It seems that whenever anyone becomes unemployed, no matter what the reason or cause, after a short period of time they start to pull themselves away from normal interaction with people around them. The reason for this is usually due to depression and anger resulting from the incident that caused this bout of unemployment (aka – Unemployment Depression).

We have all seen friends or relatives who have lost their job and within a short period of time become very different people from the very people we knew a short while prior to the job loss incident. One of the main causes for this personality shift, aside from the above mentioned depression, is lack of personal interaction that normally would occur at the workplace.

Here are three items that can help deal with the isolation coupled with the need for personal interaction caused by unemployment depression should you find yourself suddenly not working.

Number One: MeetUp.com. This is a website that offers various activity groups within your local city for like minded individuals to meet and experience various activities of common interest. I have joined a couple of these “meet up” groups, most notably a group where we all attended various upscale restaurants on a monthly basis, and through these groups it is very easy to meet and network with new people – thus staying socially engaged.

Number Two: your local Rotary Club. By joining the Rotary club in your city you have ample opportunity not only to meet new friends but also to network with other business professionals. Primarily the Rotary club performs civic and community service projects in an effort to support the communities that they originate from. The Rotary club is primarily made up of your local business leaders who may be of assistance to you in your individual job search. If memory serves me correctly the Rotary club usually meets weekly, thus resulting in the creation and maintenance of new friendships and business relationships.

Number Three: Toastmasters. Here’s a great group where you can learn a new skill that most people struggle to obtain – public speaking. As you move forward with this group you create business relationships as well as new friendships during the shared experience of learning the skill of speaking in front of small to large groups. Just like the above Rotary club this is a great place to network with fellow business professionals who may also be a resource for your job search.

Probably the most important item not yet listed here is the need to become more aggressive in maintaining any form a social contact with those around you, and the best way to ensure that this happens is to establish a social calendar that almost forces you to get out there and interact with others around you. This calendar can be as simple as using Yahoo calendar or Google calendar where you plot your social/networking events and activities in advance thus requiring you to move forward with planning and attending these events.

In conclusion by staying socially engaged and constantly interacting the people around you and forcing yourself to get out there and network to meet new people through the above mentioned three organizations you will stay socially engaged and create new friendships that will help you get through your bout of unemployment. As we all know depression and declining confidence can be avoided when unemployed by interacting with family and friends while also developing new professional relationships.

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