You just got fired. Or downsized. Or laid off.
Whatever it was called, it can evoke a range of feelings that are not only stubborn, but stinging. The challenge for those of us who have lost a job is in knowing how to deal constructively with the feelings of being suddenly and/or unexpectedly out of a job, and coping in ways that move us productively to a more positive place from which we can better function and ultimately solve the problem of unemployment.
The negative feelings are real, and we all experience them. Take heart in the fact that you are not alone in this regard. These can be powerful feelings that may include:
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Enveloping whatever the range of feelings we experience may be a sense of failure — of having let our loved ones, if not ourselves, down.
It is necessary to unravel and reconstruct your psyche. Some guidance might help you begin the healing process and lead to action and, ultimately, your employment “recovery.”
There are two important building blocks to employment recovery. First, as difficult as it may be, try to find and focus on the positives of your job-loss experience. Relief is not an uncommon feeling when dealing with the loss of a job. Many clients tell me about having felt “stuck” in their jobs and/or career and gripped by inertia to do anything about it. For these people, the grand irony is that the job loss was exactly the remedy they needed — that “kick in the pants/skirt” to finally take action and make change. It has been my experience — and the experience of most of my clients — that change derived from an unemployment situation usually has been for the better. Just consider this possibility, this perspective, in beginning to cope with your loss.
Second: Think about the lessons learned from your job-loss experience. Take a moment to step back and reflect on your inventory of skills, knowledge, abilities, likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, and begin defining a profile of your “ideal” job. This can guide your job-search actions and help get you closer to a position that will better satisfy your professional and personal needs and interests. Get help in these analyses.
Here are a few other tips that may help you:
- Don’t be afraid to share your feelings with a professional. Venting helps and can be valuable in helping you to place the experience in its proper place and begin the process of moving on.
- Get to work! Your new reality is finding a job. Start by creating an organized space from which you can conduct your job-search activities. Get started on a meaningful resume. Read it, re-read it, digest it, and proof it. Have others review and critique it. Try to keep it to fewer than two pages; remember, this is not your autobiography.
- If outplacement services have been offered, use them. Take advantage of whatever your previous employer offers by way of assistance, even if you feel it’s of little value. Check your ego at the door.
- Hire a career coach to help you develop your skills inventory and ideal job profile, as well as define a job-search strategy to include what techniques and/or approaches to use under certain circumstances.