Is a Job Club for You?
Dear Alex: Should I join a job club or unemployment support group, and if so, where should I find one?
What ties people in a job club together is the need for mutual support and encouragement. People who are energized by social situations and tend to procrastinate the lonely tasks of job-hunting will likely benefit from a job club. Those who are shy, insecure, or ashamed of having lost a job can get help from other job club members in overcoming these mental roadblocks.
Job club membership can stave off the depression that sometimes sets in during a protracted job search. Not only will you feel supported in a job club, but you will probably be more successful than if you went it alone. Those who’ve been involved with job clubs report that their efforts that are strengthened by belonging to the group and their job searches are shorter. Richard Nelson Bolles, author of the classic What Color is Your Parachute? and a strong proponent of job-seeking support groups, notes an 84 percent success rate when job-search techniques are conducted in groups, compared with a 15 percent lower rate when the same techniques are followed individually.
There is a whole channel on Meetup.com devoted to unemployed support groups: . Other places are local and state employment offices, the Chamber of Commerce, local colleges and universities (especially community colleges), adult-education centers, or places of worship. You might also look into organizations that cater to specific groups.
Tagged as alumni networking,
career advice,
job hunting,
job search, networking, online job search.
Alexandra Levit
Alexandra Levit’s goal is to help people find meaningful jobs - quickly and simply - and to succeed beyond measure once they get there. A former nationally syndicated columnist for the Wall Street Journal and a current contributor for Fortune and Metro US, Alexandra has authored several books, including the bestselling They Don't Teach Corporate in College, How'd You Score That Gig?, Success for Hire, MillennialTweet, and New Job, New You. Her book on the top myths of business success is due out from Penguin/Berkley in the fall of 2011. Since serving as a member of Business Roundtable's Springboard Project, which advised the Obama administration on current workplace issues, Alexandra produced the critically acclaimed JobSTART 101 (www.jobstart101.org), a free online course that better prepares college students and graduates for the challenges of the workplace. She is a frequent national media spokesperson and has been featured in thousands of outlets including the New York Times, USA Today, National Public Radio, ABC News, Fox News, CNBC, the Associated Press, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan. In 2010, she was named Money Magazine's Online Career Expert of the Year and the author of one of Forbes' best websites for women. Known as one of the premiere spokespeople of her generation, Alexandra regularly speaks at conferences, universities, and corporations around the world including the American Society for Training and Development, Campbell's Soup, McDonalds, and Whirlpool — on issues facing modern employees such as how to communicate effectively between generations.
