A sudden job loss can be very unsettling and make a person look inside to gain perspective on his or her situation.
If you're planning to write a story about how to survive a layoff, here are some ideas for you:
1. Recognize That Losing Your Job Was Not Your Fault
Yes, there may be some relief in knowing that the inevitable has finally happened vs. waiting to see if you will go next, but there is still a little part deep inside you that wonders if the job loss was your fault. Maybe if you had worked harder, this part says, it wouldn't have happened. Maybe if you'd worked weekends, evenings, etc., it would have been someone else who got fired. Maybe if you'd adhered more strictly to office policies, you'd still have a job.
All such negative thoughts, though, only drain your energy and take away from the contributions you made when you were with the company. The company itself was not doing well. They had to cut costs, and you were one of the people they cut. This is all there is to it. Period. Stop making it mean something more than that.
2. Decide What's Important to You
You've probably had to put you on hold for years as you've been spending all your time figuring out how to mold yourself into someone else. You worried about what your boss thought of you, what his or her boss thought of you, and what your co-workers thought of you. You spent many evenings trying to calm down or figure out what to do with a co-worker or boss who was driving you crazy. All of this is gone now, though (if only temporarily), and now you get to decide what's important to you. What makes you happy? What gets you excited? These are questions that you can now finally answer because you've been given the gift of time to do so.
3. Recognize That the Time Off Is a Blessing
Things happen for a reason. There was some purpose in you being able to stop and reassess how you've been living your life at this point. Why do you think this happened now? Were you working too hard? Were you neglecting yourself? Was your family screaming for you to spend more time with them? Now is the time to see if your former lifestyle will fit your future one. Use this time wisely, because an opportunity like this one may never come again.
4. Decide What You Will Do Next
Will you stay in the same career? Will you do something different? Will you start your own business? Or will you decide to scale down your lifestyle so that you can stretch out the time before you go back to work? There is no right or wrong answer; there is only what calls to you. Trust your instinct. The answer is inside you. It's up to you whether you will take the time to listen.
Take your current time off to decide what's important to you.
5. Put an Action Plan in Place
Now that you have some free time, how will you make it as productive as it can be? How many resumes will you send out each week? How many hours will you spend each day searching for jobs online and in the paper? How many people will you talk to, and how many emails will you send out? Your job search does not have to consume you, but having a daily plan will keep you from sitting in front of the TV saying "I really should be looking for another job right now."
6. Get Support
Enlist the help of a friend, spouse, coach, colleague, etc. — someone who will listen and support you through this transitional period in your life. Looking for a job can be frustrating, time consuming, and disappointing. Remember that you do not have to do it alone.
7. Reward Yourself
Yes, the final reward is finding a new job, but there are milestones that can be rewarded along the way. Sent your resume to five employers? Reward. Went on one job interview this week? Reward. When you look back, you'll know that you're not the same person you were before all this happened, and you'll smile to yourself because you know that this is a good thing.
If you would like to know more about any of these tips, I'd be happy to elaborate.
About the Author
Deborah Volkman-Brown is the president of Surpass Your Dreams, Inc., a successful career, life, and mentor coaching company, based in Long Island, NY. For more info, please visit http://www.surpassyourdreams.com/media.html.
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