You're Hired - The Emotional Reflection After 9 Months of Unemployment

I'm sorry I've been MIA for quite some time now. As you can assume from my news story, I've been busy running around looking for a place to live / moving in. I'm almost completely moved in to a room I found on Craigslist. It's a temporary month and a half long living situation, but it will give me time to get back on my feet and into mainstream society again.

So you're probably wondering what happened after I was on the news...

The next day was kind of crazy; in addition to my parents telling everybody they ever met, I think I got some positive feedback via sudden phone calls from employers. To my surprise, a company that had turned me down on Monday called and made me an offer... imagine that.

I knew the emotional impact of being unemployed for 9 months had effected me, but I don't think I could have predicted my reaction to that phone call. I actually fell to my knees and cried in the most subtle happiness I had ever felt. All along I thought that when I finally had landed a job, I would go running down the hallway screaming at the top of my lungs, but in that moment I realized the emotion was bittersweet.

I finally was able to pinpoint my feelings when I turned off the lights and shut the door to my midtown apartment two days ago. When I had moved into the ultra urban contemporary loft last year, I thought I was on the verge of entering the lifestyle I had worked all my life for. I wanted to be a yuppie. I thought I was going to have enough money to never have to think about the balance of my checking account, and eventually be able to enjoy the luxury of success in the corporate world.

Instead, I spent more time in that apartment than I ever thought possible. There were weeks when I went 3 days without leaving and I often failed to even get dressed in the morning. Don't get me wrong, I tried everything under the sun in an effort to get a job and support myself; however, for a good 6 months, a degree in finance and limited work experience (in the eyes of employers) was probably less effective than a resume with "high school dropout" for education.

When I closed the door to my apartment for the last time, I came to understand that the lifestyle I had worked so hard for may not be suitable for me. Success is controversial; it can only be measured based on one's opinion of what adds value. Happiness is definitively personal; over the last 9 months I've learned that success is dependent on happiness, not the other way around.

While I don't know what is in store for me or where my life will take me from here. I'm going to pursue many of the cool ideas I've come up with during this time in my life. A lot of people have told me that "I lost a year," but I'm really not so sure. I definitely slowed down and spent more time thinking than doing, but at the end of my life I think that I will be able to say I accomplished more because I was able to dig deep into my soul and figure out what really mattered to me. Most importantly, I'm no longer embarassed by the fact that I was out of work for 9 months. Being unwillfully unemployed was probably the best "work experience" I ever had and I think that employers should really take the emotional journey into account. I realize that most will never be able to appreciate this experience, until of course they themselves are in the same situation, but I want to challenge myself to remember the way I'm feeling right now, right at this moment. On the surface, I can say that I will be the best employee I can be and probably be willing to go above and beyond all expectations. Deep down however, I hope I use this experience to be a better co-worker, manager, and mentor in the future. Too many people get to the "other side" and forget all the pointless interviews, rediculous applications, and corporate BS that only served them in wasting time and dwindling their confidence. From human to human, I've learned that we need to be honest with ourselves about how we treat eachother. It doesn't matter what skills or experience I may have on paper, I believe that this understanding is the foundation to real, effective, and lasting success.