Lost Your Job? No Worries. Deal With It Sensibly.

Unlike in the past, people do not stick to the same job in which they join. They keep looking for greener pastures and once they find a higher-paying job, they do not hesitate to leave their earlier job. Similarly, unpredictability is ruling the roost in the job market because a number of employers have started adopting a "hire and fire" approach. This means that if they find that a particular employee is not useful to them any more, they will ask the employee to leave. If you face such a situation and your employer has asked you to leave, you may wonder as to how to handle the situation. The following tips may help.

Emotional, financial and social impact

It is true that loss of job may impact you emotionally, financially and socially. The first step you must take is that you must stop living in a make-believe world. You must accept the reality and remain composed. You must not react immediately also. In fact, your immediate reaction may be out of frustration. According to the Kübler-Ross model, there may be 5 phases of emotional swings you may be subjected to. "Denial”, “anger”, “bargain”, “rejection” and “acceptance” are those five phases. You must never react or make a decision when you are emotional because the decision may certainly be wrong. So, instead of allowing your emotions to take over, it is better not to react immediately. 

You have lost your job. So what? 

Though losing a job is a major set-back, that is not the end of the world. You have the rest of your life with you and you can accomplish a number of things even without being employed. Remember that Twitter and Facebook rejected Brian Acton when he applied for a job with them. He later co-founded WhatsApp and sold it to Facebook itself for a whopping $18Bn.

The time after you have lost your job can be extremely useful because you can do an honest assessment about your capabilities, your attitude and the areas in which you should improve and try to effect the required corrections for enhancing your worth.

Get rid of your negativity

There are chances you may lose your confidence and may wonder how your future will be. But remember that only during such occasions, you must believe in yourself. If you are of the best employees of the company that has laid you off, other companies may be ready to take you in. When Askme and Flipkart laid off a few of their employees, there were many companies that immediately took in some of the most skilled employees.

Isolating yourself is not a good thing

You may stay away from your relatives and friends due to the fear that they may ask you about your loss of job. This is not the right approach. Remember that a loss of job is your problem and others have no business to poke their nose into it. Of course, there may be relatives and friends who may genuinely want to help you. Similarly, there may be others who may have a sadistic pleasure in watching your frustration. You can interact with the former group because it may help you in changing your mood for the better. You may get some invaluable suggestions from those friends or relatives for making the next move as well. Chances of developing new contacts through them cannot be ruled out also.

Psychologically speaking also, you can bring down your frustration and stress levels by ventilating your feelings to those who have genuine concerns for you.

Reboot yourself

Since you are now relieved of the cumbersome process of commuting to your workplace every morning, you can use the time to reboot yourself and look at the choices available to you. By reviewing and re-looking at your interests, both professional and personal, you can find out if you can convert the current setback into another viable opportunity. Never forget how Steve Jobs played an impactful role in developing Apple after being thrown out of the same company initially.

Even if you are not inclined to carry out all these exercises, you can enjoy the phase by having a good time with your family or learning a new skill.

Never be hasty and never lie while trying to find a new job

"Once bitten, twice shy" is the saying. So, you must be careful while looking for a new job. Avoid making hasty decisions. Similarly, if you are called for a job interview, speak openly and tell the interviewers that you lost your job. Tell them the correct reason for the job loss also. Remember employers have various sources for checking facts. Employers value honesty more than anything else.

Most of the employers are very well aware that things like a loss of job, etc. keep happening in the job market and hence, they may not look down upon you for that reason. 

If full-time job is no more an option, try for part-time or freelancing opportunities. These are certainly better options than making a hasty and wrong choice. Landing in a wrong job will sap your confidence further and it may have cascading effect in robbing your true potential. It is always better to opt for a job that excites or challenges you instead of desperately choosing the job that you stumble upon first.

Conclusion

Lossof job can certainly impact your life. In fact, in the present context, this risk is there for every employed person. Therefore, everyone including you should remain prepared for facing it. If you continuously keep yourself updated about the latest innovations in your field and keep upgrading your skills, you can be confident of landing in a new job even if you face a sudden lay-off.

Want to have a fool-proof career? Do these things

The past few years have seen a lot of tribulations in the global economy. Due to this, unemployment levels have been increasing in most of the countries. So, it may not be surprising if you wonder whether you will be able to have a fool-proof career. Experts opine that there is no need for you to lose heart because there are ways that may help you have a fool-proof career. They advise that you must take a few steps for it. Let us have a look. 

1. The most important step you must take is to keep yourself abreast of the latest innovations and changes that keep taking place in your field. Experts point out at the rapidity at which changes keep taking place in almost every field. It is in this context they advise that you must attend summits, events and conferences related to your field. The main benefit you can derive is that you can get a lot of information from experts in the trench of your industry. You can even ask questions and seek clarifications and advice from these experts. Not only that, these conferences, events and summits may widen your network significantly. When you connect with the top people in your field, chances of having a fool-proof career increase manifold.

2. Explore job titles

There are lots of opportunities in every field but all of them may not be very much visible. This means you should do an in-depth research so you can choose the branch that suits you the best and that interests you. Remember that if you choose a branch or niche that interests you, you will tend to put forth more efforts. In other words, you must explore the various job titles available in your field so you can specialize in the relevant niche you are interested in.

3. Keep applying for workshops or courses

Look for institutions that organize workshops related to your field. Similarly, institutions and universities may offer courses, both online and off-line, relevant to your field. Make it a point to apply for these courses or workshops so you can keep your knowledge level updated. You will get comprehensive details about the industry also. When your knowledge level goes up, your confidence will grow and so, you can perform better in job interviews as well as in those interviews conducted for promotions.

4. Volunteer to offer free service

Find a company in your field that may require interns and offer your services to them. This will be of immense help to you because you will get on-the-job training. Your self-confidence will get a boost and hence, when you attend job interviews, you can communicate clearly. The interviewers will be able to realize about your skills and potential also.

5. Continuous education will always help

If you do not take steps to continue your learning, you may become stagnant. Remember that every field is witnessing rapid changes which means companies are always looking for those employees who keep themselves updated of such changes and innovations. 

6. Never shirk your responsibilities

Even after landing in a job, you cannot afford to become complacent. Apart from working hard, you must make it a point to remain accountable for your output. Shirking your responsibility is a bad attitude and your management will view it seriously. In fact, every management will like only those employees who "do more than paid for." You can even assist other team members after you finish your own work. You can assist other teams as well so you can gain knowledge about the other operations of your company. Always remember that the management has thousands of eyes and ears and the news about your attitude of rendering a helping hand to other members of your team and other teams will reach them very soon.