This is an incredibly difficult time to be forced into a job hunt. If you’ve lost your job, you’re probably hoping for something better while also feeling worried about your finances.
If the money issues are making everything else seem small, this would be a good time for you to consider a stopgap job. These can be called whatever you want: taxi jobs, making-ends-meet jobs, full-time side gigs. The point of these roles, of course, is to make sure you have some money coming in as you figure out what you want next. Think about things you could do for as long as a year, but things that aren’t going to offer appealing growth pathways because you could wind up getting stuck that way.
These just-for-now jobs don’t need to be related to your longer-term goals, and don’t even need to help you build skills, although it’s nice when that happens. (You’ll absolutely build some, of course, regardless of what you wind up doing.) Instead, these should be things that look, well, put-up-with-able. This isn’t a career path or something you’ll be doing in 5 years. It’s a taxi job, getting you from where you are now to where you need to be.
To generate ideas, try looking at things like Indeed’s temporary jobs listings and LinkedIn’s temporary job tracker, look at recruiting firms and staffing companies in your area, register for sites like Instawork, and check out remote job boards like https://nodesk.co/. Also consider local options like grocery stores, coffee shops, retail stores, and the like. Apply for things as you find them, and try not to overthink the process. Remember, these are designed to be temporary roles, so it’s okay if you don’t like the job. Try to avoid things that are too physical or tasks that tire you out, since you want to have some energy left for what I outline next.
While you’re in your stopgap job, your added task (once you’ve settled in a little) is to really start thinking about what you want, what you like, what you need. What do you want to carry over from your last role? What do you want to leave behind? What parts of your stopgap role have you found you’re actually enjoying? Are there any skills you want to gain or sharpen? You have time to really consider these things now, so spend some good energy on it. What would make you feel great about your job? What are the absolutely not items for what’s next?
You deserve to be content in your work, so really use this time to figure out how to make that happen.
