There is a job out there for you.

Are you looking for work? Maybe one of these premises will help.

The US unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent in February 2018. In California, it is slightly higher. In Fresno, where I serve, it is 6.2% . At any given time, someone is looking for work and someone is willing to give someone a job.

I was asked to convene a job seekers' support group way back in the nineties. As I was thumbing through my archives, I found the premises upon which I designed the group. I think they may still be valid:

THE TWELVE PREMISES OF JOB HUNTING 

PREMISE #1
You already have a job. Your job is looking for work.

Treat it like a job. Keep a schedule. Get up every morning and work on your job. Divide your job into manageable tasks and attach goals to them. It is your job and no one else can do it.

PREMISE #2
You have skills that are marketable if you can find the right buyer.

Remember that someone needs exactly what you have to offer. You have acquired your skills over a lifetime of  experience both on and off the job. A standard resume will not tell the whole story. Look care fully at your skills. Analyze them
objectively, but positively. List them. Consider how you might communicate them. Determine to match your skills with that employer that can most benefit from them.

PREMISE #3
Looking for work is hard work.

You spend half of the day job-seeking and you feel exhausted. Of course. It is hard, mind wrenching, soul-searching,  frustrating work. Reward yourself for tasks well done. Take breaks. Take days off. Take small "vacations" from your job. Pace yourself. Get adequate rest. Go to bed at night. Exercise. You will need all your strength for this job.

PREMISE #4
Our greatest enemies within are discouragement, low self-esteem, anger, resentment, depression, and fatigue (the kind you wake up with in the morning).

Take care of yourself emotionally. Acknowledge and work with your feelings. Stay in touch with good friends. Join a support group. Find what it is that motivates you and partake of it. Discover the inward place where you are nurtured and visit it often. Treat yourself well. Understand that you are the same person of value and substance that you were when you were working.

PREMISE #5
All of the above are natural dangers of extended unemployment.

The full range of human emotions may be intensified during this time. It is only natural to feel despondent, but you need not allow yourself to sink deeper into the darkness. Take care of your feelings.

PREMISE #6
There are circumstances governing elements of our situation that we cannot change.

No one person can turn a company, a nation, or an economy around. No one has complete control of his/her environment. You cannot alter your basic makeup as a human being and you cannot change the past. Try not to dwell on those factors over which you have no control. Acknowledge them, accept them as facts of life, grieve over them, and move on from them.

PREMISE #7
There are circumstances governing our situation that we can change.

Take a long hard look and all your "can'ts" and "musts." Look again. Are you sure that every "cannot" is an absolute and every "must" is crucial? Look again. Are you really sure? What is within your power to change? Is it a matter of necessity or will? Are you willing? To what extent are you willing? What are your values? What are your negotiables and non-negotiables?  Why?

PREMISE #8
We can change!

As long as you are unwilling to experience personal change, your situation may remain stagnant. Your times have changed. Your circumstances are altered. To some extent, you may need to change. You may need to change your narrow definitions of yourself, your needs, and even your abilities. You may need to learn new job and people skills. If it requires that you stretch yourself to become employed again, then you must stretch yourself. You can! Never sell yourself short.

PREMISE #9
Because job-seeking is lonely work, we need support.

Seek out others as friends or through a support group with whom you can share your defeats and victories. Job tips, interview skills, and encouragement can be exchanged. You will be reminded that you are not alone. Team, up with another person as your partner. When others are down you may be up and vice versus.

PREMISE #10
We can and will succeed.

The only people that ultimately fail at this task are those who give up. Never give up. The right job is out there for you. The task is to find it and to be found. It is a tragedy to quit just short of the finish line.

PREMISE #11
There is a Higher Power at work in our lives opening new doors, creating new possibilities, and leading us in new directions.

Many call that Higher Power, God. Whatever you call your Source, trust in it. Trust the rhythm and beauty of a reality that you do not completely understand Who guides the universe in a purposeful and orderly manner. That is not to say that God's will will be imposed upon your will apart from your will. It is to say that when you open to it and allow grace to fill you, you find yourself in the midst of a stream that leads you somewhere special.

PREMISE #12
We have something to offer to others in our situation.

Because of your struggle, you can now, and in the future help others in their struggles too. Because you have walked with pain and discouragement, you can bring comfort and encouragement to others. because you have discovered the hidden secrets of job-seeking, you can share them with other people. Because you have discovered that you are a person of dignity and worth, your positive self-esteem can rub off those who have given up on themselves. Commit yourself to help others, and in so doing, receive far more than you give.

BEST WISHES IN YOUR JOB SEARCH!