ATLANTA, GA - When I got laid off in the last recession (February 2002), I spent some quality couch time thinking about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I was 38 then; no spring chicken, even though I was convinced that the best years of my career lay ahead of me.
I knew that it was time to change industries -- away from food, where the playing field is pricing -- but my resume kept betraying me, telling everyone who read it that "I was a seasoned food guy." I knew this was bullshit, but you can't tell that to recruiters and hiring managers who won't return your call. I was running out of money, and the credit card debt began to mount. With four kids and a wife to feed, what's a brother gonna do?
Perhaps you've been there.
It was like that Tom Hanks movie Castaway, where they guy washes up on a desert island after a plane crash and has to learn to live off of the environment. That's the most extreme form of self-employment I can think of. Being a self-employed recruiter is like that -- except I get the benefit of a phone and an internet connection.
Towards the end of 2002, with no job prospects and a cratering marriage, I "went into business for myself." To this day, my hard drive contains literally thousands of Adobe files about marketing, strategy, complex selling, software marketing, entrepreneurship, direct mail copywriting (can you tell?), cost accounting, online marketing, SEO, database marketing, CRM, list rental, affiliate marketing, email marketing, web design and usability, and so on. What can I say? I was hungry to feed my family -- so I was hungry to learn.
And learn I did.
I like to think of this lean period as "my personal MBA from the University of Hell." Unparalleled education, but the tuition's a killer. And here's a puzzler: U-of-H will admit anyone, but few graduate. It takes humility to make it through the grinding curriculum, but most people refuse to admit their mistakes. And if you don't admit your mistakes, you can't correct them. That's why "pride goes before the fall." It's like this in any rehab program. I was woefully addicted to my own opinions in 2001, fell hard in 2002, got up in 2003, and kept walking.
Anyway.
Turns out that some of the very best files I downloaded are not only still on the web today -- but they have been updated. One of the best resources I saw during the ~1000 hours I spent foraging for usable knowledge was "Self-Employment: Steps for Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors, Helping a Customer Start a Business."
The document is written by six world-class vocation counselors and career coaches as a guide for their disabled clients who a.) want to know if self-employment is right for them, and b.) don't know how to get started in their new vocation (which means "calling"). BTW, my disability was "pride" -- although this indispensable guide does not address that malady by name.
Regardless, this ebook will help you find your own professional voice. I found mine, and last year I W2'd eleven times what I W2'd in 2003.
You can too!
The 242-page document is free, and boy is it worth reading. Even if you don't find yourself unemployed and unemployable in the next / current recession, it's still a good idea to consider how to manage your career like a business. Because basically, we're all in business for ourselves.
Jobseekers: Subscribe to my blog's RSS feed right here. I will be posting links to other stunningly great Adobe files in the coming weeks. They were the first fruits of my own unemployment.
PS -- See also 97 Job Search Tips.
