In Search of a Golden Sky

Thursday, July 12, 2007

HOW TO AVOID THE UNEMPLOYMENT DEPRESSION II

The second most important thing you can afford to do in this phase of your life is what most of us have grown to dread. Books. For some of us, they are a treasure trove, but for the majority, they are useless pieces of junk. However, they are surest way of mental development provided that you get hold of a quality book.
So you next move should be to start reading good books, something that can lift your spirits. Read a bit of yet another good book at the same time, but this one related to your field of expertise. It’s imperative that you know the maximum possible stuff about your field, get a 360 view of it, so that you can speak with authority whenever an interview lands in your lap. But that’s not going to be enough. You have to stay abreast with the latest developments as well in your field. For that you’ll have to either read the latest publications which are probably going to be available in your own university, or try to catch up on it on the internet.

Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.
-Thomas H. Huxley

And while you are at it, read up on material that improves your interviewing skills. There are loads of free ebooks available on knowfree.net that help you in every aspect of this phase including preparing resumes and places to search for your ideal job.

Read the newspaper. It’s simply crucial. The interviewer is going to be asking you about the current affairs irrespective of whether you are applying for a technical position. It’s one of the barometers he’s going to be using to assess your worth to his firm. For some it’s an unpleasant experience, but its one of those things that simply has to be done. In fact the more unpleasant it’s for you, the more pleasure you are going to derive from having accomplished this task.

Having once decided to achieve a certain task, achieve it at all costs of tedium
and distaste. The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome
labor is immense.
Arnold Bennett.

Having said that, avoid the depressing news as much as you can, especially those that are near to the home and are certain to evoke a negative reaction in you. Focus on the international issues, that’s what the interviewer is going to be most interested in. Everyone knows what is happening about him, and with this assumption the interviewer is going to avoid delving into the local scene. The chances of him asking about that are pretty slim, and the benefits of not reading the local section far outweigh the losses.

It is possible that the international scene is filled with dark and dreary news, but then that’s the nature of news. The point is since you’re not emotionally attached to that place, its impact is going to be minimal. Unless of course, it’s about the religious caricatures or Salman Rushdie. The thing is that you have to suspend reality and try to live in a make-belief world, even to the extreme of ‘living in a fool’s paradise’, if that’s what it takes to create an impeccably consistent positive mental attitude.

A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder
drug.
Patricia Neal

In fact, strive to do a couple of unpleasant tasks every day that you are unemployed. It’s a great way to boost your self-esteem. And do them early on in the day when you are still full of vigor. And avoid any leisurely pursuits until late in the day when you are done with most of the difficult tasks.

When you have a number of disagreeable duties to perform, always do the most
disagreeable first.
Josiah Quincy

In fact, get through the unpleasant ones by thinking about these goodies. Use them as an incentive to finish your chores, so that when you finally get to your favorite pastime (be it watching television, movie, going out with friends or simply reading a novel) at the end of the day you feel like you have earned it and you enjoy it more thoroughly. If you do it at the start of the day, there’s no incentive to get the dreaded tasks done. You end up procrastinating, getting bored and then your thoughts wander to the bitter fact that you are unemployed. It’s a vicious circle, and you have to tackle it on a day-to-day basis.

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