Budget Crunching & Job Hunting
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008The single-most critical area for a person who is busy looking for a new job is the subject of finances. The first thing that the person has to adjust to is the lesser amount of income that they will be receiving while unemployed. In some case, the individual may have savings or credit cards that they can rely upon during this time of lesser income, and sometimes they are necessary to dip into, but the wise individual learns to work within the confines of their weekly unemployment or their severance pay if at all possible.
One of the reasons the financial area becomes so critical is because for most people tight or unfriendly finances can add an exceptional amount of undue and unwanted stress to an already frustrating and difficult time.
The ideal scene for anyone who is job hunting is to maintain their current position while locating a new position. However if this is not the case for an individual, then they must take actions to maintain strict discipline on their financial spending habits until they are once again gainfully employed.
Here are a few suggestions:
- Immediately apply for unemployment.
- Immediately begin searching for a new position, and if at all possible, sign up with a temporary staffing agency while looking for full time work. They can often get you a position for a week or two at a time, and grant you the time off to continue your job search.
- List out your monthly expenses and then review all the areas on those expenses that you can cut back on, some common areas are utilities services: keep lights off, unplug appliances and electronics that can consume massive amounts of power. Get energy saving plugs. Keep computers off when not in use. Cut back on your cable bill by eliminating all extras – you can get them back when you have found a position again. Review your cell phone plan for a close look at your habits, are you being charged for information calls, texting, monthly internet, etc.? Eliminate your expensive habits with your cell phone, make sure you stay within your minutes and drop all extras on your plan.
- Review your entertainment and eating habits: Are you spending more than you should going out to movies, restaurants, clubs, etc.? Cut it back, eat at home, rent movies and stay in, and limit your club excursions.
- Utilize that time to prepare quality presentations of your resume and cover letter and get yourself out job hunting.
- Make a personal commitment to yourself not to dip into your savings, or use your credit cards during your time of being unemployed.
- consider taking in a roommate if at all possible to help share expenses.
Why is it important to maintain and manage your finances during your time of a job search? Mostly because you want to present the most positive and confident attitude that you can to any interviewer you meet with. If you are feeling stress and pressure because your finances are getting more and more difficult to manage, then this possibly could bring you down, or even make you appear desperate – these are definitely not the attitudes and traits you want to present and still get the job!
