Gone girls @ work
Women react differently than men when losing a job. Here’s how to face the future
EMBARRASSED. Shocked. Curled up in the fetal position. Women who’ve been fired confess they’ve gone through all these reactions — but overthinking your next move or getting paralyzed by fear won’t serve you as you try to bounce back.
In today’s workforce, millennials can expect to hold six jobs before age 30, says Wendy Sachs, an Emmy Award-winning TV news producer and the author of “Fearless and Free: How Smart Women Pivot — and Relaunch Their Careers” (Amacom).
Facing this reality, “A study found that men will apply for a job if they meet 60 percent of the qualifications, while women will only apply if they meet 100 percent. Fear and shaky self-confidence are the root of what holds women back from taking a chance in a new direction,” says Sachs.
To move forward after getting sacked, follow Sachs’ advice for reinvention.
Dig deep
Getting fired is painful. Take a moment to reflect on why it happened. Sometimes circumstances were beyond your control, such as when a company folds. Understand where your value lies, what your skill set is and how it is applicable to other jobs. Muster the grit and resilience to pick yourself up again.
Fake it until you make it
Unless you’re going to be an astrophysicist, you can grow into most jobs today. When interviewing, you have to present yourself as bigger than you’re really feeling. Believe in yourself, and sell yourself so someone will take a chance on you.
Think like an entrepreneur
Everyone is her own brand today — people can visit your LinkedIn profile to get an idea of your background instantly.
Take ownership of what you do and position yourself as you want the world to see you. Don’t be squeamish about your accomplishments — self-promote to help cultivate your image, and create opportunities.
Tap into your inner Wonder Woman
Be aware of how you present yourself — when speaking and e-mailing. Today, success is less about your skill set and more about your mind-set.
Seek expert help
Log into sites such as TheMuse.com and talk with counselors who can review your resume. You may need to adapt the language on it to the specific job you’re applying to.
Develop your female squad
There’s an incredible shift today with a sisterhood of women looking to raise each other up. Female networks trying to support other women, such as Ellevest, Levo League, and Tech LadyMafia, exist across all different industries, so tap into an online women’s group. There’s real value when people are willing to share resources.
Be multi qualified
Try online courses to comply with today’s job descriptions, gain working knowledge and get up to speed on skills in which you need to be more proficient.
This will help get you through the door for that all-important interview.
I’m a new head of human resources and just discovered at my new place of employment that employees get paid overtime for all paid hours in the work week, not just their hours worked.
So. if someone takes a vacation day on Monday and then works 36 hours over the next four days, they get one and a half time in overtime pay for those four hours because you include the eight hours of vacation pay. Isn’t that crazy? Can I change the policy?
Because overtime pay must be paid after 40 hours for most non-exempt workers, conceivably someone could take three days to sit on a beach, then work two long days and have their three beach days count towards their overtime eligible hours. Crazy indeed, but it’s allowable under the law.
Want to know what else is allowable? Changing the policy so that only hours actually worked count towards overtime pay.
But, changing the policy won’t make you a popular new head of HR and it is a business decision that the CEO and the business operators should own too.
Calculate how much money the change in policy will save the company to see if it’s actually worth the headache before advocating the change — and beware, since employees will blame the messenger. Gregory Gian grande is a chief human resources and communications officer in the media industry. E-mail your career questionstogotogreg@nypost.com. And follow Greg on Twitter: @greggiangrande.