What would you do if you lost your job and your industry also disappeared?  I just returned from a Membership Job Search Group in a town here in the San Francisco Bay Area where unemployment is at 11%.   I went because I wanted to  find out why I hadn’t received replies to my inquiries about speaking there.  The upside is that there were lots of people, they were networking, sharing success, creating fundraisers to buy supplies for the club, and helping each other across the river called unemployment.

The downside is there were lots of people with vast talents not able to get paid to use them.  The office personnel and volunteers were too busy processing members to deal with speakers.  They can’t even have guest speakers because of the space crunch.  They  talked about having to limit membership – they have so many people they cannot safely gather in the rooms they have access to.   No new members will be added until several current members are safely in jobs.

Here’s an industry (managing unemployed) that’s growing, but mostly supported by governtment funds that are severely lacking.  Any ideas how to support these folks? They need larger meeting space, supplies, and jobs.  Please leave a comment with ideas and resources.  Thank you!

What to do if you don’t find a spot for you in the group.

1) If you can take advantage of the classes they offer without becoming a member of the group, do that- the classes are invaluable and focus on resumes, interviewing and job finding techiques.

2) Find like-minded people, google “mastermind” and set up your own success or accountability group.  Like-minded means everyone in the group has a similar goal:  get a job in 3 months, figure out a new career, etc.

3) Find a coach.  I have an online, low cost  group for job motivation support

4) Look on the social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn for online support communities.

5) Make a plan, create accountability if you need it, and go!

May your path be short, sweet and lead directly to good work.