establishing a simple plan of action when faced with a problem. The problem triggers the plan of action, problem solved. Mental exertion, minimal.
Getting to be where I require to be at a certain time is no longer a liability.
O.K. I can hear the sceptics among you saying WHAT IF?
What if the road's blocked? What if it snows? What if a thousand things?
If it can be foreseen, like the snow for example, make provision for it. If it cannot, then it's TOUGH LUCK. That's all it is, nothing more, nothing less.
Tough luck. Leave it at that and accept it. Get on with the next thing.
Negative thoughts simply cannot be allowed to enter into the equation.
You are only capable of doing your best and cannot be expected to do more. So long as you do not make excuses to YOURSELF for not achieving your objectives you are in the clear with the one who matters. YOU.Fix this into your mind now, then accept it forever and never again let it cloud your judgement. You simply cannot foresee every eventuality. If you pondered deeply over every step you were thinking of taking you would never set off to go anywhere or do anything.