💡 Taking a Career Detour (Issue 604)
Sometimes a job is just a job
Some of my friends have been out of work for several months.
They’ve been struggling to find a relevant new job in this soft market. The longer it goes on, the more worried they become and the more stress it puts on their lives. However, they are reluctant to take on any old jobs.
But desperate times call for desperate measures. Sometimes, you just need to take any job to get income flowing back into your bank account. I know that being underemployed can feel bad. Really bad. But you won’t be stuck in that situation forever.
I also have some other friends who take on all kinds of part-time gigs (e.g., bartending, Uber, DoorDash) to make ends meet when they are between full-time jobs. They know it’s temporary, so they don’t get too hung about it.
Unfortunately, many people feel the need to broadcast their lives on social media. LinkedIn feels like your work history is under a microscope. But you control that! You don’t need to announce your new job anywhere. You do not need to put it on LinkedIn.
I know folks are also worried about how being underemployed looks on a resume. Guess what? You don’t need to put this job on your resume, either.
Ah yes, I hear you: the dreaded gap. What do you do about a gap in your resume and LinkedIn if you don’t include the time you’re working some random job?
Fill it with something better.
I recommend the following to people all the time:
Create an entry for a consulting business. You can use a business name based on your personal name (e.g., “Johnson’s Consulting”) or come up with something creative.
Pick a start date that maps to your last date of prior employment.
Leave the end date open so it becomes your current position.
Use the description to describe the work you are great at doing (and enjoy doing).
No one needs to know the details about “your clients.” You could do a little pro bono work for some friends under that business name. Heck, you may even land some actual clients by doing this and make some serious money!
Keep looking and interviewing for the kind of job you really want. But in the meantime, you’ll have a steady paycheck to pay your bills and not feel so scared and desperate.
I know it can feel weird to take a career detour, but you gotta do what you gotta do to survive. No one else has to know—except maybe your closest friends and loved ones. They should understand and support you.
I’m Larry Cornett, a Freedom Coach who works with you to optimize your career, business, and life. My mission is to help you become a more "Invincible You" so you can live your life on your terms instead of being controlled by someone else's rules. I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane.
