Coping with redundancy

From efinancialcareers

Guest Comment: coping with redundancy Part I

29 April 2009

Guy Day

In Part I of a two-part series, Guy Day, managing director at recruitment agency Ambition, looks at the first steps you should take if you lose your job. Part II will be published next week and will discuss how to kick start your search for a new position.

Losing your job can be one of the most stressful events in your life, particularly if you are mid-career and have been with your employer for some time. It’s usually unexpected and its implications are often difficult to comprehend immediately. However, take heart and think positively because redundancy can also provide an excellent opportunity for you to break the mould and change direction towards a more successful career.

It's not just you

The media continues to report the decline in the world economy and the resulting job losses. Seemingly no country, no sector and no profession has been left untouched and around the world thousands of executives have been made redundant this year. Many organisations with revenue in decline have retreated to their core and profitable businesses. Rationalisations, restructurings and redundancies have resulted.

Quite often in this phase of the employment cycle, layoffs can be indiscriminate with regard to ability, length of service and value to the organisation. Back-office teams are often a target because they are non-revenue generating, and in the short term they are a less emotive cost saving.

So, the message must be - it's not just you. It's happening everywhere and you must use this fact as part of the healing process.

Drain away the pain

When you first hear of your redundancy, you may feel a range of emotions, especially anger, but also relief, uncertainty, betrayal, bitterness and sadness. All these are justifiable and normal. You should spend time coming to terms with the decision and getting the emotion out of your system as much as you can. You shouldn’t under any circumstances start to look for another job until you have calmed down and processed the news of your redundancy.

Your anger and bitterness will be evident during the selection process and will deter potential employers. If you cannot shake your loss after four to five weeks, then you may need to seek guidance from professional counsellors to help you through this stage.

Communicate with family and friends

Don’t try to hide your redundancy. It’s crucial that you explain what has happened and that there may be some changes ahead. Also tell your closest friends, although it’s probably best not to make this a general broadcast until you have a plan and can ask for specific help generating leads.

Make a financial plan

One of your immediate issues will be financial. Whether or not you have received severance pay or bonuses, you should undertake a thorough review of your budget for the year ahead. Make sure you have received all your entitlements from the organisation and that your pension payments are in order. Reduce all non-essential expenditure and assume that your new budget will need to last a full year until you are back on your feet again. Undergo the self-review process as well. Once you feel reconciled to what has happened, it’s time to move on and to think about the future.

Exit with dignity

However tempting it may be to express your real feelings during the exit process, try to harness your anger and exit professionally and with dignity. You will need the help of your former colleagues and managers in the coming months for references and contacts.

Explain your termination to potential employers

Discuss your termination and the reasons for it with your employer and your other referees. Regrettably, there is still a stigma attached to being out of work, so potential new employers may think your departure is performance related until you can convince them otherwise.

It’s important therefore that you understand the reasons for your termination so that you can communicate them with confidence to the market and so that your referees - including your former employer - can back you up verbally and in writing. You need to ensure that there is no doubt whatsoever surrounding the reasons for your departure, otherwise your job search could be damaged.

Finally, set yourself a realistic time frame for finding a new role. Be prepared that it could take several months to find the right job – more if you are seeking a specialist or senior position, or if you don’t have the requisite skills or experience. Be persistent and positive during your job search.

5 Foolproof Ways to Produce a Burning Desire for Your Goals

Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Glen of PluginID.

Whether it be getting out of debt, running a marathon, taking a much needed holiday or simply getting in shape, we all have goals. Yet whilst we do have them, and we would love to achieve them, life or other priorities sometimes get in the way.

Whatever the reason for this may be, it’s no secret that goals can be difficult to work towards and at times we need a little motivation to keep going. In this post I want to share exactly how you can build a burning desire towards your goals which will help spur you into action and get the results you’ve been waiting for.

Following are five steps that have helped me focus on and complete many of the goals in my life, I see no reason why they can’t help you do the same …

1. Make Sure You Pick the Right Goal. This is usually obvious, but if you aren’t focusing the following points on something you’re really passionate about then they aren’t going to help. Just like I couldn’t make a keen basketballer get a burning drive to compete in the knitting world championships, this is no different.

