Sad man thinking while seated at a table with a pad of paper and cup of coffee

Finding yourself out of work can be a devastating experience. Unemployment is widely acknowledged as a significant stressor that directly affects physical and mental health. The Canadian Association for Mental Health states, “Unemployment can be, and often is, a shock to your whole system. You can experience some of the same feelings and stresses that you would if you were seriously injured, going through a divorce, or mourning the loss of a loved one.” As with other traumatic events, we rarely expect to be out of work and are often unprepared and overwhelmed by the road ahead. Common reactions when facing unemployment vary. You may find yourself struggling with denial, anger, and sadness, which can lead to avoidance and a sense of isolation.

Preparation will help you to overcome these emotions and return to the workforce as soon as possible.

Six Steps in Taking Control

Take stock of your finances.

Figure out how long you can afford to go without a new source of income and develop a plan. Many job seekers have had to compromise their choice of jobs when they found themselves strapped for cash. Ask yourself, “What can I do if I don’t have a job by my target date?” Consider what compromises you can make to speed up landing a job. This can include adjusting your job search to include a few types of positions, locations, and salary range.

Once you receive your Record of Employment, apply for Employment Insurance as soon as possible. Service Canada states, “If you delay filing your claim for benefits for more than four weeks after your last day of work, you may lose benefits.” When applying for Employment Insurance using the online service, you will need your employment start and end dates.

Keep in mind that finding a job often takes longer than expected.

Establish your goals.

Though you may not have been expecting it, this is an opportunity to reassess your employment goals. You may want to learn about other industries, consider a career change, or potentially go back to school.

If you wish to stay in your current industry, make a list of companies you would be interested in working at. Start with a minimum of five and focus your efforts there. LinkedIn company pages are a great tool that provides job seekers with access to detailed in-depth information about potential employers.

Revise your resume.

Update your resume with your work history details, and highlight the skills and experience most relevant to your employment goals. Search job postings online for the keywords and skills employers are looking for and include them in your resume. For those with long careers, include the last 10 years of employment with focus on key responsibilities and accomplishments.

Seek out free employment centres, such as JVS Toronto Employment Source, to help you with resume preparation, interview techniques and other job search tools. If you’re resume updating skills are rusty, try our free online resume writing clinic.

Update or learn new skills.

After updating your resume and looking at job postings, you may find that your skills are out of date, or you’ve come across a software program you don’t know that would open up other opportunities. You may want to brush up on your product or service knowledge, presentation skills or any number of other skills that could improve your chances of being selected for an interview.

Adding or enhancing skills is a worthwhile investment of your time. There are many resources offered online, such as Lynda.com with courses in software development, business, design, websites and more. Also check out the Continuing Education programs offered at your college or looks for classes at your local community centre or library that are low cost or free.

Reconnect with your network.

Job loss is something more and more people are facing in today’s economic climate. You are not alone in needing to find work. Reach out to your social and professional circles for job search tips and leads. Use social media to reconnect with friends, former colleagues or classmates during your job search. Not only will you gain information, identify skills you may need to improve and other resources, these connections will help with feelings of isolation often associated to those facing unemployment.

Consider making new connections by volunteering or attending industry or professional association events. You’ll meet people, hear about opportunities, and if volunteering, gain references and new work experiences to add to your resume. Use social media to make these connections.

Keep in mind that most jobs aren’t formally advertised. Employers use their trusted networks to find candidates for vacant positions.

Don’t do it alone.

All Employment Ontario-funded employment centres have free resource areas that provide those looking for work with computers, telephones, faxes and photocopiers, including JVS Toronto’s nine Employment Source locations. Conducting your job search in an employment centre like this reduces loneliness and provides you with direct access to various employment specialists, workshops and other services, all for free!

A little planning and effort can go a long way towards making the best of your situation and staying in control of a process, which can otherwise be daunting.

For those readers living in Toronto or York Region who need job search support, contact JVS Toronto at 416-787-1151 or at services@jvstoronto.org to access our free job search workshops, hiring events, and career exploration programs.

