I’d like to think of myself as a good worker, but I’ve been both laid off and fired in my less-than-a-decade old career. It happens. I’ve also worked for two years as a career counselor Oklahoma State University. So from experience and instruction, here are some tips:
A Word Before we get Started:
You lost your job. Its not your fault. Or maybe it is, but now that doesn’t matter. I heard on TV that in a crisis the reaction of 80% of victims is to freeze. This quick guide is designed to get you on the path back to employment during those first critical hours and days. With a plan, hopefully you won’t freeze up.
Day One: Collect Information
Before you sleep, there are a couple of important things to get done.
First collect contacts. When you leave your job, you can’t take any intellectual capital (or office supplies) but you can take the relationships you forged. Take your address book, or if that’s gone sit down and write down the names while they are still fresh in your memory.
Find your resume and update it. Refresh yourself on resume writing tips like including statistics and numbers and using action works. Update the details on your last job.
Finally pray to your diety of choice and get some rest.
Day Two: Get the Word Out
Think big. Good careers are stories. You story will be a combination of your past experience, present skills and future plans. Find two career directions and put together your story. How does the job fit what you’ve already done and learned?
Finish your resume. You’ve slept on it, now review your changes from yesterday. Split your resume into two - one catered to each career direction. Spell check, save it as plain text, PDF and maybe Word. Pick up some nice water-marked paper and print off a dozen or so. Upload them to at least two general job sites (Monster) and two more specific to your career area.
Write two cover letter templates. That’s one for each career direction. You’ll change these for each job you apply for. This is where you tell your story and connect your skills, experience and goals to the job you’re asking for.
Fire up the network. Email your professional contacts your resume. If you haven’t already, join a social network site like LinkedIn and post your resume there as well. Use these networks and the web to find contacts and companies that fit your plans and send them resumes.
Day Three: Dig in
Refine your strategy. Do some research on your competition. Lift phrases from job postings. Rewrite your resumes and cover letters as needed. As you learn, you may also change your career directions and stories.
Keep the money coming in. Taking on part-time work outside your career path isn’t admitting failure, its survival. If you can freelance in your field, do it. Otherwise, consider less glamorous part time and temp work.
Share your strategy. Be loud about what you are up to. Tell friends, family and neighbors what you are looking for. Everyone is a potential job contact.
Losing your job is hard. Finding a new one can be hard too. Whether you determined the situation your in or not is no longer important. What you do now will determine where you end up, so lets get to it.