I am quite sure that you've heard about unemployment. Unemployment refers to the status of a person when a person is actively searching for a job, but cannot find any. In such situation, people want to be employed and usually have potential to get employment, but for some reasons they could not get the job they want. The reason can be either they do not hold required qualification or they do not want to be in such job.

However, while you're deciding between getting employed or being unemployed by not involving yourself in the job you do not want, there is another situation that you can be in and that is being underemployed. According to Investopedia, when an employee or worker is highly skilled but working in a low paid job or job requiring low skill or working in part-time jobs while she could work full-time, is classified as underemployed. Underemployment helps people for being employed to some extent. Nonetheless, this is not exploiting one's full capability.

I first heard the term "underemployment" from my supervisor who has great research work on this issue. When she was describing the term, she gave me an example. She told me that suppose you'd completed your Ph.D., but then you started working in a kindergarten school as you need to give time to your family. This is underemployment, where you could be something, but now you're something else for some reason.

So, which side do you wanna take? Being unemployed or being underemployed?

Being unemployed could make you feel worthless. You could feel like not perfect for anything. This might increase stress in you and make you feel isolated. You might think that you are not contributing to the family and to the economy in a broader extent. Being unemployed for a long time would reduce your stamina and energy of becoming a great worker. Also, their skills might get outdated and might not match the newer job requirements. This would make the situation worse. People who are unemployed might not fit into future jobs if they laid off as unemployed for a longer period.

Again, being underemployed might make you less responsible. People might talk about you such way that might make you feel that it would be better if not being employed at all. This might result in lower job satisfaction, reduced productivity, reduced organizational commitment, and so on. Underemployment would also make someone blaming the circumstances, while she might change the situation by compromising something else in her life. People sometimes choose underemployment for economic purpose, they might want to be paid at least for certain time. However, this tendency of being underemployed would reduce the motivation of being fully employed.

There are so many reasons for which you may want to avoid both: unemployment and underemployment. Yet, with the situation, you might prefer of being underemployed, though you could do better. This is you who would need to decide what to do, where to go, whether to be unemployed or become underemployed. Even if, you choose to become underemployed for some time, I would rather suggest you not to lose motivation and to exercise your skill so that you would not get out of date when you want to be back in your full form.