Finding a Job, or Creating One

‘BUT what about another job?’ you ask. You may have to find employment in a different field, and it may pay less. But many have learned to be content with a lower income. You may even find that, with adjustments, you end up earning less yet having more! In this connection, a budget is a must.

Another must is persistence when looking for a job. Discouragement can easily set in after a few disappointments. But remember, though jobs may be scarce, there are still workers who are resigning, retiring, dying or being transferred. So, “pounding the pavement is still one of the best ways to find work,” a newspaper report said. Call and visit factories, offices, employment centers. Read newspaper ads. And notice, “Experts agree between 50 and 80 per cent of all job openings are never advertised.” So check for job opportunities with relatives, friends and neighbors. Let all of them know what you can do and are willing to do. Prepare and leave a work résumé with them and at places where you apply for a job.a Be willing to move if you have to. Areas of available employment change from time to time.

But do not be kept so busy that you have no time to enjoy yourself once in a while. Constantly looking for a job builds harmful tension and stress, while short recreational breaks bring relief.

What if all of that fails? Or what can you do until you secure another job? Many have learned to create work. This is especially successful in the field of services, supplying what others want or need. For example, when one family found that there was no used-clothing store in their town, they opened one! Or what about becoming a “plant manager”? Stores, offices, hotel and airport lobbies, and like places have lots of green plants these days. Supplying and looking after these plants in a number of places can provide a suitable income with work hours often of your own choosing.

For those who cannot leave home, there are opportunities too. Maybe you bake well or prepare delectable ethnic foods that are in demand in your area. Many restaurants will purchase well-made items like these for their use. Or you may have to advertise your products. In most cities there are weekly newspapers or shopping-news publications that offer free ads. Supermarkets often have boards where people can advertise items for sale. One woman who made Polish pastries was surprised at the response to her first free ad: orders amounting to more than $200! There are other things, such as sewing and altering clothing, which can be done at home too. The chart accompanying this article lists some other make-work possibilities that have helped others avoid the pangs of unemployment.

The main thing is to keep busy​—even doing volunteer work if necessary. One advantage to volunteer work is that it shows prospective employers that you are industrious. In addition, it builds your self-confidence because you are occupied helping others.

Keep A Positive Outlook

Some who have applied the foregoing recommendations successfully would not now go back to their former jobs, even if they could. Losing their jobs enabled them to find work in another field that proved far more enjoyable. They are better off financially in many ways and have more time to be with their families.

Do not despair if you are out of work or expect a layoff soon. Face the future with confidence. If you have strong faith in God’s promises found in the Bible, then your joblessness will not be quite as shattering if you remember that he says: “I will by no means leave you nor by any means forsake you” and, “Throw all your anxiety upon him [God], because he cares for you.”​—Hebrews 13:5; 1 Peter 5:7.

Faith in these promises can sustain you. Along with the practical suggestions given here, it will help you cope with unemployment.

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 9]

JOB POSSIBILITIES FOR THE UNEMPLOYED

AT HOME

• Baby-sitting, child care

• Selling homegrown vegetables

• Sewing, altering and repairing clothing

• “Piece work” for manufacturers

• Baking and food preparation

• Quilting, crocheting, knitting, making macrame, pottery; other crafts

• Upholstering

• Bookkeeping, typing

• Telephone answering service

• Hairdressing

• Boarders

• Addressing and filling envelopes for advertisers

• House sitting (when people are on vacation and want their home to be looked after)

• Car washing and waxing (customer can drive car to your home)

• Pet grooming

• Saw, scissors, knife sharpening (library books can show how)

• Lock repair and key making (workshop in garage at your home)

• Ads for much of this work can be placed free or at low cost in weekend shopping news or on supermarket notice boards.

OUTSIDE THE HOME

• Cleaning: stores, offices, new homes after construction, after fires, after people move from apartments, in homes of others (housework)

• Repairs: appliances of all kinds (libraries contain easy-to-follow books on repairs)

• Handyman jobs: siding houses; building cabinets, doors, porches; painting; fencing; roofing

• Farm work: crops, fruit picking

• Woodcutting

• Interior landscaping and plant care: offices, banks, shopping plazas, lobbies

• Property management (sometimes provides free living quarters)

• Insurance, real estate

• Carpet installation, cleaning

• Newspaper routes (adults and children), other delivery services: ads, bills for municipalities

• Moving, storage (dry basement usable)

• Landscaping, tree trimming, lawn care

• School-bus driver

• Photography (at playgrounds, games​—offer results to parents)

• Worm picking for fishermen

• Swap work: car repairs for electrical work, sewing for plumbing, etc.