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I hope you don’t. I hope I don’t. But just in case you or I do, I thought, “Why not just embrace this whole ‘The economy is going down the toilet’ thing?” You know, getting lemons and making lemonade and all that. That is, after all, the American way, right? (I don’t know. Maybe it’s just the American way for those Greatest Generation guys. We’re more like the Wimpiest, Most Spoiled Generation.)

 

Anyway, seeing as losing your job can leave you with some free time, I decided to compile a list of things to do to pass the time and maybe even start a whole new journey of enlightenment. It’s not the end of the world, after all. As depressing as getting let go can be, it might just be the catalyst that starts you on a path to the life you were always meant to have but never would have found otherwise:

 

I know, booooooorrring. You have an opportunity here to do something different. But if you’re strapped financially, you might have to go right back into the grind to make ends meet. Poor soul.

 

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If you’ve been putting it off and you’ve got the cash, why not give yourself and your loved ones the world tour you’ve been dreaming of. Learn to cliff dive in Acapulco. Surf the world’s meanest waves in Fiji. Speed down the Autobahn. Dare to eat haggis in Scotland. You’ll come back with a little dysentery but a lot of memories.

 

For those motivated by inconsequential pursuits, the paper airplane is an old favorite just waiting to be reinvented. There are actual competitions out there with cash prizes. You could probably treat yourself to a hot dog as you clutch your first-place trophy. You could change the lives of third-graders and bored baseball fans everywhere.

 

Can’t pay the bills and don’t feel like going back to Cubicle land? Trade in your professional attire and corporate office for some burlap robes and a life of introspection, serenity, and balance.

 

Maybe you have some career that you have been putting off, like trout farming, racing, or pretty much any profession in the arts, in favor of a more lucrative, practical career. Being laid off can be a wonderful opportunity to sever ties with your old, stale career and charge headlong into the job you’ve always wanted to do.

 

Thousands out there loved playing sports in high school. Some, although they never made it to the professional level, still have some skills and a desire to show their stuff once more. As long as you’ve got some time on your hands, why not see if you can make it in the big leagues?

 

The worst thing that could happen: you find out you really weren’t good enough and you have some closure. The best thing that could happen: you get a million-dollar contract, fame, and recognition with a great team doing what you love and you never have to return to less desirable jobs. Think Invincible, The Natural, or The Rookie…

 

Now that you’re freed from the workaday world, how about all those good deeds you’ve been too busy to do? Opportunities abound in third-world countries for teaching, construction, and health care. Most international development and humanitarian relief organizations are constantly in need of more helping hands. If you don’t like working with them, why not create you own? You may never go back to filling the Man’s pocketbook.

 

Almost everyone I’ve met, has an idea for a business they’d like to start sometime down the road. If you just got laid off, guess what? Down the road is here. You don’t have to worry about quitting your day job- that’s been done for you. Why not take your severance and put it into your big idea?

 

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Speaking of career changes, returning to get a degree can be a great way to initiate that change. School is also a great place to hide while the recession storm blows over. You have access to cheap federal student loans, grants, and scholarships to pay your living expenses while you just focus on learning. When the economy has cleared up and the job market is rosy, you will have another degree to put you ahead.

 

10. Go natural.

If things really get bad and you don’t feel inclined to do any of the above, return to nature. Learn to live off of tree bark, grubs, and tubers. Find a cozy cave somewhere and weave yourself some pants out of blades of grass… please. Yours will be the satisfaction of knowing you have completely escaped the daily grind and are now living in harmony with the earth.

 

See? Lay-offs aren’t so bad. As they say, “When one door closes, another opens.” Or, I hope at least a window… unless your older brother has jammed the door with a chair or something and nailed the windows shut. But that’s another story…

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Not all job sectors will sink to an icy doom. As has been reported and regurgitated across the internet, some job sectors are supposedly “recession-proof,” like health care and information technology. That’s great- the flood of people switching to careers in health care will probably neutralize any benefits that might have been had. Perhaps of more concern, however, should be those careers that are most likely to get hit hard by the recession. You know, give those folks time to get to the lifeboats.

