Advice from Ms. Trunk...again

Back in my days at Provident, my boss made us read Penelope Trunk's book Brazen Careerist. Afterwards, I became a big fan of her blog. This week she's written about "How To Talk To A Friend Who's Been Laid Off." I've listed the bullet points below, but to read it in-depth, be sure to click here. I can appreciate these bullet points first hand, right now, but also need to remember these when talking to my fellow unemployed. Some of these are so obvious that we don't even think about it because we care about that person too much.

1. Don't ask "how's the job hunt?"
Do you know how many times a day someone hears this if he is unemployed? Ten. And even if it's not ten really, it's ten in his head. He asks himself that, and he imagines other people asking that, and he stresses about the answer. Because the job hunt doesn't change much from day to day, but it's demoralizing to report that.

2. Ask about extracurriculars
In between jobs is the best time for real vacations and often the best time for gaining deep knowledge of something totally new.

3. Ask about health insurance
There needs to be more collective knowledge on how to deal with health insurance during stints of unemployment.

4. Talk about industry news
One of the hardest things about being laid off is keeping up in one's industry.

5. Offer up one good contact
The truth is that we all know someone who is out of work. And we all know that the next person could be us.

6. Acknowledge trouble with the significant other
It used to be that we could not openly discuss the testosterone hit that comes with being laid off. But today it's fair game, and even compassionate to acknowledge.

7. Don't be shy about gratitude
Tell a co-worker who’s been laid off that you miss him or her. And what you miss.