Whenever Susan Wilson asks people who are looking for a job what they are doing to find one, she gets a variation of this answer: “I’m filling out applications and waiting.”
In today’s job market, Wilson said, waiting is not going to cut it.
Wilson, who has been an employment counselor in Jefferson County for 22 years, is leading a series of free workshops in Port Townsend on why people need to stop waiting and start walking in order to unlock doors to employment.
Funded by a state grant and private sources, the workshops are part of the Port Townsend Public Library’s new program to help people who have lost their jobs — or who are just starting out — find where they fit into the work world.
It’s something Wilson knows about firsthand.
“I call it ‘Transitioning Yourself’ because I’m still doing it,” Wilson said.
A Port Townsend resident since 1983, Wilson counseled young people looking for work in Jefferson County as part of the Federal Job Training Program for Youth in the 1980s and ’90s.
In 2004, she decided to try her hand at real estate just as the housing market was starting to fade.
Two years ago, she landed a job with the county planning department that went out from under her as a result of budget cuts.
“I didn’t make the six-month review,” she said. “It was pretty bleak. One day you’re working, one day you’re not.”
Despite her background in counseling, losing her job and being out of work was a shock, she said, one that took an emotional toll.
But it helps her empathize with people facing the same situation.
Focus on future
Moving past that mindset and focusing on the future is key to finding a job you like and avoiding dead ends, she said.
Getting out of the house, networking and joining a support group not only help you get in the right mindset, Wilson says, but widen the possibilities.
“It’s a fact — people hire people they know,” Wilson said.
Applying for jobs, then sitting back and waiting for employers to call might work in a strong economy, she said, but it won’t work in weak one, where there can be 100 applicants for each opening.
In addition to the workshops, Wilson is organizing a networking group to pool knowledge and resources, which moves everyone ahead.
“I call it being in the flow,” Wilson said. “When you open up to it, things start happening.”
The Port Townsend Library is increasing dedicated computer and staff time to help job hunters, and has purchased books, DVDs and other materials on job hunting and starting a business.
Like starting a business
Finding a job is a lot like starting a business, Wilson said.
“You have to be consistent, you have to be organized and you have to have a strategy,” she said.
“If you don’t know what the plan is, you’ll go off track.”
Looking for a job because you need money and looking for a job that provides satisfaction require different approaches. But it doesn’t mean you can’t combine them.
“Those are two separate kinds of paths you’re on,” she said. “You may be doing both paths at the same time.”
Looking for work is a full-time job, Wilson said, one that requires you to define what skills you have to offer and how you want to use them.
Ultimately, job hunting is about focus, and the difference you want to make in the community and the world.
“It’s not just a job path,” she said. “It’s what you want to do with your life.”
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Port Townsend/Jefferson County reporter-columnist Jennifer Jackson can be reached at jjackson@olypen.com.
