5 Things To Know Before You Are Downsized

In January 2009 I was laid off from a great job. It was not my first layoff, and I knew it could happen to anyone. However, I really thought that I would get more warning, and when I woke up on January 5^th I felt confident that I would end the day gainfully employed. I was dead wrong.

I was doing many things right, such as maintaining my network and collecting documentation of accomplishments. Even so, I spent all of January and most of February spinning my wheels. The simple reason for this lack of progress was my own mindset. Like losing a loved one, losing a job unexpectedly requires a mourning process. I think I subconsciously fought denial even though I was fully cognizant of my reality.

If you do find yourself unemployed, these five points will help you gain traction and find employment quickly:

1. Job Clubs Exist.

I had never heard of such a thing and never thought to look for one. They are connected to churches (but are usually non-religious and open to everyone,) colleges and trade schools, recruiters, and government labor agencies. Google will help you find one near you, and once you discover one you will quickly learn of the others near you. Also, LinkedIn will have several groups aimed at your metro-area which will contain information about local job clubs and networking events. Finally, every Chamber of Commerce in your employment area will host events that you should attend to meet employers and new contacts.

Getting out of the house is very important to your mental health. Meeting 10 or more new people per week exponentially increases your chances of finding a great job. Meeting with fellow job seekers allows you to learn more about what you should be doing and what you should be avoiding. If I had found a job club earlier, I would have had an easier time developing a marketing pitch and organizing my campaign to get hired. If you only remember one thing from this article it is this: Find a job club and attend regularly.

2. Pay It Forward.

Unemployment has a subtle, yet powerful influence on your mental state. Even the most confident and credentialed people will find times when their energy is unexplainably sapped, their spirits are dangerously low, their decision-making abilities are unreliable, and they may even doubt their best qualities and reasons to hope.

To prevent the most dangerous levels of unemployment stress, reach out and help others. Here are a few things you can do to pay it forward:

• Pass information to fellow job seekers.
• Volunteer at your favorite charity.
• Visit your favorite octogenarian.
• Take a child to a park and play with them.

Find something that allows you to forget about yourself and focus on someone else for a while. It is a magical cure and, if done excessively, allows you to build up a resistance to stress.

Whether you believe in karma or not, you will find that giving generously to others will benefit you tangibly. I have received job leads from unlikely sources, but if I hadn’t reached out and helped out I would not have been in the right place at the right time with the right people for the karma to return to me. Paying it forward will cause people to view you as someone who deserves a favor, and will motivate others to pay it forward.

3. The Squeaky Wheel Gets Greased.

Be aggressive, assertive, and persistent—while remaining tactful. I didn’t want to annoy people by begging for work, but I probably missed opportunities early on because I was not aggressive enough. I feared that I would annoy people, but I have since learned that passivity is more detrimental to a job search, and annoyance is easily forgiven. Be tactful and pleasant, but err on the side of persistence. Busy people will forget to contact you unless they get several reminders. In the end, assertive people demonstrate that they want something bad enough. As we learn in Randy Pausch’s, The Last Lecture, brick walls are meant to keep out people who don’t want something bad enough.

4. Find The Blessing.

As I mentioned before, this is not my first layoff. When I look back, I can see the tangible benefits of prior layoffs, and I can see benefits in this layoff as well. Look for those benefits, whether it is new contacts made, new skills learned, or new thoughts about the future. Pardon the cliche, but it is true that every cloud has a silver lining. Believing in the blessing will proactively raise your mental state; advertising that blessing to others can make you more marketable.

5. Time Is Precious; Don’t Waste It All On A Job Hunt.

You’ve heard it said that looking for work is a full-time job. That is simply untrue. Unemployment and job hunting is far more stressful than real work, requiring a more proactive approach to stress management. Moreover, you will find that 80% of the progress you make in your search comes from only 20% of your activity. No matter what, you will usually be wasting your time as you apply online, work your network, and meet new people.

As a guideline, spend no more than one hour a day on the job boards and try to apply for one job per day. This really means that you spend 30 minutes or less searching and about 30 minutes editing your resume to target the chosen job. Also, spend about an hour per day reaching out to people you know via email and phone. If you can hit 10% of your network everyday with a quick email or phone call to ask about their life and remind them what you are looking for, you will hit your entire network every two weeks (only counting business days.) At least once a week, have lunch with someone from your network. Finally, attend at least one networking event per week and try to exchange contact information with ten new people per week. Figure out how you can help these 10 people, and make it clear how they can help you.

If you spend 10 hours a day, 6 days a week looking for work you will waste a lot time and build up a lot of stress. You deserve to spend more of that time on yourself instead, and it will be time well-spent. Begin to exercise, or set an ambitious fitness goal. Learn a new skill, deepen your understanding of a subject, or earn a certification. This could be aimed at making yourself more marketable, or you could aim at making yourself more interesting by learning a language, a culinary technique, or art. Deepen your bonds with family, friends, and pets—or with yourself on a long nature hike.

If You Can’t Stand The Heat – Suck It Up.

When you put a well-formed piece of clay into a kiln, you expose it to heat and pressure. It may be an excruciating time for the clay, but the end result is both beautiful and useful. Be the well-formed clay, accept unemployment as a kiln, and look forward to that day when you are a beautiful and useful employee who hates Mondays and wish that your phone would stop ringing so that you could get some work done.

I am now confident that I am working efficiently and will be successful in my job search. I could have achieved this state quicker if I had known a few things in January that I did not discover until later. I hope that you do not lose you job, but neither you nor I have full control over that. If you do find yourself unemployed, I hope these five points will help you gain traction and find employment quickly:

Happy hunting!

Image Courtesy of twodolla

Larry Slobodzian is a customer-centric sales engineer with a passion for creative technology solutions. From integrated networks to content management, Larry has helped business leaders reduce their operating and capital expenditures, increase their efficiencies, and focus on their core competencies. He is a firm believer in the concepts of “pay it forward” and Corporate Social Responsibility. Connect with Larry on LinkedIn, on Twitter, and on FriendFeed.