Not too long ago, more people had secure jobs than is the case today. More jobs today are part-time, temporary, or contract jobs. Unemployment is more likely today because more people are forced to have many different jobs in a lifetime.
Under these conditions, the ideal scenario is to go from one job immediately to the next job. Unfortunately, that does not always happen, and they’re often is a period of unemployment between jobs. Eliminating unemployment or at least keeping it as brief as possible is the obvious goal of most who are, or soon will be unemployed.
Prolonged unemployment can be a family disaster. This is especially true if the only breadwinner is unemployed for an extended period of time. The stress of unemployment eventually can lead to:
- Damaged family relationships when the unemployed person asks to borrow from relatives
- Bankruptcy
- Foreclosed homes
- Repossessed cars
- Depression
- Alcoholism or substance abuse
- Spouse or child abuse
- Divorce
- Suicide
Unfortunately, too many people keep their unemployment status as a shameful secret. This is especially true with men. That is unfortunate, because, in the current era, unemployment often has little to do with the qualifications or character of those who are unemployed. It usually has more to do with a changing national job outlook, and workers are too often only innocent victims.
By networking with their family, friends, neighbors, work associates, social contacts, and fellow church members, these unemployed people are likely to be hired more quickly. Telling everyone about their job seeking status will increase the chances that these job seekers will hear information about job openings.
This article will focus on networking efforts with the unemployed person’s church members. Spiritual brothers and sisters are likely to give an unemployed member of their church their wholehearted networking support.
These spiritual brothers and sisters have many ways to help their unemployed brother or sister. They probably, for example, are members of many other types of organizations that also can expand a person’s job-seeking network. Some of those in the church also might have their own businesses.
Thus, they might be able to offer to their unemployed brother or sister a part-time, temporary, or even permanent job. Finally, if the unemployed person’s financial situation is grim, some of these spiritual brothers and sisters might make unsolicited offers to loan them some much-needed money.
If enough members of the church are unemployed, the church also might offer a room and computer equipment for the job seekers’ support group. These support group members can meet on a regular basis to help each other applicants for jobs. What job-seeking expertise one member does not have, another member might have, and vice versa.
During this difficult period, a priest or minister can offer skilled counseling only if the unemployed person does not hide his or her unemployment status. The urge to withdraw into private shame is counterproductive and can start a downward spiral. A willingness to accept the reality of their unemployment and a readiness to accept the available help is part of the adaptive, upward spiral that will get unemployed people past their temporary career setbacks.
In the future, the temporarily unemployed person might find that these roles have been reversed. At a future time, when the formerly unemployed person has a job, some of his or her fellow church members might be unemployed. Then, the now employed person will be in a position to help them in the manner that they helped him or her before. This will give new meaning to Christ’s command, “Do onto others as you would have them do unto you.”
About the Author
Dan Vale has a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and he has been a career counselor, a director of a career counseling center, a graduate school instructor, and a career consultant. As the Career Examiner for the Examiner Online Newspaper, he published 270 career-related articles over a seven-year period, during which the time he had multiple endorsements and subscribers, and in April 2016 alone, he had over 19,000 page reads. You can view his books at his Amazon Author Page.
