Leveraging Your Downtime
By Douglas Zehr
Unemployment means not only loss of income, but also a potential gap on your resume. Staying on the sidelines while others are employed puts you at a competitive disadvantage in the job marketplace. Strategically leveraging your downtime out of the market is key to getting back in. Your challenge is twofold: Stay relevant in your field and keep your resume current.
One solution is teaching. New Jersey has numerous universities, community colleges and junior colleges with teaching opportunities. Teaching doesn’t pay the bills -- pay starts at about $1,800 per semester, or about $410 a month after taxes, at one community college. But teaching does keep you employed in your field, and it engages your skill set. Just as important, it reinforces your credentials as an expert. As a bonus, it can be a great networking tool. Many universities sell continuing education services to private companies. Instructors are hired to work with HR directors and department heads to offer seminars and continuing education classes to employees.
Another way to leverage your downtime is to do consulting work for nonprofits. I used my interest in Hispanic affairs and my background in communications to offer services as a strategic communications consultant to nonprofits working with Hispanics.
Both teaching and nonprofit consulting provide quality resume fodder. And more importantly, they give me a great answer when the hiring manager asks: “So, what are you doing now?” By leveraging your downtime strategically, you don’t have to answer: “Working at McDonalds.”
