Losing your job

More and more people are starting to talk not about if, but when, people will start losing their jobs due to the down turn in the economies. Certainly more so in the US but I am seeing signs in other western countries as well, including Australia.

Over the last few months I have written twice on the topic and today I saw a post from the CareerHub on the same topic. So I felt it is a good time to review what to do when you lose your job.

First panic! Actually no that is the WORSE thing you can do.

Basically there are three things you need to be doing. Firstly recover emotionally, second ensure you and your family can financially survive, and third make yourself as attractive as possible to potential employers. Period.

Below are a few more activities based on my experience and the 3 posts on what to do if you lose your job.

• Allow yourself to grieve, but don’t dwell on the situation you can’t change the past. You need to get back to it as quickly as possible.
• Stay focused on getting a new job
• Network like you have never networked before
• Update your resume
• Ensure you take advantage of all severance benefits offered
• Don’t get lazy & sit around doing nothing
• Start promoting yourself in a way that suits your industry. This could be blogging, Twitter, volunteering, posting YouTube videos, participating in industry forums, commenting on blogs, anything to enhance your brand
• Keep a schedule similar to your old one
• Update or create profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook, and country/industry specific social networking sites
• Talk to people, loved ones, trusted colleagues, professional counsellors depending on your needs
• Develop real actionable plans on how to go forward
• Register for government benefits, don’t be shy
• Revised your household budget

(Yes I know there is irony writing this post with my personal situation but to be honest I am following a lot of my own advice.)