Maybe you were laid off, maybe you were fired, or maybe the company has decided to close. No matter what the reason, finding yourself out of work at some point in your career is common and will most likely happen to even the best of us during our life.
While loosing your job can be an incredibly emotional and stressful time, it is not necessarily the end of the world and is something that we can grow from if we approach the loss of employment in the right way.
The following are some essential steps to take shortly after you find yourself let go from a job.
Understand Why
Find out as much as you can, you need to put closure on this chapter in your career and knowing the why allows you to come to grips with the situation and move on. If you did something wrong that caused to a firing, make sure you understand what it was so you do not duplicate the mistake in the future. If it was a budget issue or the company is closing down, make sure to leave in a positive way so that your previous co-workers will think of you should they hear of future work opportunities.
Make sure to take your reason why you were let go and construct a quick elevator pitch that you can reference in the future. You will need this pitch when you are interviewing for jobs because the question of why you left your previous employer will come up. Being upfront about this with the future Recruiter or Hiring Manager will help your odds and make you look much more genuine and prepared than if you give a vague excuse without many specific details.
I have had Hiring Managers in the past tell me that they would rather have the candidate admit to being fired (if that is the case) rather than trying to come up with an excuse and sugar coat their reasoning for leaving their last employer. Being upfront with a narrative shows their honesty and possibly integrity. Hopefully the candidate has realized their mistake and can speak to what they learned and how they have grown from their mistake so they will not find themselves in a similar situation within their next position.
Remain Calm
As hard as it will be, you must remain calm and not cause a scene as you are leaving your place of employment. Rather than turning into Jerry Maguire and making a passionate statement that you might later regret, collect your personal things and giving a quick and polite goodbye to anyone you might encounter on your way out.
While it is true that first impressions are extremely important, the final impression that you leave on someone can be just as important if not more in these situations. Remember that these co-workers could potentially be your future references or even Hiring Managers at a different company. Because of this, it is essential to not leave them with a negative feeling of the type of person you are by doing or saying something in the moment that you might regret in the future that could hold you back from potential employment.
Remaining calm is also important once you leave the office and get back to your residence. Do not immediately go on your computer and post your negative thoughts to your Facebook account or write a company negative review on a message board. Writing down your feelings can be helpful although and I would also recommend meeting up with and talking with your friends or any other previous co-workers who can relate to your situation rather than publishing them online. Expressing your emotions is very important although please remember that once you post something online, it can be easily searched and hard to take it back so make sure you think twice (if not much longer) before writing anything negative that could come back to hurt you in the future.
Do Something You Enjoy
Remember all of those sunny days you were stuck at the office, looked out the window and said I wish I was (enter anything other than working here)? Do do those things! Go to the beach, play a round of golf in the middle of the day, go see that exhibit that is too crowded on the weekend to enjoy, etc. Take some time to yourself do whatever it is that makes you happy and take advantage of the fact that it will be easier to do during the week with less people around.
It can be as simple as catching up on sleep or cleaning out your DVR. Taking the time to unwind and relax will not only help take your mind off of your circumstances, it can also help you to recharge with the hopes that this relaxation will help you present yourself in a more positive and passionate mental state when you do start interviewing again. Hiring Managers want to see candidates who are confident and not desperate to land a job and giving yourself some time to unwind and have fun will help you present as a better applicant in the future.
Update Your Resume and LinkedIn Profile
It’s time to close the chapter of your career with the company you have just left, do so by pulling up your resume and noting the current month so that it is clear that your employment with the organization has concluded. Not only will this allow you to mentally move on, it can actually benefit you as Recruiters or potential employers can see that you are in between roles and could be an option for any roles that they might need to fill in a short time period as you might no longer have to give a full two weeks notice.
Make sure to update the dates of employment on your LinkedIn profile and change you headline to something such as “Seeking Employment” so that your network and outside Recruiters are aware of your status and can keep an eye out for work for you.
LinkedIn also has the option that you can set your profile to let Recruiters know that you are open to a new position by following a few simple steps. Make sure to take advantage of this and any other networking groups you are already a part of to get the word out that you are a free agent and see if your network can work for you and proactively bring any possible opportunities that they are aware of directly to you.
When you find yourself in between work assignments, don’t be ashamed or hide from it. The unfortunate reality is that the majority of people will at one time in their life find themselves without work for one reason or another and on the job hunt. Each case will be different, some will be laid off with a few months notice while others might find themselves fired on the spot for an issue of negligence. The important issue is to realize that it happens to millions of people and that you are not alone.
Take some time to come to grips with what happened, unwind and lean on friends to work through this challenging time and make sure you find a way to grow from it both personally and as a candidate. Leaning a hard lesson is sometimes the best story to bring into an interview if you are able to clearly outline your mistake, communicate what you learned from it and how you have grown personally and professionally from it. If you are able to clearly lay out these points, you might just catch the attention of a future Manager who wants to put you back to work as a member of their team.
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