To the unemployed whiners: make your own job!

Am I wrong to scoff at those unemployed citizens who keep applying for job after job like everyone else out there? I can’t help but think that if you’re not thinking like an entrepreneur and creating a job for yourself instead of waiting until someone creates a job for you, you’re just not living in the now.

There aren’t a heck of a lot of jobs out there. And when a job opens up, a million people are going after it. The fact of the matter is that unless you’re some big wig superstar or have been dating the hiring manager, chances are you’re not gonna get the job.

So you say, “yea, I know that, but I’m trying my best!” Well I say that you’re not. If you know that all the jobs you want are going to go to someone else, you either take a job way below you or something you didn’t think you would have done—say, selling cars, waitressing, or temping at a secretary—or you just sit around unemployed for months (even years for some) telling yourself that the economy will get better or that eventually someone will notice and hire you.

But hey—there’s a third option out there too! Make your own job. Nobody is going to hand you anything. I’m not saying that everyone needs to freelance or “be their own boss” (although that seems to be the trend), but I am saying that you need to take control of your career and make a place for yourself.

If you really want to work for Cosmo or Cisco and they don’t appear to have any openings where you fit in or you keep getting rejected from the stock applications, get creative. The phrase “get your foot in the door” still rings true today. Maybe not in the “start working in the mailroom” sort of way, but definitely in the start somewhere sort of way.

Know what you’re good at and what you enjoy doing (at least to some degree) and just start doing it! Even then if you still can’t make your own job just doing it, maybe you’ll end up being a superstar. Who knows?

But what I do know is that if you don’t act like you’re the one in control of your own life and career, you will never get what you want.