Be used!

You were employed comfortably in a full-time job, until you were retrenched few months back. You are now searching for a job.

You don't have high-level qualifications or skills. And you are above 40 years of age.

You have sought assistance from various government agencies such as the Ministry of Manpower, Work Development Agency, Community Development Centers (CDCs), private placement agencies and also from career counselors.

You have been applying for job openings advertised in the newspapers and attending interviews. You have also consulted many of your old colleagues, friends and relatives.

It has been few months now and you are still waiting for a breakthrough. You feel dejected and helpless.

What else can you do?

In addition to your ongoing efforts, you can consider doing one more thing: Being used!

Forget about your previous job, your educational qualifications, your age, availability of jobs, money, and so on. Take these simple steps to "be used" in the service of others:

Discover your love
Ask yourself what activity would you love to do without even getting paid for it. Is it teaching? Is it cooking? Is it counseling others? Is it solving technical problems? Is it fixing broken gadgets? Or is it simply helping someone?

Many ideas may start floating in your mind. Some may come out of compassion for others while some are due to a sheer love of the activity itself. Focus on those which you would really love to do.

Finally, decide on one activity which will make you feel energized by the very thought of doing it. It will be something that will get you out of bed in the morning.

Interestingly, what you choose may or may not be related to your previous job or qualifications.

Offer yourself
Next, find out how you can kill two birds with one stone: To be engaged in the activity which you would love to do while serving others in some way at the same time. For example, if you would love to teach, explore ways you can offer teaching as a service to others.

In order to offer your "free" service, you may have to get in touch with voluntary organizations, private companies, friends and contacts. Assure anyone you approach that you are not looking for a job or money but that you want to be genuinely of service to others instead.

Finally, once you have identified a worthy recipient of your services, get going. Do it within the limitations of your time, energy and other resources.

The idea here is not to just volunteer yourself but to find out what you love to do and then "be used" in the service of others.

How it helps you
You may ask how it all helps you to either get a job in the end or survive without one.

True, what is described above is not a recipe for getting a job. It is, however, a recipe for getting back something else which you might have lost: Self-esteem.

Living without a job is one of the most difficult challenges, financially as well as emotionally. Negative feelings of worthlessness and helplessness will invariably creep in.

Such negative feelings can affect not only emotional or even physical health, but also the very prospect of getting a job. Why not do something about it till you get a job?

When you are doing something you love to do and which also helps others, your self-esteem will soar to new heights. You will realize your self-worth need not necessarily be measured in terms of a job, qualification or age.

In addition, you may learn a few things about yourself, which you were not aware of earlier. For example, you could stumble upon some hidden talents or a natural inclination for certain types of work. That alone is a treasure worth uncovering.

As mentioned earlier, the above approach is not an alternative to your ongoing efforts to find a suitable job but only a complementary exercise.

You may have lost a job, but that's no reason to lose your self-esteem. "Be used" and keep it forever.

Copyright © Atul Mathur, 2004
This article first appeared in The Straits Times on 27 January 2004.

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