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DEALING WITH A JOB LAYOFF
David Lai Len dplailen@aol.com

This is not your father’s employment market. The days of working thirty years for a company and retiring with a gold watch are over. It is said that the average employee will now have eight jobs in their career.

With the new business paradigm, companies are constantly reinventing themselves to meet market demands, and as they do, they’ll shed and add employees to meet their current need. Sooner or later you’ll find yourself the victim of a merger, acquisition, restructuring, downsizing or rightsizing, depending on the euphemism du jour. I was just laid off when my company got bought out. This is the third time in my career.

Even though New Jersey has the lowest unemployment rate in thirty years, if you’re unemployed it’s 100%.

Emotions

So what are you to do when this happens? The emotion that will first occur is anger. Why me? What’s wrong with me? What did I do wrong? It’s important to experience this emotion or you’ll keep it bottled-up and won’t be ready to move on to the next phase. You didn’t do anything wrong. More than likely your job was redundant and wasn’t needed anymore. It didn’t matter if it was you or the next person. It wasn’t personal. It was business, a cost cutting action, plain and simple. You can’t do anything about it. You are on the street and it’s time to get on with the rest of your life.

Career

But what do you want to do with the rest of your life? Were you happy with what you were doing at your last job? Is there something else that would make you happier? Or do you have a hobby that you can convert into a money making activity?

If you’ve no idea, you could start with a book, “What Color is Your Parachute?” by Richard Bolles has been around forever. Or try an internet site such as the Riley Guide at http://www.dbm.com/jobguide/. There are also resources at your local college or professional counselors listed in your phone book under “Career & Vocational Counseling.”

State Assistance

The state employment agencies have a group called the Professional Services Group (PSG). They are run by its members and provide instructions on the job search, computers, phones, and other resources.

Attitude

You have to be able to handle the rejection and there’ll be a lot of it. One salesman says that he only gets one “yes” for every hundred “no”s. So he doesn’t take a “no’ personally, he figures that he’s one interview closer to that “yes.” Don’t let the “no”s get you down.

People are more mentally fit if they’re physically fit. Don’t let your body run down.

Have lunch with a friend, go for a walk, but don’t let the job search get you down.

Now go after that new career!

Future columns will address the mechanics of the search and offer helpful hints.