I created Unemploymentville after I was out of work in late 2013 and early 2014. That time included me receiving 2 job offers that were later cancelled after I accepted them. I found being out of work was pretty crushing emotionally. I wanted people to have a place to both commiserate and share ideas for how to navigate through Unemployment. I didn\u2019t want to offer career advice because there were already plenty of books on how to job hunt, including What Color is Your Parachute? But I wanted to bridge the isolation that being out of work brings, and end the shame of it also. No longer seeing your friends\/co-workers, no longer seeing that deposit in the bank. There was less written about those feelings and how to handle them without losing your mind.<\/p>\n
Somehow Unemployment felt like a place to me. <\/p>\n
A place that we passed through. A place most of us wanted to get the hell out of, like the dark forest. <\/p>\n
After I returned to a full-time job in 2014 I continued with Unemploymentville and had a number of guest writers, but I struggled to find time to lead the discussion and more than that my own time being out of work was starting to feel more like a distant memory. Another factor during this time was that in 2015 \u2013 2020, unemployment dropped to record lows. I felt like I was peddling a solution when the problem had evaporated. I was happy that unemployment wasn\u2019t a widespread problem.<\/p>\n
Things changed when Covid came along. Suddenly LOTS of people were out of work and frightened. At the same time the stigma of being out of work had changed a bit. Everyone was \u2018at home\u2019. No longer did the employed people go off to their jobs and left anyone unemployed at home. But being without income or a sense of accomplishment still sucks. There is absolutely a blow to one\u2019s ego.<\/p>\n
Today 12 years after I originally launched Unemploymentville, I\u2019m relaunching it. There are many options for earning income today that didn\u2019t exist ten years ago and I want people to consider those options. The smartest thing I did when I was out of work was to start my own website design business. It was a horrible flop in terms of $ I earned BUT it was fantastic in terms of the perspective and skills I learned. I want people to know that they don\u2019t need to just sit and wait for a job. <\/p>\n
Trying to build a business or doing small side jobs can make you a stronger job candidate than just applying for jobs. <\/p>\n
Another motivation for me in relaunching is job insecurity is rising. AI replacing workers is here today. I\u2019m hearing particularly that the 50+ crowd is struggling to find a new job if they are laid off. Since my initial launch of Unemploymentville brought record-low unemployment rates, you never know, maybe I\u2019ll have that same \u2018bad timing\u2019 again. That would be okay with me. I just don\u2019t want people to suffer. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I created Unemploymentville after I was out of work in late 2013 and early 2014. That time included me receiving 2 job offers that were later cancelled after I accepted them. I found being out of work was pretty crushing emotionally. I wanted people to have a place to both commiserate and share ideas for how to navigate through Unemployment. I didn\u2019t want to offer career advice because there were already plenty of books on how to job hunt, including…<\/p>\n