Back Aches and the Job Search

From Clipart

This past February as I was cleaning out the linen closet I lifted and turned my body at the same time and felt a burning pain in my lower back.  I didn’t make things any better later in the day when I lifted the container holding the dry dog food. As the day went by I felt a terrible pain in my back that traveled down the front and side of my leg. I’d had this before but never like this. It was sciatic nerve pain.

Over the next few days the pain got worse. I hobbled to the doctor and was given muscle relaxers, pain relievers and steroids. Nothing helped and the pain turned into numbness, weakness in my leg and pins and needles by my ankle. Another trip to the doctor resulted in a shot in the butt and a prescription for an MRI.  The MRI showed that despite age-related degeneration (thanks a lot), I had two herniated discs, some kind of nasty rip and a pinched nerve and that a trip to a neurosurgeon was in order. He suggested physical therapy (PT) and if that didn’t work; surgery.

I visited my chiropractor as well as the physical therapist and then shared my PT plan with my trainer at the gym.  All three of these people are playing a big role in my healing.

So why am I telling you this in a job search blog? I’m telling you not to put all your eggs in one basket.  Don’t sit at your desk all day applying to job after job on line.  Don’t go to your LinkedIn profile and network within your groups or with your contacts every day either.  That gets old and you could become a nag.  Instead, design a plan where you can combine several different strategies to allow you to get on the road to job recovery. Network socially and also in person.  Use the phone and write emails along with using your social media.  Here are some other tips:

1.    Look for mobile job search apps

2.    Join Twitter and follow companies that are interesting to you

3.    Look for jobs on a company website; not just through job search engines

4.    Volunteer

5.    Let everyone know that you are looking for work and have your resume updated and ready to go.

Just like my disc problem and healing, it helps to have more than one method of improvement. It also helps if all the players in your recovery are on the same page and working towards your positive career health.