To put it simply: if you’re focused on the wrong goal, you’ll never produce a burning desire to achieve it. How do you know if you’re focused on the right goal? Well, of course, there will be different answers for different people, but usually the following test works quite well:

• If money didn’t exist would you still do it? (if your goal is a career / hobby)
• Are you working towards it already in your life?
• If I gave you $10m tomorrow would it still be in your plans?

The last question is a deal breaker because too often people have a desire for money, rather than the act that gets them to a place of financial abundance. Money won’t make you happy, but the process to get there just might. If you answered no to any of those (that apply) then you may need to re-think your desires.

2. Know that You Can Do It. If you asked most people how much they would love to complete their goals, they would tell you how amazing, fantastic and life changing it would be. How they would love to be on the journey of their ‘purpose’ and achieve the things they want in life.

So why don’t most people do it? Simple; we don’t believe that we can, so we don’t even try.

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” - David Deida

For 2 years I never thought I could make money online and spent my time just watching others become successful while I jumped from one failed project to the next. As soon as I changed my beliefs things really started to turn around for me, and now I’m working from home full-time. As a friend recently said to me, “Get out of your own way”.

You are the only one holding you back. You can complete your goals, every single one of them. Yet, until you firmly believe this, it won’t sink in because knowing you can complete something is one of the best catalysts for generating the pure drive needed to be successful.

3. Keep Notes of Success by Others. It’s very likely that whatever you want to achieve, someone has came along and done it before you. Who are they? How did they do it? What helped them along the way? These are questions that you need to answer, as in the answers may lie some valuable help to aid you in your own journey.

Not only will it help in getting to your destination, but seeing others do it is a great way to know that you can do it as well. I want to make my living online so I follow others who have been able to do the same; I see what works for them and see how I can apply their tactics to my own journey.

This is something very easy to do and I’m sure you’ll find it to be highly effective.

4. Find Companions on the Same Journey. One of the most comforting things in times of need is when you find other people with the same ‘problems’ or other people on the same ‘mission’ as you are. And when you want to produce that extra focus for achieving your goals, it’s no different.

When I got into internet marketing it was nice to find others on forums that were just starting off and in the same position as me. When I wanted to become more social and pushed myself to do just that (public speaking, going out more etc) then I know my less social friends really appreciated knowing that I had once been in their position.

Finding others on the same journey will help you have someone you can measure up against and someone who will keep you encouraged to stay on track.

5. Make Use of your R.A.S.. Our RAS, which stands for Reticular Activating System, and, without getting too technical, has a job to basically to ‘home in’ on things that we should be focusing on. For example if you are reading a newspaper in your living room and one of your children is playing quietly with their toys, it probably won’t affect your attention.

On the other hand, if whilst reading your paper a brown grizzly-bear walked into the room, your attention would be on it instantly and your body would start taking necessary action to help you get out of the situation. Our R.A.S. focuses on things of known importance and priority to us, so if you like you could also ‘train it’ to become a goal-seeking mechanism of sorts.

Every morning, for no more than 5 minutes I visualize what it would be like to achieve my goals. I see myself being successful, having my preferred end result and how it would feel. This keeps me focused on my goal and tells my body “This is what is important to me, stay focused on it”.
In Summary
We all have the ability to make goals and achieve them, every single one of you reading this. Believe you can do it, set a plan to do it, find others on the journey and monitor how they’ve done it.

Some goals will have an end result, a stop sign. Others will be a process i.e. making money online, but whatever they are, just make sure you do one thing: enjoy the process. Right now is all we have; don’t see the journey as a means to an end.

The joy you get from the result is temporary; the joy you get from the experience lasts forever.

Glen traveled to South Africa at 18 years old where he didn’t know one single person. In that time he started PluginID, a site which aims to help you be who you want to be and live the life you want to live.

