12 Strategies for Dealing with Job Loss

In the previous post, we looked at the stages of grief in the job loss or any other process.  Knowing what to expect or just being able to label your feelings in a known and understood system makes it somewhat easier to deal with the stages.  But knowing the names of the stages doesn’t help you get back on your feet and into the business world.  My own experience, plenty of research and work with actual coaching clients has led me to develop the following strategies for dealing with job loss.

1. Keep a personal journal.  Your emotional rollercoaster has begun.  Be aware of your feelings and emotions and record your thoughts in a journal.  The key is being honest with yourself in recording your thoughts.  Sometimes just the act of writing down your anger or fears allows you to release them.  When you see your fears reduced to words, they don’t seem so bad, or better, you see them for what they are.  Remember that grief takes time.  Processing your emotions by writing them down will help keep a check on your stress, which will be a tough challenge.
2. Develop a networking list.  Create a master list of everyone you know from your personal life and your business life.  Whether you decide to get a job or start a business, you’ll need to network to be successful.  Don’t start calling these people yet, but do start making a list.  Once you’ve determined which direction your career will take, you’ll have a ready-made list of contacts. 
3. Create an elevator pitch for unemployment.  Why aren’t you at work?  You need a story to tell.  Start crafting your explaination for why you lost your job.  I’m not saying to make up a fairy tale, but don’t let when someone asks you for the first time be the first time you’ve thought of what you’ll say.  It will be awkward and not having a reasonable story to tell will make you even more uncomfortable.  Be honest, but tell the story from your perspective.  After crafting your message, try it out on your friends.  Saying it out loud to someone else will help you get the message right.
4. Identify your fears.  Fear and panic are the second stage of grief.  Unless you are independently wealthy and don’t really have to work, you are going to have some concerns about your finances and the well-being of your family.  Many of these fears are baseless nightmares created in your mind.  By listing them on paper, you can fairly evalute them.  Many of your fears will probably turn out to be creations of your mind with little or no likelihood of coming true.  Discuss your list with your spouse and when appropriate, your family.  Don’t hide unemployment from your kids.  They know something is wrong and an honest discussion will quiet their fears of the unknown and help explain why schedules have changed and things are different.
5. Create a new schedule.  Your new job is working on you and your career.  It’s time to get back in the saddle and take control of your schedule.  You’ll need to create a schedule that works in your life.  Unless you have a home office where you can close the door and get away form the kids and dog and other distractions, you’ll have to find a schedule that allows you to work with the family that’s also occupying the house.  In fact, they’re used to being there and doing their thing unimpeeded by you.  Create a space and gather all the necessary supplies and furniture necessary to work.  If your best time is early in the mornings or late at night, go with whatever works.  But it’s important to create a regular schedule to work and not allow yourself to become addicted to daytime TV or other non-productive activities that don’t help you move your career and financial future forward.  Whatever your schedule, treat this time like a job.
6. Brainstorm your joys.  Now that you’ve worked through the bad stuff, set-up your office area and created a schedule, it’s time to get to work.  Think back on your career and about all the times when your work or related activities brought you joy.  Include civic and religious activities as you create a list of those activities that you really enjoyed.  You may remember thinking that you’d continue doing these things for free if only you could keep them going.  If you are relatively young in your career, include those activities from college or high school that really made you happy or brought you joy.
7. List your accomplishments.  Looking back on your work career (including civic and religious activities), make a list of your greatest hits.  What are the accomplishments and activities of which you are most proud?  If you’re having trouble with the list, talk to your spouse or a couple of close business associates.  Identify those times when you were really in the zone and making things happen in your organization.  Remembering the good times will help you reaffirm your worth and self-esteem.
8. Create career vignettes.  Using your lists of joys and accomplishments, create vignettes of those activities that will form the basis of the talking points for future job interviews or business creation work.  When you can identify  the activity, accomplishment and emotions involved in those stories, you’ll start to see patterns.  These patterns of activity or behavior should serve to guide you in your decisions about your future direction.  Whether that pursuit is in forming a new venture or working withing an existing organization, your brainstorming and analysis of joys and accomplishments will help guide you into directions that best suit your personality and values.
9. Brainstorm your strengths and weaknesses.  An honest evaluation of your strengths and weaknesses will help guide you evaluate opportunities and necessary skill and technology training.  After creating a list of strengths and weaknesses, have a spouse or trusted colleuge assist you in completing the lists.  Examine your weaknesses and determine which items on the list need work.  If some of the items are holding you back, determine the best way to resolve those weaknesses through education, training or other appropriate means.  Look at the strengths and determine which items you can exploit to your advantage.  Are some of your strengths not strong enough?  What can you do to improve your overall situation?  Make a habit of learning something new every week or every day.  Take advantage of your time to expand your horizons and improve your mind. 
10. Determine your new career objective.  Items six through nine should help you determine your new direction.  Will you become a business owner or remain an employee.  Starting a business isn’t for everyone.  You’ll need capital, patience, a never-ending supply of energy and an ability to deal with rejection and triumph, without taking any of it personally.   Maybe you can get a job while you start planning for your eventual transition into a business of your own.  Or perhaps you’ve identified your skills as a salesperson and you just need to find the right firm and product line.  Whatever your new objective, try to clearly identify the objective and narrow the focus.  Many people opt for the shotgun approach thinking it gives them more options, when in fact, it does just the opposite.  Use the rifle approach of pinpointing a single objective and crafting all your plans and strategies around that objective.
11. Set goals.  With your singularly identified objective clearly written, it’s time to set some goals.  Start with the end in mind.  Identify where you want to be and in what time frame.  (HINT: For short-term goals, use a big calendar on the wall in front of your desk to constantly remind you of the coming deadline.)  What are the specifics of your plan in terms of time, money, resources, and position?  What are emotional benefits of accomplishing your goals?  Close your eyes and visualize your success.  What does the organization look like, feel like and how does it operate?  Create an organization chart of your organization to help identify the specifics of and serve as a goal for your success.  What are the accoutrements of your successfully accomplishing your goals?  Create and document a vision of your future.  Write it down!
12. Make a plan.  What do you need to get there?  Starting at the end, work backwards and create a plan to help you achieve each milestone along the way to your ultimate success.  What resources do you need?  What training and skills?  What other people or organizations will be required to help?  Focus your activities on accomplishing goals and moving your plan forward.  Activities that don’t relate to accomplishing your goals and forwarding your plan should be pushed to the back and contemplated only when you are ahead of schedule or have free time.  Don’t let other people’s agenda sidetrack your plan.