If You Get Fired…

Posted on December 15, 2011 by R. A. M.

It would be understandable if your first impulse upon getting fired were to burn the place down, but it would be wiser of you not to do such a thing. Getting terminated is a lot like a sudden death in the family. It’s shocking, even if you have noted indications that it might happen, and it is thoroughly life-scrambling. Termination profoundly upsets your equanimity, and without balance you are flailing around in desperate straits.

The most important thing you can do when you get fired is to give yourself the time you need to sort through your emotions. It’s all right to be angry, bitter and to feel betrayed. But right away is not the moment to be calmly accepting your own part in the saga that led you to this moment. That opportunity will come, but first you need to feel the volcanic emotions. Let them have their say, their moment out of darkness, their moment of screaming in the light. When that begins to ebb, you can grieve for your loss and the damage done to your reputation and to those you care for and depend in part on your salary.

Seek counseling. Talking to good friends helps a bit, yes, but you would be better off talking with a trained professional who can help you not only deal with your grief and disappointment, but gently nudge you along the path to seeking and securing another job. The sooner that happens, the sooner you can really put this profound disappointment behind you.

Photo © TheSupe87 – Fotolia.com

Holding Hands

Posted on September 13, 2011 by R. A. M.

Multiracial Hands Making a Circle It can be a lonely pursuit, the process of looking for work. The longer you are unemployed, the lonelier you can feel.

It’s partially inevitable, the solitary nature of being unemployed and looking for a new job. Scanning job lists, preparing support and primary documents, writing emails and letters, making copies, printing, and sending and mailing materials is work done alone. Like a professional writer, much of the initial work of the job hunter is done solo. But that’s only one part of the job hunting process, or should be.

The part that’s missing? A support system for the job hunter. Someone who has a job works at it, then has a range of activities at her disposal to unwind. Many of them include gathering with co-workers, supporting one another’s outside interests, and encouraging their aspirations at work.

The unemployed can do the same thing, though it isn’t much encouraged. So, what you can do is take the initiative. Call up a few friends who are unemployed or partially employed (part-time, minimum wage earners) and suggest a night each week at a coffee shop or restaurant. Start a reading club of the unemployed, or a laughter club for the jobless. If you’re so inclined, join a church group made up of job seekers.

The point is not therapy in the clinical sense. It’s about empathy and encouragement. Like the employed people who gather together, the unemployed can do the same thing. You’ll find it rejuvenating, an excellent release of frustration. That is bound to help you as you continue your search.

Being Unemployed

Posted on September 9, 2011 by R. A. M.

Fired businessman Being unemployed can make you feel hopeless and miserable, but the most productive course of action is to look at your unemployment as a chance to reinvent yourself.

This is an opportunity for you to start over. If you can get over the fear of it all, you may actually feel refreshed. Whether you’ve admitted it or not, you’re probably already at the place where it can’t get much worse. So, bottom out and begin to look for new ways to break free of the cycle. Forget about your resumé. Take some free on-line classes that show you how to reinvent yourself in social media. See if your secret hobby or your weekend passion might be a better fit for you. Get to know your neighbors and spend more time with your friends to see if their work might suit you. Enjoy the relief of not being confined by all the things you hated about your last job. Focus on what it is you truly love, then see if you can find a new way to apply yourself to it. You have nothing to lose.