Making the most of a job-hunting experience

This summer, Colleen de Grasse quit her corporate accounting job without a plan.

“I was just burnt out,” she said. “I thought to myself, ‘I'll have a job lined up in two weeks, and then I'll tell them that my start date will be two weeks after that,’ and so I'll have an entire month off of work.” It did not work that way.

In what has been dubbed a ”low hire, low fire” job market, employers have been reluctant to create new roles, even in traditionally stable industries like accounting.

“I was doing a ton of blind applies,” said de Grasse. “I was getting a ton of interviews, and it just wasn't going further than that.”

During this job-hunting period, de Grasse committed to making the most of that time by doing “something fun” every day of joblessness. She sampled new foods, went camping, and even attempted the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader dance.

After two months of searching, she landed a new job, but said challenging herself to try new things while unemployed helped reframe the role that work plays in her life.

Click the audio player above to hear de Grasse’s story.