Recently, I saw a tweet mentioning that a certain person had 30 days to find a new job or they were most likely going to be fired!
It seems extremely harsh, but it’s also far better than being let go on the spot. Without getting into the politics of who probably did what, I want to examine some options to help you cope with the situation.
This article is intended to address the stresses of being unemployed. It provides some ideas on what to do in the future, but this wasn’t explicitly intended to be a career coaching article, there are plenty of those already out there! 🙂
Don’t Be Bitter
Don’t burn bridges! Being bitter leads to a careless and angry attitude. This is terrible mindset for the time you have remaining, and even more disruptive to the journey you have ahead of you. You must stay positive, you must remain grateful, and you must only focus on the positive.
While it may be hard to accept the reality that has just been handed to you, you have to look at the glass as half-full. It might even help to sit down and make a list of positive things that may come of this:
- Did you hate the job? Perfect, they just did you a favor! Many people are too scared to let go of a job, even if they hate it.
- Did you hate the commute? Great! Now you have a chance to look closer to home. Aren’t you tired of worrying about gas prices anyways?
- Did you dislike your boss? Now you have an opportunity to ensure the people you work with fit you well.
- Did the job take too many hours from you?
It’s easy to worry, and become frantic, but remind yourself: You’re certainly not the first person to end up in this situation. In fact, there’s about 10% of the workforce who share your same concerns.
Don’t Become Insecure
Getting fired can be a terribly discouraging, devaluing experience. You can’t help but to come up with tons of questions:
- Am I not good enough?
- Am I worthless?
- I thought Person X was bad, but they fired me, what does that really say?
- I tried my hardest, am I really that bad?
- What will my spouse think of me?
- What will my family or co-workers think?
These are all insecure questions that serve no purpose other than to destroy you mentally and perpetuate the issue at hand. Stop thinking of these questions, and stop devaluing your character. At the very worst, the job wasn’t a good fit for you. I’m going to get religious on you here for a second as well. Jesus died for you, whether you believe that or not, how could you feel worthless?
You are an amazing, wonderful creation, and your value goes beyond a job qualification. Consider what it took for you to come into being! You went from a cell from each of your parents, into a human being within 9 months. There are people who love you and care about you, don’t ever think that you’re worthless!
Evaluate What You Want
You’ve got a new lease on life, what do you want to do? Total up your bills, find out what you need to live on, and figure out how you can make that money doing something that you love. Cut out frivolous bills, even if you only cut them until your employed again. Look up salaries for careers that you might enjoy, and look for companies that you might like working for. There are many great websites out there to do this like:
Obviously, you may not be able to do everything that you love, but there might be something. Now is your time to take the leap you’ve been too scared to do. If you’ve wanted to become an entrepreneur, and you’re in a financial position to do so, then do it!
Please be completely objective about this, I would suggest meeting with a SCORE Counselor (it’s completely free) and they can help you figure out if you’re in the right financial position. Starting a business with SCORE as your guide is a very intelligent step into the entrepreneurial world!
Tap Your Network
Networking is important and these are the times to tap into your network for help. For times outside of these, you should be helping your network to build goodwill. Make some phone calls, send some emails, have some lunches, and see what’s out there. It might be good to get a job with some friendly faces you already know.
This will get your name floating around, and it will let you see what the job climate is really like. Your network will be the best connection to the job market you have. If the network doesn’t pan out, then that is OK, but give it a try.
Don’t Lose Hope
As I said earlier, you’re in the company of many other unemployed people now. There have been unemployed people before you, there will be unemployed people after you, and there is no shame in it. It is a reality that exists, and we just have to deal with it. Don’t lose hope, stay positive, and keep looking.
Spend time with your family and friends, and don’t stress out over this. I’m sure you have many responsibilities, but don’t let those things stop you from remembering what is important. This is a temporary situation, and if you can keep a level head, you’ll be out of it in no time.