By CAREEREALISM-Approved Expert, Mary Sevinsky
How do you cope with unemployment a during the holidays? Like any loss, a job loss results in grief. In Part I outlined some basic stages you may pass through in dealing with job loss. You can read that article in full by clicking here. In this sequel, you will find practical suggestions for how to ease your progress through these stages.
1. SHOCK & DENIAL-
In this stage you will feel generally numb. You should take this opportunity to breathe. Literally. Keep a notebook with you during this and following stages and right EVERYTHING down. The smallest thought and feelings, when they come. Let yourself be emotional and feel. The worst thing you can do is to block yourself off from your emotions. To refocus: Keep a separate section for any ides that come to mind – you will find comfort in these as you progress through the various stages.
2. PAIN & GUILT-
Pain and heart-break are laced with guilt in this stage. Accept comfort and seek out others who care about you and/or who have had similar experiences or are currently working through this process themselves. To refocus: Think about when you have experienced similar feelings – what helped? What didn’t? Repeat those things or techniques that are tried and true.
3. ANGER & BARGAINING-
Anger is normal. Scream into a pillow or an empty field (if you have one available). Jump up and down and throw a tantrum. Sometimes you just need to physically express your anger to get through it. If you are a religious person, you might plead with your higher power at this point, promising anything from a new and improved you to all the money you will ever earn if you can just get a new job. To refocus: Continue to write in your notebook (call it a journal if you want!). Ask yourself what you are angry about. Return to the section of your notebook in which you wrote any ideas you might have for your Return To Work.
4. "DEPRESSION", REFLECTION, LONELINESS-
It is important for you to “feel” how you feel – you are likely to feel depressed and lonely. If that is the case, take this time to be alone and think about your current situation. If you feel too lonely seek out others who you respect and/or have a positive, supportive nature. To refocus: Take stock of your assets (literally and figuratively). These may include your skills and abilities as well as your financial assets.
5. THE UPWARD TURN-
Eventually you will be able to begin and attain a rhythm in your job search and networking. Have a goal, complete with time frame, and steps that you can take toward that goal. Make your goal more specific and meaningful than “Get a job.” For example, will you settle for any job right now and then move on to find a better one? Or, do you have the resources to spend X number of months to search for a job at a given level? To refocus: Write down your goal and when you want to achieve it (it can be modified if necessary), develop a schedule (also in writing) that will allow you to reach your goal. Review your schedule and goal daily. For more information on setting goals, read my article: Dare to dream of change.6. RECONSTRUCTION & WORKING THROUGH-
As you begin the upward turn, you will eventually be able to think about where you want to be and what type of job you might like to have. To refocus: Keep writing in your notebook and re-evaluate your progress and which goals you want to keep on at least a weekly basis. What is working? What is not getting you the interviews you need to get hired? Try to use a critical eye, if this is difficult, seek the help of an expert or a mentor.
7. ACCEPTANCE & HOPE-
Eventually, you will be able to accept that you may not be the same exact person you were before your “loss.” Who are you now? What is important to you? You may find it easier to be positive. To refocus: you will gain confidence and hope from your activity. Stay organized and act on every lead as soon as possible without being overly hasty.
You may not progress neatly through these stages, but most people will experience some level of each. Treat this part of your life as a leg of a journey, secure in the knowledge that you will end up where you need to be.
Mary is a Masters-prepared Career Counselor with over 18 years experience in resume writing, personal branding, career assessment and counseling. Specializing in non-traditional specialized careers and career-transitioning, she has the ability to synthesize and focus your unique skills and abilities to obtain interviews for the positions you want with the employers you want to notice you. Follow her on Twitter at @MarySevinsky.By CAREEREALISM-Approved Expert, Mary Sevinsky
How do you cope with unemployment a during the holidays? Like any loss, a job loss results in grief. In Part I outlined some basic stages you may pass through in dealing with job loss. You can read that article in full by clicking here. In this sequel, you will find practical suggestions for how to ease your progress through these stages.
1. SHOCK & DENIAL-
In this stage you will feel generally numb. You should take this opportunity to breathe. Literally. Keep a notebook with you during this and following stages and right EVERYTHING down. The smallest thought and feelings, when they come. Let yourself be emotional and feel. The worst thing you can do is to block yourself off from your emotions. To refocus: Keep a separate section for any ides that come to mind – you will find comfort in these as you progress through the various stages.
