I'm Losing My Job: What's Going to Happen to Me?

The last few weeks, I've had several phone calls from prospective clients advising of a pending job loss in the coming days or weeks. And yet another caller today, announcing that after 20 years of service, I'm losing my job at the end of this month and I am really scared...what's going to happen to me?

If you've been down the job loss road before, you may well remember the drill. Dust yourself off and keep moving. Think smart; be effective; connect. And maybe this time around, it won't take you quite as long to land on your feet. And maybe if you get really lucky, you'll slide right into that next job with minimal downtime, no worries -- a piece of cake.

For some, though, it isn't that easy. Fear sets in, gets a grip, takes control, and leaves the newly transitioned spinning, unable to think straight, and in a state of limbo. So, what can you do to help yourself if you're losing your job?

Find someone to talk with. Not tomorrow, not the next day...today. Speak with someone you trust enough to watch you cry buckets if that's what you feel like doing. Someone who won't judge you and someone who cares about you unconditionally. It doesn't really matter what you talk about...just talk and somehow, almost miraculously, you will feel better. And keep talking; don't shut people out.

Give yourself permission to grieve, be sad and mourn your loss. Acknowledge the ending and what is over as you have known it. Celebrate what was and when the time is right in the future, you can then celebrate what is.

Don't beat yourself up or spend too much time focusing on the what if scenarios. What's done is done. You will need all the positive energies, good vibes, and productive thoughts that you can muster to stay motivated as you move forward.

Reach out to those you love, and those you like. It's a good place to get started and you can nurture your network from there. Advise each and every person in your circle of influence what has happened regarding your job loss and invite their support, encouragement, guidance, and help. Stay in touch.

Seek professional help from a competent career management professional. Ask those in your network for referrals and recommendations. Follow-up sooner than later to begin the next chapter in your career journey.

Bottom line, don't try and go it alone; today's workplace is all about teamwork and going solo is lonely and isolating. Looking for work in today's highly competitive, global marketplace takes a trusted, talented team of advocates who are totally committed to you and your continued career success.

posted by: billiesucher

Comments

[reinkefj]

At the risk of sounding unsympathetic, in today's (or for that matter the last decade's) job climate, what have people been doing?

I understand that people like to emulate the ostrich, but it can happen to you. Yes, you the person sitting complacently reading this. Having been nuked 4.5 times in my 40 year IT career, ...

(The point five was one where: they nuked me just as I was getting ready to nuke them; they did not realize how much they needed me; so they became my first client of my brandy new consulting effort -- Yet Another Guru -- what an ego, I know, I was young and foolish then as opposed to old and foolish now.)

... I counsel the Fat Old White Guys who get the axe "unexpectedly" five or ten years short of their pension. The first thing I counsel is that it will happen again. I don't keep good stats (If I was a good clerk, I'd still be clerking!) but I see people fall back to the behaviors that got them where they are getting nuked. Don't network, eyes down to the warning signs, fat - dumb - and sometimes even happy. There's a reason it's called 'work' as opposed to 'fun' or 'happy time'.

The first thing to learn is awareness. You're not the problem. It's the system and the 'man'! It's your blind belief that there is more to the employment relationship than there is. I heard someone describe it: "An employee is merely a consultant with a restricted choice of where to go to work tomorrow." Job security? Don't make me laugh. Loyalty. ROFL. Mutual respect from places with 'Human Resource Departments". Please stop you'll make me wet myself.

The second thing to learn is that YOUR JOB is to find your NEXT JOB. The one you have now is just incidental. You have to do it well to get to the next one, but devoting all your time and attention to it is just foolish.

The third thing is that you have to improve your product offering -- that thing you do that makes them want to pay you. Customize. Modernize. Advertize. Socialize. Networkize. Moving up the value chain. Figure out your unique value proposition, sales proposition, and sell, baby, sell.

Hope this 'helps' someone.

[James Ray Fan]

Some really interesting insights! I'd like to share one I found recently for both the employed and the unemployed.
I just finished reading James Arthur Ray’s newest book, Harmonic Wealth, and I had to share this concept he has that I think makes so much sense: LIVING FROM THE OUTCOME (Page 322). James says that most people live toward the outcome, meaning you are living like you don’t have it yet. He says you should shift your thinking so that you are LIVING FROM THE OUTCOME and thus sending out the energy to the world that you already have it. Think, feel, and act like you’ve already made it and the universe will say “Your wish is my command.”
For me, that meant acting like I was more valuable as an individual – acting like a $500 a day earner instead of a $150 a day earner (no more reality TV marathons!) and acting like a thin and fit woman instead of a slightly overweight and sometimes lazy woman (goodbye Ranch Doritos!). Honestly, in the two weeks since I put down the book, things have started changing. And I think it really comes down to that one concept.
Check out the Harmonic Wealth site and link to the book: harmonicwealth.com/read
- A James Ray Fan

[billiesucher]

reinkefj -- thanks for the Customize, Modernize, Advertize, Socialize, Networkize -- good tip; I like that!

James Ray Fan -- will have to check out your recommendation! Sounds like a good read!

To both, I appreciate your thoughts! : - )

[Louise Kursmark]

Hi, Billie - very good post. Having recently gone through a personal loss (a death in the family), I was struck by how closely your "job loss" advice parallels what helped us through our personal loss. Talking, connecting, crying, trying not to focus on the 'if onlys' helped us get through some very difficult days.

Above all, in both situations it's important not to minimize the grief and emotion... the loss of a job a is a real loss and it's not helpful trying to stiff-upper-lip your way through it. It's essential to vent, grieve, and come to acceptance before you can move on with purpose and passion.

[billiesucher]

Louise, thank you for your comment; I am so sorry to hear of your loss; I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Your words "it's essential to vent, grieve..." are so very true. There's a wonderful book I recommend that speaks to the subject of "loss" -- it's called "Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes" by Dr. William Bridges. It is truly a valuable, insightful resource.