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A lot of my friends are currently out of work and many are starting completely new careers. As a personal assistant who freelances, I’m always “between jobs.” It doesn’t matter if you’re a personal assistant or a CEO, these quick tips are useful to anyone who is in unemployed.

1)    Revamp your resume—do so professionally. Make sure it is current with the styles others in your industry are doing. Ask the best headhunter in your industry for a referral on a resume professional. It’s worth the investment.

2)    Let people know you are looking for work. While you are fresh in the minds of those you had been working with currently, ask them if they know of anything you can follow up on. Make it easy for them to pitch you by telling them what you are looking for. Give them your resume once it’s redone or at the very least, a bullet pointed list of your strong points. If they have to think too hard about how they can help you, it won’t happen.

3)    Analyze your bills and cut out all frills. I don’t care how much money you have saved, cut your bills now (not later). Goodbye 200 premium cable channels, 2,000 minute cell phone plan, Starbucks venti lattes and impulse shopping. You don’t know how long you will be unemployed so start saving now.

4)    Become a quick learner of the unemployment department’s system. Find out what benefits you are entitled (or not) with unemployment and apply. This info is crucial to knowing immediately what you can be expecting financially so you can make a budget and begin making payment arrangements with utilities if necessary.

http://www.edd.ca.gov

5)    Make it a job to look for a job. Set aside scheduled time daily to follow up and do what you need to do to find work.  Meet with friends and others on their lunch hours to catch up and stay connected.  Offer them suggestions on how you can help them, for free if need be, with a project. You’ve got the time and they will think of you first when something comes up. Be a solution to their problems and they will appreciate you for it. And network with new friends. Click here to find out how to find groups in your area.

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2013/04/25/finding-a-job-through-networking-groups

Men are notorious for having their self-esteem tied to what they do. Remember-you are not your job. A job is what you do for a living. You are no less important because you are unemployed. And remember, this is temporary.

One of the things we do as assistants is move homes, well not on our backs, but our employers move…a lot. They buy new homes, vacation homes, remodel, re-decorate on the regular, or just create whole new environments. What’s more, you may be in charge of getting their extended family organized and moved-mother, father’s, and kids off to college. I have had all of these scenarios. And you know what? It is always a process and things do go wrong. But after years of experience, you have a back up plan, right?

Most moves I’ve done are with the family on vacation or out of town. It’s not our stuff so we may not know where to place things. Clear communication with your employer before the move is essential. Tag items that are being sold, staying in storage as well as what is returning and to which room. One of the best ways to make sure you are thinking like your employer or where they want things is to look at where they came from.

Here are the top 5 things to make your move easy and eliminate stress:

1)    Create a realistic schedule and system, with a built in buffer for unexpected hiccups—There are many components to a move and trust and hire experts – packers, movers, storage, proper art removal and art storage, piano movers, computer removal, electronics removal, construction cleaners, organizers. Make sure you understand what each of these specialists needs to do their job expediently yet carefully. Create a timeline so you do not overlap your scheduling of vendors. It should consistently flow.

2)    Organize the move out as much as the move in  – clearly mark boxes that correspond to where they came out of so they can go back into the same area. It’s best to color code a room so the boxes from that room have the same colored sticker on the outside. When the boxes come in, they go into the correct room to unpack them. (Kitchen-red, bathrooms-blue, girl’s room-pink, boys room-blue, baby’s room-yellow, etc.) Idiot proof it.

3)    When packing, you should be careful not to mix areas in the same box. Don’t pack drawer 5 contents with drawer 6 unless it is clearly delineated in the box where drawer 5 ends and drawer 6 starts. It is better to use more boxes if that means you’re not mixing contents from one area with another. Trust me, unpacking is a breeze this way. Make sure all cash, jewelry, and valuables are handled by your employer. They should put the contents of any safes in their safety deposit box at their bank.

4)    Take photos – they are worth their weight in gold. You may or may not remember what you packed but if you photograph the area you packed before you pack it, it will eliminate needless writing on boxes and searching when you’re looking for what you want to unpack. Photograph the whole house, even inside of drawers prior to packing.

5)    Make sure everyone understands your system—Your system is no good if those helping you do not understand and implement it for success. And don’t micromanage. Consistently spot check on the work being done but be respectful of others and their abilities.

Don’t forget, it takes a lot more time to move in than out since beds must be made, items must be re-hung in closets, glasses and dishware may need to be re-cleaned, rugs need to be measured and placed, and all items organized neatly.

This really can happen without stress and it will be a big accomplishment when it is all finished.

P.S. Make sure to thank everyone involved. You may be the grand coordinator but make no mistake; you can’t do it by yourself and give credit where credit is due.

Did you ever think about all the personalities we have to deal with in a day? Everyone has an agenda, even if it’s only to get you to respond to him or her. But when it gets dicey is when you have to placate a client/boss even when you don’t agree with their thinking. What do you do?

First of all, as personal/executive assistants they don’t pay us for our opinion and, depending on the boss, it’s dangerous to give one. Its human nature to want to be heard, confirmed and not wanting to hear anything to the contrary.

My best advise (and one that has served me for 25+ years) is don’t agree, don’t disagree, but be tactful and diplomatic when someone voices their opinion and wanting you to confirm them, say “I see how you could feel that way” or “I totally understand what you’re saying.” That way I’m not lying, I’m validating them, and my truth is I do see based on their personality why they feel the way they do.

My life has always been my music, it’s always come first, but the music ain’t worth nothing if you can’t lay it on the public. The main thing is to live for that audience, ’cause what you’re there for is to please the people.

Mark Twain