What have you learned from being unemployed?

PCros

What have you learned from being unemployed? Has anyone got decent answers for this?

I've been asked this at 2 interviews lately and I don't think I gave the best answers.

Any tips would be great.

furiousox

What a smug f'ing question for an interviewer to ask!

l'd be tempted to say "l've learned it's a lot f'ing better to be employed than unemployed!"

Sorry not much help, but l find that condescending $hit annoying.

How did you feel when you were asked the question yourself?

PCros

I know where your coming from. I answered something like "Its great to have a steady income".

Sure another interviewer, actually second round with the manager said to me, "Oh you've been unemployed for nearly a year..hmmm", as if to say I was a dosser.

I was like wtf, has he read a feckin newspaper in a year!?

furiousox

FAS have a lot of training courses on their website so if you sign up for some of those you can say that you spent your time upskilling etc.

l mean you obviously spend your time looking for employment when you're out of work but nobody's hiring, nobody wants to take people on right now.

l still don't think its a "learning" experience though, its f'ing hard, its demoralising and l don't think an interviewer who understands that would ask such a stupid question.
Anyway, rant over and good luck with finding a job!

Vim Fuego

That question could definitely sound condescending and smug. If I was answering it, I would imagine they're looking to see if you found any positives in the situation. Some of the ones I would try to highlight:

- Motivation - this is about looking for work but also possibly improving your skills, pursuing part-time education etc You could maybe say something like 'I've learned how to motivate myself and become more of a self-starter as I know the opportunities won't come to me, I have to seek them out'.

- personal development - did you use the opportunity to learn more about yourself? Not just relating to education or upskilling, but you could say that you had to take a hard look at yourself, identify your strengths and weaknesses. Obviously, you should be able to talk about what you discovered.

- the importance of work in the work/life balance. Something like 'I've realised how big a part of life that working actually is, but I have used the time I have off to spend quality time with family/loved ones and have become interested in a number of new hobbies...'. I suppose the main point here is to show that you know the importance of having a balanced life but also show that you do things to keep occupied (ie if you hire me, I know how to keep busy etc).

That's all I can think of really, hope it's somewhat useful if you ever get that question again

monkeypants

I agree that it's an arse of a question. Just answer it with all the stuff that you're doing. I've been doing a lot of DIY, so I talk about that. I've got plenty to keep me busy and I've nothing to be ashamed about.

Ouchette

Not actually unemployed yet (still counting down to it) but things I've learnt from job hunting are:
-The importance of establishing a good working relationship by picking up the phone or meeting face to face, not just emailing out a CV and hoping for the best.

-Taking the initiative/being proactive/whatever you want to call it (by not waiting to see jobs advertised, just getting in touch with people and asking.)

If you took some sort of organised approach to job hunting, then you could say planning ahead or organisational skills too. If you applied for jobs that are quite different from your old job, maybe you could say that you've learnt to be more open to new ideas. If you've written many cover letters, attended a few interviews or phoned some recruitment agencies, maybe you've improved your communication skills. Loads of stuff!

Have you tried learning anything else that might help with getting a new job? New IT skills, reading around the industry.. not necessarily a course, just using some of the free material on the internet or a book. You could talk about them too.

PCros

Thanks for the replies guys they're great, didn't realise some of those points until all of you pointed them out.

Ouchette: I have been reading around the industry so I will say that next time!:)