阿萊娜·齊納 譯/王冰 Alena Cheina

Unfortunately， unemployment is often associated with negative feelings of fear， unworthiness， and stress. After being unemployed for a while， many will feel that they have lost all purpose and control of life. However， if you find yourself without a 9-5 daily routine， you will soon realize the one advantage that you have over your behind-the-cubicle friends—TIME.

Being unemployed for some time before landing1 your next job is necessary as it gives you time to improve your knowledge and the skills needed for your future career. Put all your stress aside and follow with me to learn how you can take advantage of a negative situation and turn it into a wonderful experience that can help place you above your fellow job-hunters.

1. Get to know yourself.

We are in a constant state of change， and its perfectly natural that some of our interests， skills， and weaknesses are evolving as the years go by， therefore a reassessment of our traits is critical if we wish to progress in our career. For that reason， take this time to evaluate yourself， everything from the skills you obtained at your previous employment to your failures and flaws. Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses that will help guide you in addressing future interview questions.

This is also a great time to figure out exactly what you want in a career.

Converse with yourself to figure out the perfect career that will make YOU happy even after the “honeymoon” stage during employment wears off2.

2. Improve/Modernize a skill.

A lot of the knowledge that we possess is no longer current due to the constant introduction and easy access to new information and research. A programmer who knows how to work with only code from the early 2000s is not seen as a viable asset for the company. The purpose of this step is to upgrade a current skill and obtain new knowledge that can be considered very valuable in the eyes of the employer.

It is simple as subscribing to blogs， downloading free guides， reading articles daily， or purchasing a paperback written by an industry leader. You can also join Google Hangouts that pertain to your industry and learn the new trends that can be imperative to your new employer.

By adding new skills and courses on your resume， it is a great way to show your future employer your time-management skills and most of all， that you value your time.

3. Perfect your presentation/interview skills.

Not all of us are born to be stadium-packing3 speakers， so if you lack such skills， it is crucial that you begin to practise your verbal and non-verbal behaviour as it can be the deciding point of whether youll get the job. Strong verbal communication skills are highly valued by most employers， as they are signs of educated and competent individuals. For this reason， learn new vocabulary to eliminate the ‘ummms and ‘yeaas when speaking to an interviewer. If you have a strong accent then practise pronunciation.

Research the most commonly asked interview questions and formulate the perfect answer that depicts your interest and skills. Make sure to practise your non-verbal behaviour， such as hand movements， posture and even smiling， as this is vital in creating the best first impression. Studies of the employment process indicate that 65—70% of hiring decisions may be based on non-verbal communication.

4. Take time to search for your dream job.

Dont start applying to the first job advertisement you see， rather take the time to figure out what classifies as your dream job and use a variety of tools to find the perfect employer. Use multiple job-hunting sites to look for jobs based on your salary requirements， position， location and skill set. A lot of these sites now feature4 reviews， salaries， and information about the company culture so that you can learn everything you need to know before you apply to ensure that it is the best fit for you.

5. Put effort into developing a great portfolio.

Many jobs require for the candidate to provide the employer with a portfolio showcasing their best and latest work; this can be a deal breaker if your portfolio lacks in presentation and quality. Take this opportunity to work on your portfolio by adding new content， purchasing a new binder， or creating title pages. Anything that would make you stand out from other candidates can significantly help your application during the evaluation process. Make sure that it is clean （no coffee stains！） and that the first page includes a hard copy of your resume. Divide your portfolio by sections and use sheet protectors5 to ensure that your work is safe from fingerprints and accidental dog drool.

6. Become a freelancer.

Our office is now our computer with the Internet bringing work to the worker not the other way around6. If you are a marketer， graphic designer， web developer， copywriter， artist or editor， this is a great opportunity for you to work for international companies from the comfort of your home. A freelance job can help pay for your bills while you search for your dream job. Additionally， if you land a great gig7， you can add it to your work experience， further boosting your image in the employers eyes.

7. Pick up a hobby.

Everyone has at least one thing they love to do but never seem to have time for. Whether its going to the gym， knitting， biking， spending time with family and friends or learning to meditate， now is your chance to grow as an individual and experience all of the beautiful things that life has to offer. Let your creativity blossom and you will soon find happiness where there was fear.

很不幸，失業(yè)常常與恐懼、無用、壓力等負(fù)面情緒相關(guān)。失業(yè)一段時間后，很多人會感到他們完全失去了對生活的目標(biāo)感和掌控感。然而，若脫離了朝九晚五的日常工作，你將很快意識到，相較于那些坐在辦公隔間里的朋友，你有一個優(yōu)勢——時間。

獲得下一份工作之前，失業(yè)一段時間是必要的，這讓你有時間去豐富未來事業(yè)所需的知識和技能。暫且拋開你的全部壓力，來和我學(xué)一學(xué)如何利用失業(yè)狀態(tài)，將之轉(zhuǎn)化為一段精彩的經(jīng)歷，以幫助你在接下來的求職競爭中獲得優(yōu)勢。

