At work or on holiday you look and act according to a set of unwritten yet fairly rigid rules based on what the media and the community expect of you. People react to a stereotype image of people in their jobs. An undertaker, for example, would be expected to look and behave differently from a primary school teacher. A university professor may not need to dress as neatly as an accountant. Jobs are about earning money but they are also about a number of other things. When you have a job, you have a place in society, a value and a sense of identity. When you are trying to get a job money is important but it isn't the only consideration. If you were a secretary, who would you prefer to work for - a scrap metal merchant or a film company? The conditions of work may be roughly the same and the pay may be better at the scrap metal merchant's, but many people would work for less if they could get a job with the film company. On a Friday evening they would prefer to tell their friends that they work for Warner Brothers rather than Acme Iron Recovery Ltd.
When you're thinking about applying for a job, ask yourself how you would feel about being a member of this profession or company. Teaching may be fun during the week and the paid holidays seem attractive but could you live up to society's expectations outside work? Does the type of work you seek 'fit' your particular type of personality or are you going to spend your working life feeling as if you are wearing a straitjacket?
When it comes to losing a job, the longer-term loss of identity can be more damaging than the immediate loss of income. As you walk out of the building for the last time you can feel as if you have lost more than a wage. Somehow you have been robbed of your identity and sense of worth. Out of work you are undervalued and de-skilled, and you feel as if you have no way of proving your worth to anyone. You have lost all the benefits of employment but, in trying to preserve your sense of identity, the straitjacket remains.
When you have been out of work even for a short time, the possibility of regaining employment can seem as remote as climbing Everest unaided - and it isn't only the unemployed who feel this way. Anyone who has been out of mainstream paid employment will begin to question their worth in the workplace, and these doubts arise at the worst possible moment - just when you are trying to convince an employer that you are worth investing in!
There is no easy or obvious solution to the problem but, if work is important to you, getting a job must be approached in a disciplined and businesslike way. You are no less a person when you are out of work, but if you want to be successful in your job hunt you mustn't allow unemployment to hurt you. At such times you need to be more disciplined and energetic than ever before. Allocate time to finding work and exploring all the possibilities in a systematic and thorough way. Just as important, allocate some time to preserving and maintaining your identity. Keep up those hobbies and interests, maintain contacts with friends and former colleagues, undertake some voluntary work or training if it will help but, above all, stay busy and make sure that your activity is purposeful. Find a way of holding on to those things in your life which you can feel good about.
Successful organizations are those which can change and adapt to new developments in the market-place and, in order to get the kind of flexibility needed, many managers now prefer to employ people on a short-term basis. Some also prefer their workforce to contain a high proportion of staff on part-time contracts. So you may need to consider making up your income from a variety of sources. Perhaps you need to consider getting two part-time jobs rather than one full-time. Perhaps you could consider a part-time job to supplement freelance work. Perhaps a short-term full-time contract could get you through a difficult period when income from your own business is low. Whatever the future holds the variety of work arrangements is sure to expand. In the same way that companies are adapting to changing circumstances, you may also need to take a flexible approach to creating your income.