2. PAIN & GUILT-
Pain and heart-break are laced with guilt in this stage. Accept comfort and seek out others who care about you and/or who have had similar experiences or are currently working through this process themselves. To refocus: Think about when you have experienced similar feelings – what helped? What didn’t? Repeat those things or techniques that are tried and true.
3. ANGER & BARGAINING-
Anger is normal. Scream into a pillow or an empty field (if you have one available). Jump up and down and throw a tantrum. Sometimes you just need to physically express your anger to get through it. If you are a religious person, you might plead with your higher power at this point, promising anything from a new and improved you to all the money you will ever earn if you can just get a new job. To refocus: Continue to write in your notebook (call it a journal if you want!). Ask yourself what you are angry about. Return to the section of your notebook in which you wrote any ideas you might have for your Return To Work.
4. "DEPRESSION", REFLECTION, LONELINESS-
It is important for you to “feel” how you feel – you are likely to feel depressed and lonely. If that is the case, take this time to be alone and think about your current situation. If you feel too lonely seek out others who you respect and/or have a positive, supportive nature. To refocus: Take stock of your assets (literally and figuratively). These may include your skills and abilities as well as your financial assets.
5. THE UPWARD TURN-
Eventually you will be able to begin and attain a rhythm in your job search and networking. Have a goal, complete with time frame, and steps that you can take toward that goal. Make your goal more specific and meaningful than “Get a job.” For example, will you settle for any job right now and then move on to find a better one? Or, do you have the resources to spend X number of months to search for a job at a given level? To refocus: Write down your goal and when you want to achieve it (it can be modified if necessary), develop a schedule (also in writing) that will allow you to reach your goal. Review your schedule and goal daily. For more information on setting goals, read my article: Dare to dream of change.6. RECONSTRUCTION & WORKING THROUGH-
As you begin the upward turn, you will eventually be able to think about where you want to be and what type of job you might like to have. To refocus: Keep writing in your notebook and re-evaluate your progress and which goals you want to keep on at least a weekly basis. What is working? What is not getting you the interviews you need to get hired? Try to use a critical eye, if this is difficult, seek the help of an expert or a mentor.
7. ACCEPTANCE & HOPE-
Eventually, you will be able to accept that you may not be the same exact person you were before your “loss.” Who are you now? What is important to you? You may find it easier to be positive. To refocus: you will gain confidence and hope from your activity. Stay organized and act on every lead as soon as possible without being overly hasty.
You may not progress neatly through these stages, but most people will experience some level of each. Treat this part of your life as a leg of a journey, secure in the knowledge that you will end up where you need to be.
Mary is a Masters-prepared Career Counselor with over 18 years experience in resume writing, personal branding, career assessment and counseling. Specializing in non-traditional specialized careers and career-transitioning, she has the ability to synthesize and focus your unique skills and abilities to obtain interviews for the positions you want with the employers you want to notice you. Follow her on Twitter at @MarySevinsky.
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A career resolution is exactly what it sounds like: a resolution for your career intended to help you grow into a better professional. At Work It DAILY, we believe that you need to work on your career every day (yes, you do, in fact, need to "work it daily"). So, everyone should make a career resolution or two along with those other ambitious personal resolutions. They can be little things like learning a new skill or growing your professional network, or bigger goals like landing a promotion or getting a new job.
But how do you know what kind of career resolutions to make?
You can begin by asking yourself, "Am I where I want to be in my career?" If your answer is "no," you need to take a closer look at your career goals.
Here are five more career questions you should be asking yourself this new year to figure out how to grow your career and become the professional you know you can be.
1. Am I Proud Of My Job Title?
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You could be a janitor or a neurosurgeon, it doesn't matter. If you aren't proud of what you do for a living, there's something missing: passion and purpose.
Career burnout is real, but sometimes it's deeper than that. Our passion at 25 won't necessarily be our passion at 40. And that's okay.
When we are passionate about what we do, we are proud because we are doing what we think is important, what we love doing. We feel a sense of purpose. We are adding value to and making a difference in this crazy world—in a small, but significant way.
