Show Your Sponsor Some Love!
By: Joyce Taylor, with David Latham
Behind most unemployed job hunters is a working spouse, parent, partner or friend. Someone you live with who is supportive during your ongoing search, but who has their own fears about the endeavor. Most sponsors become overwhelmed with the financial load as they postpone retirement, or delay other plans until your financial situation improves. If you are dependent on someone else to pay the mortgage/rent, buy groceries and bear the brunt of other living expenses, here are a few tips to deal with the frustration that often accompanies this type of situation.
Make a budget, agree on a plan:
Be upfront and realistic about the household expenses, as well as your personal finances. Make a personal budget and align it with your cash flow. Minimize unnecessary draws from savings and eliminate nonessential expenses and costly habits, such as eating out, buying prepared foods, maintaining costly cable TV packages or purchasing new clothes for fun. Although the internet is essential in conducting a job search, the public library is also an option, as well as free public Internet hot spots. If the Internet is tied to the cable TV, review the expense and eliminate entertainment channels, unless of course your sponsor does not see this as a problem. Talk with your supporter (even mom, dad, or spouse) to get their perspective on the amount of time you can realistically go without making a contribution to the daily, weekly or monthly expenses. Develop a 30, 60, and 90 day action plan to monitor your progress. Even if bringing in an income is not critical, still consider taking a part time job to cover some of the expenses and maintain your self esteem. Employers frequently look for people with diligence and initiative, so being busy while you are looking may be seen as a positive.
If you have not recently been in the job market, look for and participate in free workshops to help you in your approach and in organizing your job search. During employment screens, human resources practitioners eliminate many resumes because they include outdated information or information that is not relevant to the available position. Take the time to learn how to market yourself as a valuable resource for each employment opportunity.
Match your energy with your Sponsor’s:
Unless you work during the day, avoid the tendency to conduct the job search at night, or watch TV until the wee hours of the morning, which is a drain on utilities and may appear thoughtless to the sponsor with whom you reside. If your sponsor begins the day at 5:30 a.m., match their routine and energy by synching your schedule with theirs. Get up, get dressed and get groomed, which will invigorate your emotional energy! Use the newness of the morning to organize your job search activities, or better yet, take an early morning walk or exercise to stimulate your self-awareness. Create a daily work plan: list your activities and complete all actions listed each day. This plan can also be shared with your sponsor to help with their awareness of your efforts.
At the end of your full work day, start or organize dinner! For some, this may be a new life skill, but a lifelong one worth learning. If you don’t know how to cook, the Internet provides a good number of quick, tasty, and budget menus that you can master. Most people appreciate walking into the door to the smell of food cooking and a clean or at least straightened house. Before launching into your job search frustrations, ask about their day and genuinely listen to their story. Be supportive, yet remember most people do not want advice, they just want a place to vent!
Stone Soup anyone?
If you are on a limited or no-income budget, you do not have to become a hermit or miss out on small or special events. Plan a “Stone Soup” gathering where you contact your friends for a social get-together. You can be spontaneous by asking each person to bring an ingredient of their choosing that does not exceed $5.00. Most anything can go into a hearty stew, soup, or salad so you can figure out what to make with the ingredients when your friends arrive! If you prefer more predictability, send out a list of ingredients and ask people to identify their ingredient of choice. The idea is to bring a host of people together and have affordable fun, rather than allowing the predictable job search anxiety to define all of your activities. Maintaining your social networks and having fun is critical to keeping your sanity throughout the rigorous job search! 
