Being Downsized SUCKS! BUT You can rebound!!

If you have never gone through the confusion, frustration, embarrassment, concern, fear, heartache, trauma and anger of a lay off let me prepare you...IT SUCKS!

Don't let all of these people tell you it will be alright. Take time and go through your own process. I needed to. I was the recruiting manager for a major company in it's industry, I was aware of an impending lay off but was told I was not to be effected. So on go the meetings and after all of the other meetings I got called into my own personal meeting where I was given the news.

I felt like a complete idiot that I did not see this coming. I felt betrayed by my boss and others in Sr level roles within my business unit. They knew they HAD to know, I mean who makes broad strokes with a brush without knowing who is going to be impacted. Right? They claim they had no knowledge until the 5:30pm the day before I was laid off. OK if that is the case then why not give me a heads up phone call so I can be prepared? I had been a dutiful employee, I worked hard, out performed my peers in other business units so why didn't you have the guts to give me a call out of loyalty and let me know.

So after I got over the shock which took a couple of hours, I got on the phone. (It only took a couple of hours because I was getting a severance package.) I got on the phone because I NEED to work. I like work. I like what I do so here is what I did to rebound.

1. I got on the phone and started calling into my network and let people know I was looking
2. I updated my resume and highlighted my skills
3. I posted that resume on the job boards and of all places Craigslist (more on this)
   
4. I took a hard look at what I wanted to do with my career. I decided I wanted to stay in my chosen profession so I scoured the job boards, blogs, industry sites, Craigslist and LinkedIN for jobs
5. I ONLY applied for positions I was qualified for. (Don't waste your time throwing mud against the wall and applying for everything, but also don't be so selective as to not apply to those jobs at your pay grade and one lower)

A week passed and nothing. I continued to call into my network and farm leads, follow up on contacts. I was working the system. As a recruiter I knew how to do that and more. I kept my resume updated and continued to apply for roles within my scope of experience.

Then it happened, I got a call, then another, then another, then another, then another...I attribute this to my not just sitting on my pita couch crying "poor me" or just sitting around on my severance. Had I done that I would not have found my new jobs in less than 3 weeks of being laid off.

How did i get a job? Was it the many phone calls I made to my network? NO Well then it had to be the multiple resumes I sent to job advertisements? NO Well then it must have been a call I got from my resume on one of the major job boards? NOPE not that either.

The position I ultimately took is actually a better position with more potential in both personal growth and income than my last role. And it came from the place where I almost did not put my resume, Craigslist. I did not find this job it found me.

Bottom line is you need to take some time and process your lay off but do NOT look at it as a personal failure because you could not have done anything about a RIF (reduction in force). The guys with the pencils in corporate that do not know what you do on a daily basis make those decisions. Keep you chin up and trudge on.

If you need help with a resume lift or critique do not hesitate to respond to this blog with your resume. I have over 15 years in recruitment and I would be more than willing to help out all of those who ask.

Times are tough out there and it does not appear they are going to get much better, BUT there are still companies hiring so don't give up!!!!