"She and Her Job Just Broke-Up Last Week..."

I received a FB message from one of my college professors yesterday. (Nothing thrills me more than receiving FB messages from people of my parent’s generation, it gives me hope that one can grow older and not grow out of touch) Anyway, he sent me an article that I related to on so many levels. This girl amassed some sound advice based on her ten-cities-in-one month job search in the advertising industry this year. I thought everyone suffering the blight of the class of 2009 could benefit from it, advertising or otherwise.

http://adage.com/gennext/post?article_id=138867

The point she makes that stands out the most to me is #4, “Unemployment is forgivable; idle hands are not”. THANK GOODNESS!

Truly, Kelly Eidson, you have made my day. As much as I’m enjoying the new challenges in front of me, I’d be remised not to admit I feel more than a little awkward about being unemployed. But busy I’ve got covered. Now granted, being busy going into an entirely new field is probably not what Kelly was talking about, but that’s my spin on the whole situation.

And as nice as a little unprompted, outside positive reinforcement can be, that’s not why I dwelled on the article for so long. Kelly’s advice stuck in my head because it was just so damn familiar. Where have I heard this before?

And then I realized it. Kelly is coaching me through a break up. Her advice sounded exactly like the advice you get from your friends when you abruptly lose the half that makes you whole. (This could bring whole new meaning to the expression “married to your job”) Its the kind of thing you need to hear after one of those earth-shattering kind of break-ups where he/she leaves you high and dry and your world comes down around you. Kind of like the economy right now…

Side by side translation:

Kelly’s Job Search Advice	Chris’ Break-Up Advice
1. The sun is coming out (if slowly)	1. Everyday will get a little better
2. Calculated restructuring	2. You need to think about what you really want
3. There are no jobs, but there’s plenty of work	3. So you don’t have a boyfriend, there are plenty of fish in the sea
4. Unemployment is forgivable; idle hands are not	4. Stop thinking about him, get busy with other things
5. Not all markets are created equal	5. He’s no good for you

*Disclaimer: Sorry if it seems sexist that this is only from the female perspective, but I don’t know what guys say to each other after a break-up, please feel free to enlighten me…

I really appreciate this perspective that Kelly has given me. It gives me a template with which I am familiar. Amid all the CNBC and NYTimes mumbo jumbo on how, why and what is happening, it finally all boils down to your garden-variety break-up. But at least I understand what I’m up against.

Because I’ve done break-ups before. I survived. Hell, I’ve even grown from the experience of a few of them. But most importantly, I now have a familiar beast to battle. I know what to do... which is exactly what I’ve been doing. Being busy. But with the added bonus that now I have more reason to believe it will work.

But what I’m most excited about is this. They say that relationships come along when you least expect it. So by proxy, a great job opportunity should come along when I least expect it, too. Well I hardly expect it at all in this economy, so now seems like the time for a job to jump up and grab me…right?