Unemployment isn’t fun, the constant rejection and the stress that goes into a job search is difficult to deal with. It’s not all bad though, there are things you can do during your job search, other than sending out more applications,  to make you more marketable. Most people spend too much time focusing on the fact that they’re unemployed and as a result they fail to see the opportunity in front of them. To better use your time here are some things you can do during your unemployment that will help to bolster your resume and ultimately help you get a job you want.

You may be unemployed and strapped for cash, but you need to show employers that you are continuing to learn, because you won’t stop learning on the job. This is the perfect time to fine-tune your technical skills, there is a significant rise in short courses that cater to unique skill sets teaching new concepts. Companies such as Collective Campus, General Assembly and Seed Training offer short courses to help refine your skills and strengthen your resume. While you are looking for a job, you have time available and it needs to be utilised effectively. Training is just one way to do that, you can try starting your own business, Volunteering or perhaps just spend your time networking, these are all things that will be tough to do when  you’re working full-time so do it now. Doing these things will help improve your skills, whilst also adding experience to your resume and building a strong professional network. It’s impossible to know where your next opportunity will come from and by putting yourself out there, you give yourself personal exposure to the countless opportunities in the world.

When you have so much time to think, it’s easy to come up with excuses as to why the job search isn’t working, but don’t let these excuses blind you. You can use the time you have to sharpen up all those job related necessities that you never get around to, things like tidying up your resume, create/edit your LinkedIn profile or perhaps even taking some time to reflect on your career. A one off expenditure of $59 will get your resume professionally edited with one of our Resume specialists, and then you can be confident that your resume isn’t the reason your job search is failing. An average resume is reviewed for as little as a few seconds so a boring template won’t help. Your LinkedIn profile is easy to forget about, but is becoming increasingly prominent in the recruitment world. There is plenty of content and tips on the internet to help you spruce up your LinkedIn profile to help you to build up your professional network. Think about it, some of the most successful people in the world have LinkedIn profiles and most of them are up to date and go into great detail about their personal careers, so there must be some benefit to it. When you finish finalising your resume and LinkedIn profile, make sure you set aside some time to reflect and think about your career goals and ask yourself if what you were doing is what you want to continue doing. Now’s the time to make decisions for your future, not just for your next job.

Don’t spend your time doing what everyone else does and apply through seek and other online job boards. Build your network, put yourself out there using social media and continue to learn, to ensure you are getting the most out of your job search.