Dear Joanna,

I was invited for a job interview last week for a senior accountant position and didn’t get a job offer. When I asked for feedback from the hiring manager, he said that I was “overqualified.” How can having too much experience and strong skills be negative? Also, it feels like they are belittling my credentials and experience that I worked so hard to get. Why did they invite me to an interview after reviewing my resume?

Please explain this mystery to me.

Signed: Unfair Feedback

Dear Unfair,

You’ll find some excellent thoughts behind such painful and unreasonable sounding feedback from bloggers J.T. O’Donnell and Toni Bowers.

1. The hidden agenda. Donnell is adamant that this overqualified feedback is merely a “catch-all excuse that hiring managers, recruiters and HR use to politely eliminate you from the candidate pool”, suggesting that if employers said what they were really passing on you for, it would seem silly, petty, or down-right discriminatory.

2. Your personality isn’t a match for the company culture. You were either too upbeat or too low-key and came across wrong. Your personality is perceived as rubbing an existing employee the wrong way and the employer doesn’t want to deal with the drama that hiring you would bring. Bowers suggests that the hiring manager might be really thinking: “I don’t like you, can’t see working with you every day, and I just don’t want to be rude.” You didn’t connect with the hiring manager, and maybe even annoyed them; employers assume that if they didn’t feel comfortable with you in the interview, it will only get worse over time.

3. You don’t look like you would fit in. Your attire indicated that you weren’t the type of person that would be a fit for the organization. (Yes, what you wear matters. People have been known to discriminate because of clothing!)

4. You seem like a slow worker. Your speech was slow and methodical, and gave off the impression that you wouldn’t be able to keep up with the pace of the work environment.

5. You are too expensive. You have too many degrees and/or were paid too much previously. Plus, there is an assumption that you will get bored quickly or quit when a better job comes along, leaving the employer to have to start looking again.

6. You didn’t seem reliable. Your answers to questions made it appear like you had health issues, personal life challenges, or attendance issues that would cause you to not be on-time and accountable.

7. You acted like a know-it-all in the interview. You said, “Well, at my old company, we did it this way...” one too many times. Plus, you oversold yourself. As a result, you gave off the impression that you weren’t ready to learn something new, nor ready to adapt to a different environment than the one you were in.

8. You didn’t seem like you really knew what you were talking about. You came across as not having as much expertise as your resume indicated. You didn’t answer questions in the way expected.

9. The employer had already found the candidate (s)he wanted, and interviewing you was just a formality. Some hiring managers, by law or company policy, have to post and interview for jobs. Many times, they already have who they want to hire. So, they just go through the process to cover their bases.

10. The hiring manager feels threatened by you. Sometimes, the hiring manager might feel afraid if the candidate seems more qualified for the position than they are, they might threaten their job. Bowers clarifies that if you are more qualified but can convey sincerely to the employer that you respect their position and don’t want it, you might overcome this challenge and get hired. In fact, I know many hiring managers who like to hire people whom they feel are smarter or more accomplished than them in certain areas as a way to strengthen their team.

11. There are organizational problems going on that the company does not want to share. The true reasons behind a verdict of “overqualified” could range from running out of money from the time the ad was placed to the time of your interview, to something more insidious, like the company doing interviews to gauge the market or “price shop” when it really has no intent of hiring anyone. In this scenario you will likely never get the truth, since few companies will admit they were wasting your time and giving false hope while trying to do market research.

Try to gather information and learn some lessons from the feedback. O’Donnell stresses the need to go to the source and ask for the reasons behind the verdict of “overqualified”. Make sure that you frame the discussion as an opportunity for personal improvement to try to improve your prospects, rather than a vindictive witch hunt. While this route is often successful, be prepared for the possibility of more vague feedback, since like most of us, hiring managers have their secrets. If you cannot get any constructive feedback, learn what you can from the interviewing process and move on to the next one. Beating yourself up will do nothing to help you move forward.

Lost Your Job? Here’s six steps to get you back to work

Six Steps in Taking Control

Ask the Employment Specialist: Am I Really Overqualified for the Job?

Joanna