It is difficult to think of job loss in these terms, but being unemployed CAN be an unwanted gift. Too often we are like sleepwalkers wandering through our routine existence, barely conscious of our surroundings, but losing a job changes this. It rattles our world and shakes us awake, and can lead to a  journey of self-discovery.

A successful job search campaign forces self-discovery upon us, because it requires us to understand what it is we bring to the hiring table that is valuable to a potential employer. Take, for example, the process involved in developing a value statement, aka the elevator speech (the first subject of the “You’re Hired!” radio show, hosted by me, that will begin on October 7, 2013).

Most people have an awful value statement, and there are several reasons why they are universally bad. One of them is they take a great deal of time and effort to get right. Like any good piece of writing, they need to be edited and re-edited many times. But it is one of life’s many ironies that getting back to work takes a great deal of work, and few people put in the required effort.

Another reason why producing a good value statement is so difficult is because it is your brand. Developing a branding statement is hard. It requires you to capture your core, but who knows what there core is? What are your strengths, weaknesses, interests and values? What defines you as a person? Some people will take a variety of assessment courses to help them find this out, and I recommend going down this path. Myers-Briggs, DISC, StrengthFinders, and so on, are helpful ways to gain insights into what it is that makes you unique. Then once you find this out, your brand becomes easier to define.

Had you not lost your job you might not have learned so much about yourself, and what you have to offer the world. It is a gift that unemployment can give you. We don’t ask for it, or want it, but like every test and trial it can enrich us in ways we never anticipated.