1. 了解自己。

我們處于不斷變化之中。年歲漸長，我們的部分興趣、技能和弱點也自然隨之改變。因此，若想取得事業(yè)發(fā)展，重新評估自己的特點至關(guān)重要。為此，利用失業(yè)這段時間進(jìn)行全面的自我評估——從你在上一份工作中獲取的技能，到你的失敗與不足。列一份自身優(yōu)勢及弱項清單，它會帶給你回答未來面試問題的思路。

失業(yè)也是一個絕佳的時機(jī)，讓你想清楚自己在一份工作中究竟想要什么。

和自己對話，找到即便在工作“蜜月期”結(jié)束后仍給你帶來快樂的完美職業(yè)。

2. 提高/更新技能。

持續(xù)涌現(xiàn)且易于獲取的新信息、新研究使我們掌握的很多知識已落伍。一名只會使用21世紀(jì)早期代碼的程序員不會被公司視為可用之才。這一步驟的目標(biāo)是升級一項流行技能，并獲取新知識。這些技能和知識要能在雇主眼中具有重要價值。

具體操作很簡單，例如訂閱博客，下載免費指南，每天閱讀報刊文章，或者購買業(yè)界領(lǐng)袖寫的平裝書。你還可以加入與行業(yè)相關(guān)的谷歌環(huán)聊群組，了解對新雇主來說非常重要的新趨勢。

在簡歷上增加新技能和新學(xué)過的課程，這是向未來雇主展示你時間管理能力的絕佳方式。最重要的是，這表示你珍視自己的時間。

3. 完善展示/面試技能。

并非人人生來就是能吸引大量觀眾的演說家。如果你缺少這類技能，那么開始訓(xùn)練語言和非語言表現(xiàn)非常重要，這可能會決定你能否得到某份工作。大部分雇主非?？粗爻錾恼Z言交流能力，因為這是個人受過良好教育和有競爭力的標(biāo)志。因此，你要掌握新詞匯，以避免和面試官交談時出現(xiàn)“嗯……”“是啊……”等語氣詞。如果口音很重，那就訓(xùn)練發(fā)音。

研究面試中最常見的問題，構(gòu)想能展現(xiàn)興趣和技能的完美答案。務(wù)必練習(xí)非語言行為，例如手部動作、姿勢，甚至微笑，因為這些對于給人留下完美的第一印象至關(guān)重要。對招聘過程的研究表明，65%到70%的聘用決定可能基于非語言交流。

4. 花時間尋找理想工作。

不要看到第一份招聘廣告就開始申請，要花時間想清楚哪類工作是你的理想工作，然后用各種工具去找到最完美的雇主。使用多個求職網(wǎng)站，基于薪資要求、職位、地點和技能組合來尋找工作?，F(xiàn)在很多求職網(wǎng)站都提供雇員評價、薪資及公司文化相關(guān)信息，你在申請前就可以了解到你需要知道的所有信息，以確保這是最適合你的選擇。

5. 努力創(chuàng)作一份優(yōu)秀的作品集。

很多職位要求應(yīng)聘者向雇主提供一份作品集，來展示他們最好和最新的作品。如果你的作品集外觀不吸引人，或內(nèi)容不夠優(yōu)質(zhì)，這可能會導(dǎo)致你求職失敗。利用失業(yè)這一時機(jī)完善你的作品集，增加新內(nèi)容，購買新的活頁夾，或是制作標(biāo)題頁。在雇主對求職者的評估過程中，能讓你從其他候選人中脫穎而出的任何因素都會對你的求職申請大有助益。確保你的作品集干凈整潔（沒有咖啡漬！），首頁有你的簡歷。作品集要分門別類，并使用文件保護(hù)套，以確保作品不會沾染指紋或偶然被狗的口水弄臟。

6. 成為自由職業(yè)者。

如今，我們的辦公室有臺電腦就行，工作任務(wù)通過網(wǎng)絡(luò)傳送給工作者，而不是反過來。如果你是營銷人員、平面設(shè)計師、網(wǎng)頁開發(fā)工程師、廣告文字撰稿人、藝術(shù)家或編輯，失業(yè)對你來說是一個極好的機(jī)會，你可以舒舒服服待在家里為國際公司工作。一份自由職業(yè)可以幫你在尋找理想工作期間支付賬單。另外，你若找到了一份好的兼職，可以把它寫入工作經(jīng)歷，這會進(jìn)一步提升你在雇主眼中的形象。

7. 培養(yǎng)一個愛好。

每個人都至少有一件喜歡做卻似乎從未有時間去做的事情。無論你喜歡去健身房、編織、騎單車、陪家人朋友還是學(xué)習(xí)冥想，現(xiàn)在都可以利用失業(yè)這一機(jī)會來獲得個人成長，體會生活能夠提供的所有美好事物。綻放你的創(chuàng)造力，很快，你將會在曾經(jīng)令人恐懼的失業(yè)狀態(tài)中發(fā)現(xiàn)幸福。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎?wù)撸?/p>