Staying "Up" in the Down Times

Part of my recession-chic (read: "unemployed and penniless") lifestyle involves making the most of available opportunities, especially the free ones. So when I read on Krishna De's Twitter feed that not only would she be speaking at a networking event on positivity during the recession, but that she was giving away FREE! TICKETS! TO BLOGGERS! I jumped at the chance.

The event was hosted by PA Assist and Osborne Recruitment at the Ballsbridge Court Hotel on Wednesday 22nd April. Thanks to my genetic predisposition to arrive at any event at least 15 minutes early, I had lots of time to grab a coffee and chat to other participants. Unlike me, most people I spoke to seemed to have jobs, but were attending the event because of the near-constant state of fear and uncertainty in today's job market. As I mentioned in my previous post, how does one stay positive when all around us things seem to be crumbling and changing?

The first speaker to address this issue was James Sweetman - a leading business, personal and performance coach based in Dublin. His hour-long presentation was full of encouraging messages, tips and suggestions, combined with an infectiously optimistic personality and a great sense of humour. His tips on how to stay "up" in the down times focused on maintaining positivity, knowing yourself and being aware of what you can control. So I may not be able to control being rejected for a job, but I can control how I react to the rejection.

The next speaker was Brendan Murphy, from Osborne Recruitment, who focused on the employment side of things. He had good tips on jobhunting (yes, I took copious notes!) and emphasised the importance of knowing yourself: your strengths, your weaknesses, and what makes you different from other candidates. Needless to say, I'm hoping that knowledge of these issues leads to increased self confidence which will naturally lead to a job. I plan to test this theory intensively, and will report back!

The final speaker was Krishna De - social media, marketing and personal branding expert, and the reason I even found out about the conference. She highlighted the value of using social networking to help you in your life, your job or (in my case) your job hunt, which I found extremely useful. Being relatively new to sites like Twitter and LinkedIn, I could sense the potential, but wasn't sure how to fully harness it. Her talk definitely helped, and I'm now pursuing everything with a better understanding of how to get the most out of my various sites!

Overall I'd have to say the conference was really enjoyable. It's definitely not an easy time out there in recession-land, particularly for jobhunters, and often "staying up" is easier said than done when you've just received your millionth "Thank you for your application, but..." letter.

Really, it's all about confidence, and having the courage to persevere. A rejection is not the end of the world. Stand up, dust yourself off, go for a walk in the sunshine, and make a fresh start at it tomorrow.

It works. Honestly.