Only in France - But Why?

One out of ten people are unemployed in France - and forty per cent of those people are considered to be 'long-term unemployed' because they have been out of work for a year or more.

So concerned is the French Government about that state of affairs that France's unemployment office recently launched a small test project designed to rebuild the confidence of the long-term unemployed. The project involves job counselling, and a lot of professional advice - not just from 'human resource specialists', but from make-up artists, hairdressers, manicurists, and image consultants.

The project is a day-long affair, and at the end of the day, participants go home, 'made over', loaded with goodies provided by the sponsors and - like anyone who has gone through a 'makeover' process - looking (and likely feeling!) a lot better for the experience.

Whether the project will ever help any of those people to get a job is moot - although a similar project designed to help 100 homeless women resulted in fifty percent of them getting jobs - but that isn't the point. The real point was more than adequately summed up by the organisers of the project, who emphasised that 'appearance isn't frivolous'.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely that you are going to get a 'makeover' courtesy of Her Majesty's Government any time soon - or, indeed, at any time at all - but you can still take note of the French message, and take it seriously.

You need to spend time on yourself whatever your circumstances - not for someone else, not to get a job, but for you. Spending time on your appearance isn't 'frivolous'.

Emily - http://www.thetherapypartnership.com/