Ways to make the most of being unemployed

You don't have to be working to improve your career.?Sometimes unemployment is unavoidable?due to various circumstances that arise in during one's career.

You could be in the middle of a job search that is dragging on for months that shows up as?an employment gap on your resume. Also, the economic impact of the pandemic has caused?unemployment levels to rise exponentially?during the past few months. Millions of Americans are now receiving unemployment benefits.

Just because you are?currently unemployed?or in the middle of a tiresome job search, it doesn't mean that you should let go of productivity altogether. Although you might have to spend a few hours every day staring blankly at your laptop screen hoping for a notification to pop up, there are still so many hours of the day that you can use to add something valuable to your career. This will help you portray the employment gap as an asset instead of a drawback on your resume.

Create yourself a daily schedule

If you start treating your unemployment as a vacation, soon you will fall into a habit of wasting away the day without adding anything positive to your life. It is OK to relax a little. After all, you have earned yourself some off time from your grueling career. However, ensure that your primary focus is always placed on being productive and moving toward your next job. Remember how you used to wake up at 6:00 AM to turn up at the office early? Do the same thing. Make a habit of waking up early and?sticking to a routine.?Since you're not working, you can allocate time for things such as exercise, hobbies, traveling, and anything else that interests you apart from the job search.

Pick up temporary work or start a freelancing gig

The easiest way to make your resume gap disappear is to start working somewhere. It doesn't have to be the perfect job ever. You can use one of your many skills to?find temporary work or to start a freelancing career. That way, you will be financially secure throughout your unemployment and you won't have to have a resume gap. When choosing temporary work or freelancing projects, take care to select those that will help you enhance your existing professional skills. Then your temp job won’t seem like an odd job to an employer.

Learn new skills

There are tons of online resources that you can use to learn new things. While you are actively seeking jobs at home, register yourself for a seminar, webinar, online class, or Community College to?learn a professional skill that will help you in your career. What you learn doesn't have to be directly related to your career either. You can even pick up a hobby to master or maybe finally go get that driver’s license!

Launch your own professional blog

a professional blog is one of the best personal branding and marketing tools that you can have for yourself. not only does it establish your online presence, but it will also portray you as an expert in your field and give you an outlet to voice your opinions on current topics. you will also be able to develop your verbal communication skills further and increase your potential of learning new technical content faster. your professional blog will be a powerful networking platform and help you get to know are other professionals from your industry.

Build volunteering experience

If you can't seem to find any internship or a new job volunteer at a place related to your industry.?Volunteering experience looks impressive on a resume. Not only does it elaborate on your technical knowledge, but it will also tell a potential employer many things about your capacity for commitment and giving back to society.