Dealing with JOB LOSS AND UNEMPLOYMENT STRESS

MOST people are unprepared and succumb to isolation, especially when holding a prominent post with high financial remunerations. A merger or downsizing might have been the cause of the job loss. Perhaps, you never found a niche within the business and were not performing to company standards. Whatever the circumstances, there are things to consider once you lose your job.

Some of the practical strategies to looking forward are:

• Write about how you feel

Include all the things you would like to have said to your previous bosses but did not. Continue expressing your feelings over and over until you feel emptied. Do this once a day for a week. Afterwards do this anytime you have flashbacks.

American psychologist James W. Pennebaker had a group of unemployed people write down their feelings about being laid off for twenty minutes, five days in a row. He had a similar group of unemployed people write about their time schedule for their job search for twenty minutes, five days in a row. In the months that followed more of the people who wrote about their emotions found employment. Afterwards the emotions writing group said they wished someone had told them about what to do sooner.

• Breaking the news to family members

Hundreds of thousands of excellent employees all over the world face unemployment through no fault of their own. Be honest with your family or they won’t understand the strain and tension that is suddenly in your home. If you failed to do so you will rob them of the opportunity to support you in your time of crisis. By telling them of your problem it can be a golden opportunity to get closer as a family through the teamwork needed to pull through this setback.

• Deal with your emotions

If you hang on to your emotions, they will almost certainly haunt you later in the job search process. Imagine for a second that you have not dealt with the anger you are feeling toward your former boss. For example, you will take part in an interview a month from now and the potential employer asks you about your former boss. You may accidentally released your anger. This will lead the interviewer to wonder if you would use that same language to describe him in the future.

• Financial control

Many people will have to endure weeks, perhaps months, of unemployment. No matter the size of the severance package, you must keep a tight rein on your pocketbook. You do not need a career crisis and a financial crisis at the same time. Take steps to keep your personal budget aligned with your limited cash flow.

• Be Health Conscious

Those who feel a loss of control or who are mourning over their job loss may neglect their health. Their sleep, exercise regime and diet may suffer, triggering a downward spiral. Eat healthy meals and maintain a regular routine and exercise programme. By doing so your sense of purpose and priorities will remain clear. The endorphins released from physical exercise will keep depression and anxiety at bay, as well as keep your body strong and resistant to the stress that comes with uncertainty.

• Strategic thinking

When choosing your next career, ask what industry you want to work in, what kind of culture you want to work in, what benefits you are looking for. “Interview” any company that interviews you.

• Start looking for work immediately

Many newly unemployed people assume they will find a job quickly and decide to take a little vacation before initiating their job search. As appealing as it sounds, this is a bad idea. You may be misjudging the job market and your ability to secure a comparable position, especially when unemployment is high and the economy is struggling to recover from a downturn.

• Start with the simple

There are things that are easy to do, such as reading a book on your ideal career, doing some research on the industry you are considering, having informal conversations with a few of your contacts. Start with these activities to get used to the idea of change. Then begin the more challenging activities of redoing your resume, going on informational interviews and participating in job shadowing.

• Consult experts

Invest time with career counsellors, business coaches and consultants. They will give you resources, advice and strategies. Read books, go to seminars, surf the Internet. Other perspectives are valuable because they are objective and will assist you in making a decision you can be confident about.

• Talk to headhunters

Headhunters are a great resource for more than just jobs. They know competitive salaries, hiring trends of the industries they serve, what new job titles are being created and which are becoming obsolete. The more headhunters you talk to, the more current information you will have to help you make an informed decision.

• Networking

Have a large and wide-ranging network of contacts that you can always draw from, no matter what your employment circumstances. That network could be your advance warning system or the conduit for information about other jobs and opportunities in good times and bad. Knowing you have that resource at your disposal will reduce your anxiety and panic, should the worst-case scenario of losing your job actually come true. Networking is valuable to you in the business world.

• Tell the truth

The reality is that some potential employers will shy away from you when they find out you were fired and the reason behind it. In some cases, you may not be able to avoid this if the employer does not have an open mind or if the reason you were fired is very serious.

In reality, many dread the termination ethos as moving from a comfort zone to an unknown sector in being unemployed further aggravate the situation. But more importantly is to be positive, reassess the current situation in terms of financial backup, close family support and continue to adventure in the market for suitable jobs. Life has to go on and embrace the change quickly to be able to readjust to getting a new job. While you may find losing your job hard to deal with, most career experts say the best thing you can do is get right back into the job market even if you have got a severance package rather than sit around being discouraged. Sometimes being fired or downsized is just the motivation we need to make a change in our careers, our lives.