Actively seeking employment

For those who are reading my blog for the first time: Having been recently laid off, I decided to stop writing about fundraising and to write about the process of being unemployed. It's a new experience for me and my hope is to help others who might have to go through this process some day.

Day 10. It's a beautiful in Lakewood, Colorado and being that it is a Sunday I am only going to spend a little time on the job search today.

I have realized that it is important to create boundaries around the job search. It's sort of like working from home. At 5pm, your day is done and it's family time. In the past ten days since I was laid off I have not done well with boundaries. I have worked on my job search anywhere from 4:30am through 11pm at night. In the past couple of days I have gotten better at the search and with boundaries and this is how:

During the week I get up early just as I would if I were going to work. I respond to emails, look at all of the job posting sites I have bookmarked and tweak some cover letters.

If I work on the job search during the weekend I have specific goals and specific amounts of time.

If I am going out for coffee or lunch with a friend or a colleague, I dress as if I am going to meet a donor. Not a full suit and tie, but business casual for sure (which I might ad in the Denver area is probably a little more casual than on the east coast).

I have a more clear idea of what I want in my next job. Not necessarily who I want to work with/for rather what the benefit package, including salary, looks like. As I am looking in Denver and San Diego, I have different thoughts for each place, knowing that the cost of living is higher in San Diego. 

In our social life, I have decided not to make my being laid off the main story of what is talked about. With my inner circle it can be, especially when I feel I need more emotional support. Yet out and about I am trying to focus on everyday life and remembering how awesome of a life I have, employed or not.

More to come. I am very grateful that you are reading my blog posts. My email is fundraisingdan@gmail.com I would love your feedback, especially if you have been unemployed or are hiring!

Unemployed: The Job Search

I decided to keep writing blog posts while I am unemployed. This helps me keep people updated and hopefully it will help others who have recently been laid off.

It is day 6 of being unemployed.

Before I get to the job search part, I want to write about other actions I have taken during my so far brief unemployment.

As soon as I was told I was being laid off I applied for unemployment. I am not sure how this works in other states or if it is the same everywhere. The process to me was easy and took only about ten minutes, online. All the information needed I already knew, so there was no need for paperwork or collecting items needed to fill out the information.

I'm not sure how the process works from here. On Monday I got a PIN number that allowed me to go online and enter bank information so that my unemployment can be put directly into our account. I also got some information about education opportunities. I printed a calendar of reminder dates for when I need to apply for benefits, which is every two weeks. I'm not sure how that works but assume that includes where I have looked for a job, etc. In addition to unemployment, I also signed up on the Colorado work website, which I think is another thing you need to do in the unemployment process.

The day after I was laid off I went to the local job center. This one is the Jefferson County Work Center, in Golden. Easy to find. The woman who greeted me, if you can call it that, had no interest in me at all. She did, however, refer me to a gentleman in the other room who was very friendly and helpful. He pointed me to a list of jobs on the other side of the room and offered the use of a computer to aid in my job search. I checked out the job listing, which is the same as is online.

As the friendly gentleman told me, everything that is at this work center I can see online. The big deal for the center is that it offers online access for those who don't have it at home.

As this is the first time I have been unemployed and been part of this world I had never been to a job center or work center. I honestly was disappointed. My expectations were way too high. If I ran the place everyone who entered would feel honored and supported. I didn't feel that at all, except for the friendly gentleman.

I have now sent in nine resume/job packages and have had two interviews. I do searches on the Colorado Nonprofit website, Andrew Hudson's Job List, LinkedIn job postings and google searches for fundraising jobs around the country. And I have to keep repeating how grateful I am for all of the job leads and calls and emails of support. Thank you.

And thank you for reading.

Getting laid off

At 46, I realize that I have been beyond fortunate in employment. I have loved my jobs, never been unemployed and rarely had to look for a job. Usually I would get a call from an organization interested in me and go from from there.

This past week I was laid off. In my professional life I am a fundraiser, a Director of Development. I had rocked it for almost two years at our local opera company. Loved my job. After a very tough year in fundraising my boss decided that cutting back would begin with me.

I wasn't surprised. Life had become dark at work in the past couple of weeks. A lot of closed door meetings and no communication at all.

When my boss called me down to his office and I walked in to see him and our Human Resources guy, I was honestly relieved. He told me his story of why, my HR guy gave me some paperwork and I headed back to my office. Tears were shed by some of my peers. I was grateful for their kindness and support, and for helping me move out of my office!

So I guess you can take this blog post as a resume, as part of my job search.

In the last couple days I have applied for seven jobs, had one interview and have another interview tomorrow. I keep tweeking my resume and continually working on cover letters that do a great introduction of who I am and what I can bring to an organization.  I have been on LinkedIn, Indeed.com, Colorado Association of Non-Profits, Idealist.org, several arts websites, Andrew Hudson's job list and have followed up on leads from many friends.

I have seen a couple of jobs that excite me. Is this the time to start looking at an Executive Director position? Perhaps it's finally that time and opportunity to move to San Diego? Become a consultant? As my friends and professional colleagues continue to remind me, the possibilities are endless.

It's Sunday so I am going to take the rest of the day off and enjoy my family and friends. Thank you for reading this and I would be grateful for any leads or suggestions. My twitter name is @FundraiserDan and my LinkedIn account under Dan Hanley in the Greater Denver area (I couldn't figure out how to link it here!).