Don’t hide in house while job hunting

If you’re a job seeker who used to have a job, you’re dealing with two transitions at once. One is the transition to the process of job search and all that entails. The other is the transition from being an employee with co-workers and a boss to being a home-based company of one — with no income on the bottom line.

The adjustment of the second transition is almost always more difficult than the first. Suddenly there’s a hole where there used to be activity and friendships, not to mention the paycheck. Nor is it a small thing to lose the direction that most jobs entail.

Introverted and shy people have the harder path, I think. While they tend to enjoy their alone time more, they have to really push themselves to do the networking and in-person contact necessary to a successful job search.

AMY LINDGREN

WORKING STRATEGIES

As a career counselor, I pay attention to the personality types and natural preferences of my clients in hopes of building just the right job search strategy. But I watch even more carefully for signs of isolation. As far as I can tell, there is no personality type that blooms while being starved of human contact.

As a career counselor, here are the signs that tell me someone may be spending too much time alone:

- A lack of perspective related to job search. Sitting at home, one can think that no one’s getting jobs, when in fact people get hired every day, even in this economy. Conversely, it’s easy to feel like you’re the only unemployed person in the universe, especially if all the neighbors are leaving for work every day.

- A tendency to brood. Playing tapes over and over in your mind is a sign that you’re spending too much time alone.

- Little or no networking. It’s a chicken-and-the-egg thing: If you stay home, you’re not networking. If you don’t have outside contacts, you don’t feel like there’s any reason to leave home.

- Depression and a sense of being overwhelmed.

The solution to isolation, of course, is simple: Get out of the house.

It’s the implementation of the solution that makes things complicated. Get out and go where? And do what?

To get started, take a class, go to professional meetings, attend a job club, volunteer or get involved in your community, visit your friends … just don’t sit home alone.

- Amy Lindgren owns Prototype Career Service, a career consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecaree rservice.com or at 1071 W. Seventh St., St. Paul, MN 55102.