Disasters

I was reminded of this yesterday.  Because of a broken sprinkler head in the office next door in October (!), my office was flooded, and, after 12 weeks of everything-in-boxes, the new floor and carpeting were finally installed Friday.  While we sat out in the hall, surrounded by boxes and office furniture – without the computers or Internet (EEK!) connected -  we decided to  reorganize the layout of the office.

By mid-afternoon, we were back (still in boxes), but with a wonderful new layout in the office!  I’m now SO HAPPY that sprinkler head broke in October.  If it hadn’t, we’d still have the old, inefficient layout (unchanged in 12 years).  Of course, now we must to unpack, but we’ll be going through the stuff in the boxes, and (I’ve been informed) throwing out old useless stuff and shredding old documents.  Gee, that does sound like fun…

But we’ll be happier, more efficient, and have much more room when we’re done.

Layoffs

In 1994, I was laid off by my employer, 12 years short of my 25-years-with-the-company gold watch ceremony.  It was a common occurrence around here as one of the area’s largest employers – number 2 in the computer industry and number 38 (or so) in the Fortune 500 at the time – was in the process of going out of business, although most of us didn’t know it then.

Bud – One of the guys who was laid off at the same time I was (we’ll call him “Bud”) had really hated his job and despised his boss.  I sympathized with him for a while, but after several months, I wondered why he stayed FOR YEARS in a job he hated.  Complaining about his manager seemed to be his favorite thing to the point that I doubt he was doing his job very well.

Being laid off was the kick in the pants he needed.  It booted  him out of his uncomfortable “comfort zone”  where he was so unhappy and barely successful.  He changed career direction from high tech to non-profit, following his passion and making a bigger contribution to society.  He’s also much more successful and happy than if he’d stayed in his old job.  He had to find other things to talk about, but I bet he lives longer.

Me – I was no longer glad to work for the company and I was happy to leave, although terrified when that first “pay day” came without a pay check to deposit.  Thousands of people lost their jobs during that summer of 1994 as the company attempted to “right size” back to competitiveness.  But the problem wasn’t the employees  (I don’t think it usually is!).  The problem was management setting – and sticking to – the wrong course for the mid-90’s business environment and/or not responding appropriately or quickly enough to competition in the marketplace.

Now I have my own company, and I LOVE it!  I’ve learned so much since that layoff – more than a PhD, I think!  Many people laid off with me, or at least from the same company, have thrived.  The Internet was just launching into our culture in 1994, and many seized the opportunity it presented.  Many moved on to great careers and greater success.  Some, of course, did not.

Read my Don’t Be a Layoff Surviver blog post for my most important lesson from being laid off, and follow Tory Johnson’s articles in Fired-to-Hired Transition for ideas on how to proceed to your next better job and career.  If you’re feeling like starting your own business, as I did, read Nancy Collamer’s “Lifestyle-Friendly Careers” articles for good solid advice.

Bottom Line

It’s not you – you’re not “broken.”  Your career just took an unexpected turn, and this will work out for you – perhaps, like Bud and me, you’ll be much happier as a result.  What is next for you could be a whole lot better that what you’ve left behind.

Don’t spend a lot of time having a personal pity party – get over it, and move on.  If the anger comes out in interviews or your next job, get help dealing with it. Don’t let the anger or hurt feelings  sabotage you.  Often, joining a job search support group will be a big help: ideas, NETWORKING, even just the knowledge that you’re not alone and that very smart and capable people are also unemployed right now is strangely comforting.

Try to view the layoff as an opportunity to decide what job would really make you happy.  Read the classic “What Color Is Your Parachute” book to help you understand yourself better.

Yes, being unemployed in a bad economy is scary.  No question.  On the other hand being employed isn’t a whole lot better right now, wondering if/when job loss will occur.  Being employed does pay better.  No question about that either.

So, live long and prosper – in your NEXT job!

About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg.

The dictionary says that to “survive” is “to remain alive or in existence.”  Surviving is certainly MUCH better than the alternative.

However, think back to the last time you graduated from something.  For most of us, a graduation is the beginning of a new phase of life.  We take what we have learned in the recent past, and apply that knowledge to move in a new direction.

How Is a Layoff Like a Graduation?

