CareerAlley

Unfortunately, many people have lost their jobs in recent weeks and months.  With the demise of Lehman Brothers (at the beginning of this week), Bear Stearns earlier this year, the job reductions implemented at many financial institutions, and the knock-on impact on other businesses caused by increased joblessness, many people are finding themselves out of work and more job losses are likely to occur in the near term.

Losing your job is incredibly stressful.  Our job partly defines who we are and the means by which we live. The stages of emotional change caused by job loss are very similar to the stages of grief when losing a loved one:

1. Denial and Shock
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Guilt
5. Depression
6. Resolution and reorganization

Just about everyone experiences these stages. How long they last is different for everyone, but the sooner you get to resolution the sooner you can move forward with your career search.

What to do first:

1. Apply for unemployment – Not a pleasant first task, but it is important.  You’ve paid your taxes and others have benefited by unemployment benefits, now it’s your turn.  You may feel that the amount is so small it doesn’t matter, but even $50 dollars per week is more than $0.  Additionally, some unemployment offices provide career advice and leads.
2. Resume – If you don’t already have an updated resume, now is the time.
3. Cover Letters – Look at the Resumes post, this may help.
4. Companies you want to work for – Make a list of the companies you want to work for and start applying to their websites (look at the New Location post for tips).
5. Business Social Networks – Look at the last post on this.  Once you’ve joined, you should leverage contacts who work for the companies where you may want to work.  Sites like LinkedIn will tell you if you know someone who works at one of your target companies (or if you know someone who knows someone).
6. College alumni Associations – Check out your college alumni association as well as your colleges job recruiting center.  These can be great resources.
7. Make a Plan – Different things work for different people, but everyone should have a plan.  Don’t focus too much time on any one method of job search.  It is best to spread your time (every day) across:
   • Job Search Sites
   • Headhunters/Recruiters
   • Company Websites
   • Contacts

Your full time job is looking for a job.  Stay motivated, look at the prior blogs on this site and leverage all of the resources available on and off the Internet.

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