 | | Sarah MacReading |
|
Losing a job is always a dispiriting experience, but losing a job when jobless claims have reached record highs can be especially traumatic. Competition among job seekers is stiffer than ever, and experiencing it during a global pandemic when you can’t even commiserate in person? Even worse. Still, there are ways to reach out to newly unemployed friends from a distance and make the experience slightly less awful. |
Whether you offer an ear, professional skills or even money, here are some ways to help with sensitivity. |
Send money when it’s appropriate |
The obvious first stress for many people after losing work is how they’ll survive without the income. Offering financial help is a logical step, but writer and advice columnist John Paul Brammer urges that you consider your relationship to the person before making what can be an uncomfortable gesture. And even then, only give what you would feel OK not getting back. |
“There’s a lot of conventional wisdom about not loaning friends money or only loaning money that you can afford to never get back,” added Rachel Wilkerson Miller, a service journalist and the author of “The Art of Showing Up,” “and that still applies here.” |
Since giving money to a friend directly can sometimes feel awkward, a good alternative is a gift card or virtual exchange. “If you know they’re uncomfortable about taking money, you can disguise it a bit,” said Alison Green, a work advice columnist and the author of “Ask a Manager.” She suggests a gift card to a grocery store; Ms. Miller and Mr. Brammer both like to Venmo their friends for things like drinks or dinner, and leave it to their discretion where the sum really goes. “The point here is to make them comfortable,” Ms. Miller said. |
Help them in their job search |
Finding new work is always hard, but especially so during a pandemic. If you have contacts in your newly unemployed friend’s industry, and they’ve indicated they’d be interested in your help, then passing along their résumé, sharing contacts or inviting them to virtual happy hours is hugely helpful, and it’s something you can do at any stage of your own career. |
If you have a well-equipped home office, “consider how many people lose resources, like a printer or a fax machine, which you might need for things like unemployment filing or Cobra,” Ms. Miller said. Offer up your equipment. Ms. Miller suggests loaning an old computer to a friend who’s had to return a work laptop. If you’re not sure what sort of tech resources they might need, just ask. |
One way to help new parents who are unemployed is to offer to babysit, with Covid-19 precautions in place, such as wearing a mask or staying outside for the afternoon. No one can possibly perform well with a crying baby tugging at their sleeve. Take the burden off your friend’s shoulders for a few hours if you can. |
Beyond the stress of finances and the slog of finding new work, losing a job is simply distressing. “Our work and our jobs are really tied in with our feelings of self worth, competence, our feelings of being valued,” Mr. Brammer said. “There’s a lot of shame oftentimes with being let go from a job because you wonder, ‘Could I have done better? Was I not good enough?’” |
Luckily there are lots of ways to show that you still value your friend, even when things are hard. Flowers are an obvious choice (“It’s tried and true,” Ms. Miller said), and my colleagues at Wirecutter have tested for the best mail service, if you go that route. A chocolate box can never go wrong, either (I love the Beverly Hills-based chocolatier andSons for its chocolate care packages). |
Even if your newly unemployed friend isn’t concerned about their livelihood while unemployed, consider what little luxuries they may have had to sacrifice. |
Long after the calls and cards dry up, your friend may be stuck in application purgatory for many more months. “People check in immediately after, but not a few weeks or months later,” Ms. Green said. “So checking in on a regular basis and asking how they’re doing means a lot.” |
There’s a way to do it that’s supportive rather than interrogating, though. |
“Do not constantly ask them for updates,” Ms. Green said. “It might feel supportive to ask, ‘How is the search going?’ But it can make people feel bad, embarrassed that they don’t have something better to report.” |
To give your friend the space to choose how much they disclose, Ms. Miller recommends just asking them about their week, or what they’ve been up to. “If they want to talk about it they’ll take those questions and tell you, and if not they’ll feel relieved they don’t have to.” |
If you’re at a loss for words, Mr. Brammer said, the best thing you can do is just offer an ear. Just a few words need to be said: “I’m here to listen if you ever need.” |
More from our friends at Wirecutter |
Wirecutter is a New York Times company that reviews and recommends products |
|
![[NotiRD] Hoy es martes 30 de noviembre del 2021](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sC8oG0cu640-Daatpo43MN4dJBQYYxL9HOH75nWsoPUql0V7MAcesnmJRt2NsjJhFRaG-IpWcOBxP2DwjquVk4F-nJVq0SJl3wuMMM9echazm7DOKyfT-Ib2V_0EVAVa-HzdJKED74FjudpCo414mTRUJuv89Zs5uQKzdZ4igpEqAxchL6qCrOGDsGdK55LGZ5kKlvhEk=w72-h72-p-k-no-nu)
0 Comentarios
Dele clic para ampliar esta noticia http://noticiard.com/ con nosotros siempre estará comunicado y te enviamos las noticias desde que se producen, registra tu Email y estara más informado.
http://noticiard.com/