Will Employers Want To Hire Me If I'm Unemployed????

A client asked me this great question the other day: 

Sherry, I hate my job and I want to leave but a career coach I met with 3 months ago said “Stick it out! Employers won’t hire you if you’re unemployed.” What should I do?

Answer:

I don't think we should ever “stick things out” if we hate them. Would you keep your hand in a fire and watch it burn? No, you would take your hand out before real damage is done. Our bodies have systems in place designed to keep us healthy and free from pain. If the pan is hot and hurting you... let go. If your job is burning you,  find another. 

 There are many ways to prepare for your exit while still employed: update your resume, begin your research into companies you’d like to connect with; reach out to people you know; start to acknowledge your transferable skills and begin to consider a “vacation job” that will keep you afloat without drowning you in responsibility while in the midst of job finding. 

If however, your current job is making you sick and sapping your energy then I would encourage you to leave immediately. When the brain feels threatened, scared, intimidated, it shuts down and cannot direct the focus needed to perform at your current job or conduct an effective job search.

As for the fable, employers won’t want you if your unemployed, this is simply not true. I have been recruiting for over 25 years and rarely are people not hired simply because they are unemployed. What does matter is how you communicate and frame your story about why you left your last job, and what you’ve been doing with your time of unemployment.

The bottom line is why you would stay in ANY dysfunctional relationship. If scarcity and fear are the foundations of your decisions, then abundance and lucrative employment will remain unattainable. So start getting unstuck and move towards a better experience.