Every job is important. No matter what your job title is, if you aren't proud of it, and don't feel like you can leverage your strengths as a professional in the position, you should absolutely change that. Identify that one problem you want to find a solution to and go after it. What are you waiting for?
Remember, the only bad job is the one you aren't passionate about, the one that isn't allowing you to leverage your professional strengths and reach your potential.
If you don't know what your professional strengths are or what kind of work you'd find purposeful and fulfilling, we recommend taking our free career quizzes.
- Career Decoder Quiz - discover your workplace personas
- ISAT Quiz - discover your communication style
Take the quizzes now to learn your unique combination of professional strengths and how they can help you get better career results so you can be proud of what you do.
2. Do I Feel Secure In My Career?
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This is a bit different from job security. Actually, job security doesn't exist. Every job is temporary. Think you can stay in the same job for decades and then retire? Think again. While that may have been commonplace for past generations, today's workforce and job market are completely different than what they were a decade or two ago.
So what does it mean to feel secure in our careers? When we believe as professionals that we can add value wherever we are.
You are a business-of-one. A company won't want to invest in you if they don't know the kinds of services you provide, the kind of value you could add to the organization, and the problems you could solve for them. Here are some examples of questions that will help you determine if you're secure in your career:
- Are you adding value at your current job?
- Are you honing your skills, expanding your network, and building your personal brand?
- Do you feel confident that if you lost your job, you'd be able to find a comparable one in the same field?
- Do you feel confident you'd be able to demonstrate to potential employers how you add value?
Since every job is temporary, it's extremely important to constantly work on our careers and ask ourselves these questions frequently so we always feel secure in our businesses-of-one.
3. Will I Be Able To Achieve Wealth?
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When most people think of "wealth," they think of dollar signs and anything that you can attach a monetary value to. Our jobs help us build wealth. We're not going to tell you that money isn't important. Of course it is! It allows you to live the life you want to live. In many ways, money equals freedom.
But the truth is, there are other forms of wealth that are more important that you can't attach any monetary value to.
Real wealth comes in the form of family, friends, hobbies, experiences, knowledge, and community. If you don't have these things, money will never fill that void.
So, is your career allowing you to build this type of wealth? The intangible kind? Or are your relationships suffering because of your job? Is your work-life balance nonexistent? Do you have any time to pursue hobbies, learn, or volunteer?
Your career should never inhibit you from achieving real wealth. The best job isn't the one that pays the most. It's the one that pays the bills and gives you enough time to live, too.
4. Do I Have Any Regrets?
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Just asking ourselves this question can be difficult because maybe we don't want to know the answer. Acknowledging that you regret something in your life is the first step to making a change. Guess what? There's still time to chase your dreams!
If you do have regrets, that doesn't mean you haven't been a successful professional. That also doesn't mean you haven't had a good career. You could be the most successful person, but if you never got up the courage to start that business, make that career change, or go back to school, you'll most likely think, "What if?" for the rest of your life.
You'll never know if you don't try. Don't be afraid of failure. Life is just one big experiment, and it's your job to learn from those experiments. That's how you discover what works and what doesn't. That's how you discover what's possible.
And even if you do "fail," that's an incredibly more valuable experience than waiting out the clock on a mediocre career. So, don't give up on your dreams just yet.
5. Can I Reach My Full Potential In This Role? In This Career?
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When we feel like we have more to contribute to society, that's a sign we haven't yet reached our full potential. Do you feel like you're wasting your potential at your current job? Do you think you'd reach your full potential in another career?
Really think about what you want your professional legacy to be. It's a lot harder to get up in the morning when you don't find fulfillment in your work. When it comes time for you to retire, are you going to look back on your career and feel like you could have accomplished much, much more with those 50 years?
Everyone has unique gifts, skills, and expertise. When we focus on developing ourselves as individuals, as businesses-of-one, it's a lot easier to share those things with the world. Give yourself a chance to reach your full potential. If you haven't taken our free quizzes yet, your results will help you do just that. You may be surprised by what you can accomplish.
Before you get back into the same routine at work this year, we hope you take a few minutes to ask yourself these career questions. Listen carefully to how you answer them. You may need to make a career resolution or two.
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