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Sometimes even when you try your hardest to gain new skills, when you schedule, plan and organize yourself and network with others, it is still a tough fight to gain employment especially in hard economic times.

None of us have all the answers do we?

Just like a lot of people who go to the local career center and say “I need a job now! Isn’t this where one goes to get a job?” I tell them no, not necessarily. It is not called the job center, otherwise every one who entered the door would get a job. It is called the career center. It is where people go to get assistance in obtaining work, but it is more about networking, getting job ready, locating companies who are interviewing and gaining tools to become more successful in the interview process.
During these hard times there is just not enough companies hiring.
So what are we to do to support ourselves and our families in this unemployment crisis?
What about a different direction?

A while back in my employment history, when I was a very low income parent
I was fighting hard to support my wife and two children and accepted food stamps and assistance because I needed the help at that time. When I took my food stamps into the store to go shopping, I had several people look at me with disdain, wondering why this healthy looking man wasn’t out there working. I had been laid off due to a plant closure and had wounded my foot, and there were not a lot of options in my community at that time.
Yet I was treated by many as “less than” because I had asked for a hand up from the government. No, I did not want a handout, I wanted a hand up, to be back on my feet again.
So when a local neighbor said she was having a roof put on her house for $7,200
I told her that I could do it for $6,500. She gave me 25% to start and the first thing I went and purchased was - a book on how to roof a home!
Yes, I had never done one before that time, but when you are hungry and you have to support your family, sometimes you have to go a different direction.
I found a couple of guys putting a roof on and asked them if I could watch.
They said no. They said if I come up and help them for the weekend that they would teach me how to underlay, lay a pattern, and wrap the corners and how to check for leaks. They went on to tell me that a really good roofer will make sure the yard and lawn were so meticulously cleaned when you get done that it almost looks like a carpet. (I think we have all seen what most yards look like after a roofing job).
Well I did just that and on the last day of finishing that roof job, the neighbor’s best friend was visiting from the next town over. She remarked that she had never seen such a beautiful lawn after a roofing job (and that the roof looked nice as well).

So where would you start if you wanted to (or needed to) go a different direction?
Find a need around you and fill it!
This is what all entrepreneurial people will tell you.
If you live in an area where there are 10,000 houses that need paint - what would their need be? A painter of course. What needs are around you?

I remarked “Oh? Would you like to have a new roof on your house? She said no, that she was going to have to find a painter because her house was in desperate need of painting.
Guess what I told her?
“Of course I can paint as well!”
So I went and found a couple guys who were painting and again, they taught me the importance of prep work and priming and cleanup.
And while I was painting her house, her neighbor came over and asked me if I knew anyone who did fencing?
Guess what I told him?

I went on from that time starting a painting company, a second hand store, landscaper, delivery driver, a used restaurant equipment repair and sales company, a mold remediation and duct cleaning company, a hazardous waste remediation and trucking company, and I am not done yet…
Did I know how to start these companies? Was I born with the knowledge?
Of course not.
I just know that what had worked for me in the past was not working for me in that present time and I had to go a different direction.

Lately I have had a plethora of clients come to me and say “David, I have read all your past articles and have taken the steps you suggested and still there is no job to be had”.
They are right…...

A Different Direction

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There was a single mother I met last week who lost her assembly line job and had no one to watch her children so she said she couldn’t get out and get another job. I asked her if she likes children and she replied most emphatically yes! She said she really would like to be a teacher of small children. I suggested she start a day care facility that specializes in teaching activities for children. You should have seen her eyes light up!
I recently met a machinist who was “downsized” and couldn’t find a job anywhere … when right next door to his old company was a welding company who was looking for welders and it paid $5 more per hour than his last job.

I met a young 14 year old girl whose two brothers refused to clean up the dog messes in their back yard. Her mother said she would give her 50 cents a pile if she would do it. While she was out cleaning, the neighbor asked her if she would clean his back yard as well. She now has 27 clients in her neighborhood and has added on dog walking, house sitting and baby sitting. She is now 15 and is making about $2,500 a month (while going to school).

About the Author:
David Fremouw is a Job Developer, Career Coach and Motivational Speaker who has started several businesses and has been the founder and president of a corporation in California. He facilitates training classes, presentations at job clubs, and has been asked by many different organizations to put on motivational seminars.

He is a member of Community Advisory Boards, Chambers of Commerce and Employment Consortiums, and builds relationships with national and international networking programs.

Mr. Fremouw takes on a limited number of clients as a personal Job/Career Coach, and can be reached by email at - fremouws@yahoo.com

Posted: February 18th, 2010

If you can not find employment or a job right now, consider going a different direction.

You might have some scrapes and bumps when you first start out but pick yourself up, learn from those small mistakes and try again.

Who knows you may start something that you wanted to do for a very long time. You might even never go back to working for someone else. Isn’t that really what those past employers of yours did? They started their own company.

What about you? You are so worthy of this exciting idea!

Go A Different Direction!

It is not what you are getting in life that matters, but what you are becoming in the process.

Look around your neighborhood and your town.
Is there enough transportation? - Start a van service.
Is there any sick child childcare? What about second shift childcare? Overnight childcare.
Home care for persons with disabilities? Pet sitting? Cooking for people who can’t?
Painting? Car repairs? Home cleaning?

Of course it would be nice to have the ideal job that you want or that you have been trained in, but remember the difference between a job and a career.
A career is to fulfill our purpose and passion in life. We take on a job to pay the bills, make a mortgage payment or rent, buy gas, food, and survive.

It’s not that hard to start your own company. Oh sure, you have to have an idea or a plan, but don’t make it seem harder than it is. Sometimes it’s just a matter of going to City Hall and getting a business license to start. In some cities - that could be less than $100