Power of Networking, the Weekend and the Library

The fruits of networking might have worked out.  An acquaintance needs 5-10 hours of assistance now and up to 20 hours of assistance in a few weeks due to a co-worker’s maternity leave.  We will discuss this opportunity early next week. While not full time, the hours would be very beneficial to me during the job search. Another acquaintance directed me to a lawyer who needed 50 hours of work on a project (he found someone already before I reached out to him). Yet another acquaintance was looking for a part-time recruiter to work remotely under him. These opportunities all were “discovered” because I reached out to others about my situation. Again, this drives home the importance of networking. I expect to find my next position not through the online applications but through networking. So, keep on doing it.

The weekend was spent relaxing. I encourage you to treat your weekend as well, a weekend. This will further encourage your adoption of the job search as a job approach. I got lots of sleep. Provided I go to sleep early enough tonight, I’ll be fresh for resuming my search tomorrow.

My little sister, Kira, my brother-in-law Jack and nephew JJ came in from the city and treated us to a fine meal of Popeye’s chicken. Their kindness in this difficult time has been awesome. In addition to the feast, we talked about the Disney Parks, played some Mario Kart and listened to some good music together. It was a great distraction from the present difficult situation.

On Sunday, I went to the public library for the first time in years. I realized what a valuable place it is. First, they have free Wifi and computers for your use. If you want to save on your data usage or if you need to cut your internet service (my heart goes out to you if this is the case; hang in there!), you can use the library for your job search. Second, they have a wealth of resources for the same. I couldn’t fully count the number of job search books they had. Further, you have access to other numerous reading materials to increase your skill set/value for your next job. Third, aside from the search, they have tons of movies that you can checkout- for free. That said, if you need free entertainment for the weekend, check out a movie to watch with the family. Finally, the library is a quiet place for you to conduct your search in peace. Head to the library!

Days Eight and Nine Lessons:

1. Relax on the Weekend so You are Fresh on Monday for Your Search

2. The Library is a Great Resource for Your Search

Total Contacts Reached Out To: 31

Total Applications: 27

Finance Plan

I couldn't sleep well the night earlier. Ex-coworkers populated my dreams and I kept thinking of my old job. I really liked my old office, work and co-workers. I woke up for good at 6am (9pm Tokyo time) and contacted two of my colleagues in Japan. We chatted on Line about the unfortunate series of events. Both of them went through a period of unemployment; one was let go from his law firm in 2008 or so and one was let go from a major Japanese video game company in 2011. Both survived, moved on to respectable companies and are doing well. Assurances that I would do the same from them made me feel better.

As to my search, I spent most of the day working on a financial plan and reviewed materials on how to file for unemployment insurance. I'll go into filing for unemployment insurance (based on the materials and my experience doing so over the next few days).

As to the financial plan, having a family like mine accustomed to living an upper-middle class lifestyle requires me to conduct a careful accounting on what needs to be cut back and how long we can survive on the job search based on our savings and the unemployment insurance amounts we will receive. For this financial plan, it's probably easiest to start with Excel to create a spreadsheet.
There's a really easy-to-use template called "Simple monthly budget" as shown below.



First start with your monthly expenses and click on the tab Monthly Expenses on the bottom of the page:




Then, when in the Monthly Expenses chart, enter your itemized expenses as follows:


Once that is finished, click on the Monthly Income tab on the bottom of the page.



And identical to the Monthly Expenses, enter the amounts you will receive as income, including the monthly amount of unemployment insurance. I'll go deeper into the calculation about how much you will receive for unemployment insurance in the next few days. As a primer, a handbook for this calculation can be found here if you live in Illinois:

 http://www.ides.illinois.gov/IDES%20Forms%20and%20Publications/CLI105L.pdf


Once you have entered your Monthly Income, click on the Summary tab on the bottom of the screen.



The Summary chart will detail how much each month will cost you in the form of the number called the Balance. It will be a negative number, one that hopefully won't be too shocking.



Once you have this number, you can create another chart subtracting your monthly Balance from the amounts you have in savings. This calculation will determine how long you can survive on your job search without getting loans from friends/family members/use credit cards, etc. I'll detail how to do that in tomorrow's post.

Mom invited us over to dinner, so not much was accomplished on the applications and contact to additional friends front. Mom treated for an Aldi pizza. They have refrigerated/non-frozen pizzas for 5-6 dollars. It was a great cheap dinner as it tasted really good. I recommend getting one whether you have a job or not.



That night a colleague in Japan gave me a Line call to encourage me on the search. As described above, he had lost his job at a law firm years ago and was able to get on his feet in a few months. His concern and encouragement improved my spirits. I also talked to my HK buddy who had a plethora of ideas to get past this difficult time. So far my friends and family have been great in getting us through this. If you are in the same boat and haven't done so yet, please reach out to friends and family right away. They are awesome.

Day Two Lessons: 

1. Creating a Finance Plan for Your Job Search Is Essential and Easy Using Excel 

2. Aldi Pizza is a Great Cheap Eat 

Total Contacts Reached Out To: 13 

Total Applications: 1