When you lose your job, you lose more than your paycheck.

Colleagues, friendships, structure and your identity all fall by the wayside, leaving your once busy life rather slow-paced. But, what you do as a result of not working can be an important factor in finding your way to new employment.

Instead of sitting at home dismayed at the unemployment rate or making up a story about all of the qualified candidates who'll be vying for "your" job, consider taking a class or weekend workshop. Connecting with like-minded people can boost your spirits and possibly lead to contacts in the job market.

Take Rae Belanger, for example. I saw Rae at Whole Foods Market recently where she was assisting with a class on food preservation. Having weathered a major life transition in the past couple of years, Rae had made a shift to new work and seemed very engaged with her job as a food preservation aide with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. She mentioned that attending the "Master Food Preservation" class had presented work opportunities she had not anticipated. 

Rae's situation points to the key role that interests and intellectual pursuits can play in helping you find new work. By seeking out learning opportunities, you can learn a new skill, create some structure in your life, meet interesting people and, even in some case, you might hear of a great job lead.

What's an interest that you can pursue this summer?