5 Ways To Cope With Unemployment Blues

Finding a job’s tough. Sometimes, it’s really tough. And even when you meet all the necessary requirements, there are times when you’ll still receive a letter saying you weren’t a good fit.

Maybe someone better than you popped in or the company decided they’ll just add more workload to one of their existing employees. But really, the reason why doesn’t matter.

What matters is that now you’re binging on ice cream and Netflix, because unemployment’s kicking your backside. It’s time to stop feeling sorry for yourself, and recognise that being unemployed is OK, it happens to all of us. It’s just important you take the right steps forward. Your health always comes first, and the better we feel, the easier it is to find a job.

Here are 5 ways to cope with unemployment blues:

Find support, not Mum and Dad

This is something you might’ve heard many times before. Find support, don’t be alone, seek help. But here’s the catch: don’t seek support from family. This isn’t to say you should shut them out entirely. Absolutely not!

But your family’s probably just as worried about your unemployment as you are. If you keep coming to them to bring them disappointing news, they might end up being just as disappointed. This may result in feelings of guilt and, hence, you’ll be even sadder.

That’s why it’s better to find a trusted friend, a counselling group, maybe even a help forum online. Whatever makes you feel more secure! But do keep your family out of it for the time being.

Budget

You may be faced with two situations: you’re unemployed with some savings in your account or you’ve no savings. If you’re in the latter group, don’t worry! All that’s required is to figure out your budget. Make a spending plan and count all the essential things you need to pay for.

This’ll include your rent, bills, food, and hygiene products. That’s it.

You don’t need expensive makeup. You don’t need to go to the cinema every other week. You don’t need take-outs or restaurants. The things listed above are the essentials, the rest is luxury.

If you are really struggling financially and asking your family for money isn’t an option – consider taking some part-time work, or a temporary position.  A quick Google of “temping agencies” will bring a list of agencies in your local area.

Update your CV

Maybe there’s a reason why you’ve trouble getting hired? Maybe your CVs a little old? Go through your CV, give it a quick look, see what’s missing and update some details.

Sometimes, the way you sell yourself on paper makes all the difference. And if you’re not getting any luck with employment for a couple of months, you may benefit from a really good CV rewrite.

See our articles here on improving your CV

Exercise

No doubt you’ve heard this advice so much you’re getting nauseous from hearing the E word alone. But listen here. Exercise is the best anti-depressant.

“The moment we get stressed, our brains and bodies produce cortisol and adrenaline”. These are known as the stress hormones. When you exercise, these hormones are stopped from over-producing. Hence, you decrease your stress levels.

It’s not fun, after all, who likes getting sweaty and smelly? But it really does pay off, even if it’s minor exercise (i.e. yoga).

Develop your skills

Sometimes, you’ll see employers listing some essential or desirable skills that their ideal candidate should have. With a heavy heart you find out that you don’t have those skills and you close the tab.

Have you ever thought of developing those skills? You’re not skilled with SEO? Find someone who is. Don’t know basic HTML? Google’s your friend.

It’s not that difficult to spend 10-20 minutes online in search of a good tutor. And if the lessons are paid? They’ll pay off. Just keep practising.

Unemployment blues might make you feel like it’s the end of the world, but it’s not. You’re not the only person in the world who’s struggling with unemployment. Just keep looking,  and building and developing on your skills.

Either way, good luck with job hunting!

Inspiring Interns is a recruitment agency specialising in all the internships and graduate jobs London has to offer.