Word Of the Week #589: Beginnings
November 19, 2015 by Susan Clarke
Beginnings – fresh starts.
So how good did you do last week “at treating yourself?” When was the last time you got a chance to make a “fresh start?” How did it make you feel? Excitement or dread?
This week I share the second half of Neil Senturia’s, I’m There for You, Baby article “Take time to grieve a job loss, then get back in game.” To recap he wrote, “You will be fired. You will be laid off. Your position will be eliminated. There will be a RIF (reduction in force). You will have a lousy boss who screws you over. It will not be your fault.
Now that you have gone through the seven stages of grief, let’s get on with it.
- Do not broadcast your dismissal to the whole world. They don’t care, and it may
affect getting the next job. - Do nothing precipitous. Do not post your resume on 29 job sites that same afternoon. Breathe.
- Don’t panic. In spite of what you currently think about yourself, you are not worthless,, or unemployable.
- Don’t be arrogant. If offered outplacement assistance, take it.
- Yes, file for unemployment. (Unless you just got a $500,000 severance like the guy from the San Diego pension board.)
- Take a trip. But not two months. A couple of days, decompress, analyze.
- When discussing the next opportunity, don’t be afraid to talk about the elephant in the room. Disclose early and explain to your advantage.
- If there are health issues, take care of them now. You probably still have coverage until your departure date. After that, welcome to COBRA.
- Network. Now, No 9 is easy to say and hard to do well. It is a learned skill. You need to do this. There is no other option. A job will not waft in through the window. There are 21 opportunities in a week – seven breakfasts, seven lunches and seven cocktails. Do not sit home alone and eat peanut butter and ice cream.
- I will bet that there is one person at the former company who was a mentor, adviser, boss friend, ally, etc. That is the first place to start.
- Do not take the next job offer. Take the right job offer. (This is hard because there is reality to money.)
- Do not go out and get married or divorced. I have to admit that I have suffered through all seven stages more than once. But I have also been liberated by it. My “next” company was always better. I was free – and could make a fresh start. I could re-invent myself. In a way, “they” did me a favor. And I have always been grateful for it.
This week’s focus is about beginnings. Do you believe if you lost your job you would be able to easily make a fresh start? If you are unhappy in your current position who do you know that could help you get the job you want? How good are you at networking? This is something everyone should do because you just never know what the future holds!
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