 

This list is based on two simple economic assumptions. First, tighter regulation and control, particularly in lending institutions, will severely limit the number of loans made. Second, when jobs start disappearing, people stop spending on things they don’t really need. Even if they hold onto their job, they’re still spooked enough to hit the brakes on those shopping sprees. Based on these assumptions, the following job sectors are most likely to get hit hard by the recession. Consider yourself forewarned:

 

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1. Mortgage Lending – I know, I know. No big light bulb on this one. These people have been getting sent to the slaughter in droves for months. With mortgage standards tightening up, the number of loans approved will drop, taking loan officer commissions with them. Needless to say, it is no longer the kind of business where you just have to get your license and some cute business cards and watch the money roll in.

 

2. Real Estate Sales – Your local realtor would tell you that now is a great time to buy a home. “It’s a buyer’s market,” they would say, and they would be right. But that’s good news only for first-time homebuyers. If you think about it, most people need to sell their existing home before they can get into another one. If it’s a buyer’s market, that means more houses are being sold than there are people to buy them. And that means most people won’t be able to get into their new home because they won’t be able to sell their existing home. Also, during a recession, consumers get very nervous about throwing their money around. That means they may forego buying that house until things get better. Add in tougher loan guidelines, and you’re looking at a rough ride for real estate agents.

 

3. Retail – Specifically, retail of luxury goods, things people don’t necessarily need. People will always need basic food and clothing. But when inflation goes up and people’s financial futures are in doubt, you can bet that the first things to get cut from the old budget will be plasma TVs, Coach handbags, luxury cars, and other nice-to-haves. This translates into instability for those who work in retail (unless they are selling necessary goods).

 

4. Leisure – Tourism and other leisure industries are likely to take a hit. When extra spending money dries up, so do family cruises, visits to the spa, and Disneyworld vacations. People will forego the body peel, the upper lip waxing, or jet skiing in Tahiti in favor of saving for a rainy day, which could come sooner than later. Ironically, many people may find themselves less stressed knowing they’ve got their backs covered than they would have after that Swedish deep-tissue massage.

 

5. Entertainment – Unfortunately, concert tickets, movie tickets, and music CDs are considered luxury items. And Hollywood has never been shy about downsizing its workforce in lean times. Rest assured it won’t be Tom Hanks or Angelina Jolie taking a pay cut. Movie extras, production assistants, and stagehands, beware! Your chances of really making it in the biz never were very good. So now is a great time to jump ship and find stable ground.

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As tough as the corporate world has been on women in general, it has been brutal to minority women. Statistics have shown a dramatic disparity between the number of women of African-American, Hispanic, or Asian-American ethnicity and the number of white women in higher positions and an even larger disparity between minority women and white men. While this disparity is still glaring, recent years have shown signs of change.

 

According to data gathered by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from 2002 to 2005, minority women are shifting upwards, albeit at a glacial pace, in their employment opportunities. For example, the number of black women in clerical, craft, operative, laborer, or service worker positions is steadily declining, while the number of black women in sales, technical, and professional positions is rising. Similarly, Asian-Pacific women are shifting away from laborer and operative jobs and flocking toward professional, technical, and sales positions. Interestingly, Hispanic women show significant increases in all job types.

 

What do these shifts mean for minority women? One word: OPPORTUNITY. Black, Latino, and Asian women have more opportunities for well paid, more rewarding careers than perhaps any generation before them. Especially among professionals, which include doctors, attorneys, nurses, accountants, minority women are leaving less rewarding career choices and taking advantage of unprecedented opportunities.

 

Are opportunities endless? Not yet. Making up nearly 65 percent of management positions, white males still rule. White females make up 29 percent of the same segment. Minority males compose nearly 10 percent of the segment. That leaves minority females with the remaining 6 percent. Needless to say, African-American, Hispanic, and Asian-American women still have a long way to climb to catch up to their white counterparts.

 

What will it take for minority women to rise up through the ranks? While future career success largely starts in the home with supportive family members and friends, much advantage can also be gained from the right college education and making solid career progress after school. With the right moves, a lot of determination, and a strong education, women of color can move into full and meaningful careers where they can reach their potential.

 

Interested in learning more about how to get the right business education? Check out our list of online business schools. They are ready and willing to get you started off right on the road to success.

 

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