Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 15, 1992 TAG: 9203130531
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLYNE H. McWILLIAMS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He was wrong.
Nine days ago, Sheppard, 56, was let go from his job of 22 years - vice president of commercial lending for the now defunct CorEast Federal Savings Bank. It wasn't his fault that the government's Resolution Trust Corp., which seized the failed thrift more than a year ago, shut CorEast operations March 6 and sold them to 10 other banks.
But he still needs to learn to deal with the stress of having to start over.
That's one reason Sheppard and 21 others - all either unemployed or likely soon to be out of work - came to hear Daniel Clow, a counselor for North Roanoke Family Counselors.
He spoke Tuesday night at a seminar sponsored by Lewis-Gale Hospital in Salem, titled: "Tough Times Don't Last; Tough People Do."
It was the same day the Virginia Employment Commission reported that the Roanoke Valley's unemployment rate reached 5.9 percent of the work force, the highest in nine years.
"It's equally important to look for a life as it is for a job," Clow said, explaining the mental and physical impacts of being terminated from a job unexpectedly.
Some people, mostly men, base their identities on their jobs, Clow said. When the job is gone, so is most of the individual's identity.
"There is an assumption we make that we aren't good enough,"Clow said, explaining that he, too, had been unemployed for awhile.
But that feeling could have a negative effect on job interviews, Clow said. To begin recovering a person must do several things, Clow said:
Keep in touch with family members.
Maintain leisure activities and stay healthy. This helps develop a strong character, which helps a prospective employer see strength and feel more confident in hiring.
Avoid what Clow called "stinkin' thinkin'," including notions such as "They owe me this job," or "This is a disaster" or "I've ruined my life." Such thinking can produce a negative aura in job interviews.
After a person realizes his unemployed state is not his fault and stabilizes his personal life, then it's time to look for a job. While sending resumes and answering advertisements have been the conventional ways to get a job, they don't work alone anymore, Clow told the group. Networking - asking about openings in companies and using personal contacts is what it takes now.
That hasn't helped Edward Spruell.
Spruell, 27, has been looking for work for 7 1/2 months and said neither his graduate degree nor his executive father's connections have landed him a job.
"It's been horrible," he said after last week's seminar. Agreeing with Clow, he said it was hard to shake the "stinkin' thinkin.' "
When he isn't looking for a job, Spruell spends his time volunteering for peace and environmental groups.
"I also work out a lot," he said, laughing.
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on March 17, 1992.
Lewis-Gale Psychiatric Center was the sponsor of a March 10 seminar on being unemployed. Because of a reporter's error, it was incorrectly identified in Sunday's paper.
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Memo: CORRECTION