It’s no secret that that job market for us recent
grads is nothing short of craptacular. After months and months of searching—applying
for countless jobs that I don’t particularly want and for which I am
technically over qualified—I’m still coming up short. Throw me a bone,
employment gods! Even an interview: I’m not even asking for a silver-platter
job, just a potential light at the end of the dismal sewage tunnel that has
been my job hunt.
But alas, for all my efforts I still find myself
sitting home in the middle of the day, writing this blog in between episodes of
Gilmore Girls. (Not that I don’t love GG or this fabulous vessel of social
information; but, as far as I know, the government of Ontario will accept
neither in barter for the student debt I owe…a shame indeed) And I realize that
I’m not alone, since talking to friends alone reveals that people in my age
group in varying fields are all undergoing an employment slump. We look at
several online job boards, we network through sites like LinkedIn and
family/friend connections, we even go old school and check out newspaper
classifieds. What else can we do? Make the most of the time off, that’s what!
When you think about it, this is time we’ll never
get back, this unemployment slump of ours, and that my friends is a beautiful
thing. I say, we use it to pursue activities and dreams that we otherwise put
off because we are too busy with our real world responsibilities. As we
currently have none of those, let’s to the list and away for making the most of
unemployment!
Read
ALL THE BOOKS: Everyone has a “to read” list, whether
it be the classics that everyone always talks about but you’ve never read, or
new hot fiction at the front shelves of your local Indigo. Go out and READ!
There’s no better time to do it.
Watch
GOOD MOVIES: Like with novels, there is always that list of
movies that we always “mean” to see but never seem to have the time to. Go to
your local library and rent them for free, and let the movie marathons begin!
Write
for fun: Remember being a kid or teenager and keeping a
diary, filled with the exciting day to day drama of who liked who, what she was
wearing and he said what?! I used to love the freedom of putting my pen to
paper, even if I was scrawling out nonsense, it was liberating to free the
contents of my mind through recreational writing. We can have that again! Start
a new diary or journal, write short stories or poems, anything that comes to
mind! Though perhaps the content will be a little bit more mature at this point…
Try
a new exercise: Generally gyms and personal trainers
cost muchos dollars but that’s why Youtube is such a beautiful thing. I got
started on Yoga by trying a few videos I found on Youtube, some put on by well
known professionals like Jillian Michaels. Of course, trying new exercise on
your own means you always have to be extra careful about not pushing your body to
extreme limits, without someone there to guide you, but it’s a great way to try
new methods of movement to see what you might like when and if one day you have
the money to pay for real classes. And it helps me to get my rear off the
couch, which is no easy feat.
Spend
more time with the ones you love: Use this time to
connect with those people that you don’t see as often as you should or would
like. During my stint in unemployment, I make a regular effort to visit my
grandparents, who are also home all day; the visit breaks up both of our
regular routines, and it gives me a chance to get to know some really wonderful
and interesting people even better. I also make afternoon playdates with my
niece and nephew, which also corresponds to the previous “try a new exercise”
suggestion because MAN ARE THEY A WORKOUT!
Pursue
THAT THING you’ve always wanted to do but it’s more of a pipedream:
Why not? What better time than now, when we have nothing to lose and tones of
freedom to start on the road towards our ultimate dream jobs. Always wanted to
be a novelist? Get brainstorming and writing! Is music your thing? Buy a tape
recorder and start practicing! My ultimate, if-money-wasn’t-an-issue-and-we-lived-on-rainbows
dream job would be screen writing: I happen to be 30 pages into writing a script
of my own. Is it any good? Who knows, but there’s no better time to explore the
possibilities.
Get
together with two WONDERFUL friends and start an AMAZING blog: I
think this one is pretty self explanatory.
Gotta book it,
JEM
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