Verified by 
Depression
The Pain of Job Loss and What You Can Do About It
Strategies for coping with the emotional impact of career transition
Posted September 15, 2015
Several months ago I posted my 10 favorite career advice websites. Topping that list was the online career video library created by Randy Wooden of Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina. I've since invited Randy to write this guest article about the emotional impact of job loss and career transition...
This isn’t your daddy’s job market. For that matter, it’s not your grandfather’s either. Gone are the days when we’d join a company and remain there most all of our career.
Years ago, an unwritten agreement existed between employer and employee – an agreement to stay with each other, through thick and thin, not unlike a marriage. For better or worse (pun intended), the game’s changed.
Today we witness companies merging, moving off shore, and shifting to contract/temporary workers. And while the stigma attached to being unemployed may not be what it was 40 years ago, it’s still palpable to those going through it.
Job loss contains a very real emotional impact. Let’s take a look at several points and tips for dealing with them.
Often it’s a surprise, at least a mild one. After all, you were a valued employee. Getting laid off happens to “other” people, right? Well, now your number's come up.
Shock is probably your first reaction, followed by anger, depression and apprehension about the future. Your pride takes a hit, in large part because many people measure their worth to society by their ability to provide for loved ones and themselves. Strip away that ability and one’s self worth can take a real beating.
I understand the shock and the anger having been downsized myself… actually, fired. New management had come in, ultimately replacing almost every existing worker in the small company with “their” folks. I took small solace in realizing I was the last one to be let go, but it still came as a bit of a shock. How dare they!
Here’s the deal. It’s business. I may not like it, but companies don’t exist for the purpose of providing me with a comfortable job for life. In today’s economy, for many employers workers are viewed as expenses to be trimmed as their value diminishes or as business dictates. So it’s not necessarily personal—it happens to most all of us if we’re in the workforce for years.
Anger is a natural reaction. Grief and depression, too. Take a short time to vent, but then put your helmet on and get back into the game. No new employer wants to hear you badmouth a former company, and, when you think about it, who wants to hire someone with a bitter, downer attitude? Move on. Keep your game face on!
We all express varying levels of hope – and apprehension – about the future. That’s because we may see downsizing as a spring board to try something different, even if that “different” means performing similar work, but for a different company.
Apprehension, depression, and perhaps even fear creep in and can paralyze us. We dare not make a mistake in taking our next job. Then we’d be going on our third job in a matter of months and how would that look to any new employer? In some ways it’s like you’re on top of a mountain, staring down at a multitude of paths to descend, yet hesitant to pick one for fear of not knowing whether it’s the “right” one.
Here’s where it’s important to plan your job search. You can control your time and attitude – you can’t control whether someone will hire you. Create a plan involving researching companies, informational interviewing, networking, utilizing social media, and applying for positions. Practice your interviewing. Get help with your resume.
I encourage clients to view the job search as a series of incremental steps. Those steps could include meeting a new networking contact, a phone interview, etc. Take a sense of satisfaction that you’re doing the right things. Just as with exercise, you won’t drop 20 pounds in a week. It takes a commitment to the process to achieve the result—and it won’t happen overnight. Yes, there will be disappointments along the way. From a salesman’s perspective, gathering the “no’s” only get you closer to that coveted “yes.”
For many, our pride takes a bit hit. We don’t want people to pity or otherwise feel sorry for us. We can feel like a failure. A friend once told me, “Failure is an event, not a character trait.” Let that sink in for a minute.
While it’s easier said than done, try to look on this as yet another chapter in life… a chance to perhaps break from your comfort zone. Quite often as one door closes, another one—a better one—opens. Dr. Spencer Johnson’s book, Who Moved My Cheese, may make for some introspective and encouraging reading.
In today’s market there’s a different kind of job security. It’s the ability to successfully transition from one employer situation to another and land on your feet. It’s the ability to identify your marketable skills, to network effectively, to re-invent yourself and demonstrate real value to that next employer.
~Randy Wooden
Don't forget to check out Randy's career advice videos available for free through Goodwill's Professional Center Video Library.
__
Randy Wooden is a long-time North Carolina Triad career consultant and Director of Goodwill Industries of Northwest NC’s Professional Center, in partnership with the NCWorks Career Center. You may reach him at rwooden@goodwillnwnc.org or at (336) 776-6822. www.goodwillprofessionalcenter.org
__
Brad Waters, MSW provides career coaching and consultation to clients by phone nationwide. He specializes in working with non-traditional career seekers, entrepreneurs, creatives, introverts, Millennials, and corporate career changers. Brad helps people clarify their career direction and take action on life transitions. He holds a Master's degree in social work from the University of Michigan and is a preferred career coach for the University of Michigan Alumni Association. More info at BradWatersCoaching.com
This article may not be reproduced or published without permission from the author. If you share it, please give author credit and do not remove embedded links.
