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Ten Ways to Keep Busy Between Jobs
Featured Author:
R. Marc Phillips
R. Marc Phillips currently works as a Tech Consultant in Information Security for MasterCard, handling architecture and planning of Internet-facing applications. A fourteen-year veteran of the IT industry, he’s deployed and managed large scale networks and datacenters; designed, implemented, and managed nationwide networks for several ISP’s and
financial and media companies; and developed advanced monitoring and security tools.
He runs his own consulting business and has extensive experience in Unix Systems Administration on several hardware platforms, including application support, security, development and deployment.
Marc broke into IT the hard way, working his way up from an entry-level customer-support position at Netcom, riding the tech boom and bust of the late 90s and early 2000s, and eventually coming to manage national ISPs and data centers.
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Join a Job Seekers Group
Churches, libraries and other organizations often host groups for job seekers, Sutaria notes. These groups often serve to help people make contacts and provide support.
Build Social Networks
With jobs and other commitments, many people find they don’t have time to develop the sort of social networks crucial to a productive life – and career. “They get it done after they get everything else done,” says career coach Lynn Berger, who recommends people spend time expanding social networks. Those connections often mean as much as professional ones during a job search. “You start talking to your neighbor, and you learn they know X, Y and Z,” she says.
Start a Business
If you’ve ever dreamed of owning your own business, a period of unemployment may actually be the time to try to pull it off. Levine knows one telecommunications executive who started a Web hosting company with a number of friends. The partners have other engagements now and then, but their cooperative arrangement allows them to spend more or less time on the business as their schedules permit. And, not surprisingly, networking for the business helps in other aspects of their careers.
Have Fun
Play golf. Go for a run. Or, like one of Levine’s clients, build something — in his case, a pond. “It gives you something good to talk about,” says Levine. “It sets the tone for a conversation.” And conversation, whether online or off, is often the lifeblood of a productive job search.
42n81
9 months ago
6 comments
Consult with www.computerassistant.com - they hire technicians of all strengths to respond to technical support in and around your city. You set your bid for the job. This is not an advertisement...just one way I keep my skills up while job hunting and it's another way to network!
Account Removed
9 months ago
Go on Inside, you will kill some times between interviews!!