One minute you’ve got a job, the next minute, you are being escorted out the door. Having been there myself, there’s no doubt that when it happens to you it will be one of the most traumatic moments in your professional life. So, what to do?
Outplacement (now called by the gentler name of Career Transition) came out of the US at the beginning of the first wave of restructuring in the late 20th Century.
It works.
So, hopefully, your employer has provided you with a decent length program with a strong Career Transition provider.
But what if they haven’t? What if you are on your own? Or what if you’re not actually sure that your Outplacement provider is doing the right thing?
Knowledge is Power
The good news is that information about how to successfully find your next role is out there. Whether you Google each job search element one at a time or whether you head straight to leading career websites, you have access to the latest information at your fingertips.
(Just a slight word of warning, though. Some advice from US-based career experts needs to be tweaked for our Australian culture. For example, most US experts will advise you to send a thank you note to an employer after attending a job interview. This doesn’t tend to go down well here in Oz, where most people would think that you were “crawling”.)
How Long It Takes
The length of time it takes you to find a new position depends on many factors:
- Your Attitude.
People can “read” your attitude from as far away as the proverbial mile. If you are still negative about your retrenchment, it is usually obvious in all your face-to-face interactions with prospective employers and means that they will probably avoid hiring you. A positive attitude, on the other hand, shows up in your face, voice and general body language. - The Dabbling Factor.
Accepting that your current “job” is to get a job and working a 40-hour week is very important. Not only will it take much longer and eat into your termination pay if you work spasmodically, but it can have disastrous effects on your morale and your ability to negotiate a good package when you are offered a position. - Getting Your Face in Front of People.
Networking is the single most effective way to get a job, whereas responding to advertised