1.  A layoff is VERY educational.

Some of the things I learned when I was laid off in 1994 coincide with what other layoff graduates have told me they learned from their layoffs:

• Logic in who remains and who leaves is usually missing. Being in the wrong place (department, pay grade, job title, function, etc.) at the wrong time (headcount reduction time) determines who is laid off and who is not.
• Large employers tend to view employees as “resources” to be added or subtracted from the headcount as dictated by the stock market.
• Large, even VERY large, companies are not “safe havens” from economic realities.
• Some things are beyond my control (e.g. the economy, skill of my employer’s senior executives, etc.).
• Some things are NOT beyond my control (e.g. who I work for, the job I have, the industry/profession I work in, etc.)
• Waiting for the proverbial “ax to fall” is high stress.
• Still working for an employer after layoffs have begun means more work for fewer people with important things going undone. And morale is in the toilet.
• It’s kind of a relief to know that the “the worst” has happened.  No need to worry about it any more.

2. You don’t have to explain in detail why you left.

Like graduating students leave school, laid off employees leave the employer.

All you need to do is say you’ve been laid off as the result of a down-sizing by your employer that reduced, or eliminated, your department or sub-group.  Particularly with very public layoffs (Lehman Brothers, for example), it’s clear why you’re in the job market.

3.  A layoff is the start of a new phase of your life.

This could be the time figure out what your dream job is and pursue it.  People who were laid off from the same high-tech employer I was became:

• A potter (as in maker of pottery) – new field
• A competitive intelligence professional – new field
• A supply chain project manager – same field
• A corporate trainer – new field
• A freelance writer – new field
• An author – new field
• A career coach – related field (was in HR)
• An attorney – new field
• Several entrepreneurs – all new

My Most Important Lesson: A Career Is a Journey, Not a Destination

Just like a graduation or a layoff is a beginning, as well as an ending.

No one employer or job is “your career.”  They are part of the process, way stations in the journey that is your career.  I think I know where the journey is taking me, but it has made a few unexpected turns in the past, and there are probably a few left in the future.

Bottom Line

From the beginning, I considered myself to be a layoff “graduate.” I often got funny looks from fellow “alumni” but I think it helped me see the experience in a more positive light.

In the long run, that layoff was a gift to me.  Of course, it didn’t feel that way at the time. That first “payday” with no paycheck to deposit was terrifying.  But, the layoff freed me to do this, to  run Job-Hunt.org.  Which I love.

And, I’m not done learning, yet, I hope!  I may not have a new degree or certification, but I am still learning new things

What can you learn from your layoff?  What do you really want to do next?

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About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg.

So, if your employer has a blog, check on it occasionally to see what is posted.  If the company is large enough to have an independent blog covering it, check that too – looking for the layoff info.

This is being viewed as a more “personal” way to make the announcements and, obviously, an attempt to try to control the message spin.  Other interpretations will happen, none-the-less, but at least employers are trying to be more communicative.

Overall, I think this is a good thing.  We’ll see how it develops.

4 Layoff Facts:

1. Layoffs should NOT be taken personally, except by the CEO. For everyone else, a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time – not bad performance!

2. A job seeker is more interesting to another employer when still employed (a.k.a. “passive” job seeker). Unemployed (a.k.a. “active” ) job seekers are less desirable.

3. Employers are NOT be happy to discover that an employee is looking for a new job, and that can hasten the  job loss.

4. Once the layoffs have begun, the longer an employee stays in that situation, the greater credibility gap they will have with potential new employers. The logic is that the people who leave earliest are the best performers with the most salable skills while the ones who stay until the end are the poor performers with few options (or they’d have left sooner).

3 Layoff Survival Strategies

1. Run a “stealth job search” so the current employer doesn’t terminate employment for “disloyalty.”

2. Practice Layoff Self-Defense -

Set up a job-hunting-only e-mail account at Yahoo!, Google, MSN, etc.

Print (or have printed) job-hunting “networking” business cards with personal contact information on it, like the job-hunting-only e-mail account, and even the new job target.

Start collecting the personal contact information of co-workers, “just in case” the workplace relationship disappears.

Increase networking outside the employer’s organization –  attending professional, industry, local association meetings.

Expand the LinkedIn network; set up (or revise and update) Facebook, Twitter, etc. profiles and visibility.

3. GET FOCUS! – Figure out what the next job should be and who good potential employers would be. An unfocused job search (”Oh, I could do anything you need…”) is a VERY long job search.

For more information and practical advice from a 2-time layoff “graduate” (me), see Job-Hunt’s Layoff Center

Good luck!