A Guide to Beating the Fears That Are Holding You Bac

“Every time we choose safety, we reinforce fear.” - Cheri Huber

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.

Fear of something bad happening in the future is one of the things that make us human.

Animals might fear an immediate danger, that is happening right now, but only we fear something that might happen, that isn’t happening now, that isn’t even showing its ugly face at the moment.

This fear, some might say, is necessary … it stops us from doing something stupid. But I’ve found most of these fears to be unnecessary, to be baseless, to be holding us back from achieving something.

I recently asked my Twitter friends: “What fear is holding you back?” Their responses included:

• failure
• abandonment/rejection
• intimacy
• success
• being broke
• not being good enough

I think the last one — not being good enough — is actually at the root of all the others. We fear we’ll fail because we’re not good enough. We fear we’ll lose our relationships, that we’ll be abandoned, that we’ll be rejected … because we’re not good enough. We fear intimacy for the very same reason — we might get rejected because we’re not good enough. Even the fear of success is based on the worry that we’re not good enough.

Do you have this fear? That you’re not good enough? I have, for all my life, and I still have it today.

But here’s the thing: having the fear is natural. Letting it stop you from going after your dreams is a tragedy.

I did this, for well over a decade of my adult life. I let the fear of not being good enough stop me from even trying, from even daring to dream.

It turned out that my fears were baseless. I am good enough. I’m not perfect, but who is?

When I was able to overcome this fear of not being good enough, this fear of failure and rejection, and put myself out there in the world, I succeeded. I found out that I was good enough.

And I still have this same fear — I still worry that I’m not good enough, that I’ll fail and flop on my face in front of 100,000 people … but I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t. Even the most successful people — Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, Paul McCartney, J.K. Rowling, et al — they have this fear, even if they don’t show it. But they don’t let it hold them back.

How can you do this? Let’s look into it.

“The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.” - Sven Goran Eriksson

How to Beat Your Fears
There is no step-by-step program to beating your fears, but here’s what I’ve learned, first-hand and from others.

1. First, acknowledge your fear. This is a huge first step. If you do just this today, you’ve done something great. Many of us have these fears, but they are at the back of our mind, unnoticed, unacknowledged, as we try to ignore them and pretend they’re not there. But they are there. And they affect us, every day, all our lives. So acknowledge the fear.
2. Write it down. What’s your fear? Write it on a piece of paper. Writing it down not only acknowledges that you have it — bringing it out into the light — but it externalizes the fear. It takes the fear from the dark lurking places in the back of your mind, where it has power over you, out into the light of day, outside of you, where you have power over the fear. Take control over it by writing it down. It is now outside you. You can do something about it. I personally like to crumple it up and stomp on it, but you can do whatever you like. Post it on your fridge as a reminder of your enemy.
3. Feel the fear. You’ve acknowledged it, but you’re still afraid of it. You’re reluctant to even have this fear, perhaps even embarrassed about it. Well, no more. Recognize that you’re not alone, that we ALL have these fears, that we all think we might not be good enough. Yes, even the amazing Barack, the amazing Jessica Alba, the amazing Al Pacino. They have the same fears as you do. I sure do. Repeat after me: there’s nothing wrong with having this fear. Now allow yourself to feel it. Experience it fully. Bask in this fear. It isn’t as bad as you think. It’s a part of you, but it doesn’t control you. From djbarker on Twitter: “Feel the fear & do it anyway.”
4. Ask yourself: what’s the worst thing that can happen? Often it’s not as bad as we think. Do you fear failing in a new career? What would happen if you did? You’d get another job. You’d move on. You’d live. Do you fear being rejected by someone of the opposite sex? What would happen if you were? You’d lick your wounds, you’d find someone else who is more suited for you, you’d live. Do you fear being broke? What would happen if you were? You’d cut back on your expenses, perhaps ask family or friends to help you out for a little bit. You’d find a way to make money. You’d live.
5. Just do it. To repeat: feel the fear and do it anyway. To beat the fear, you have to just do it. See below for some tips on doing this, but what works for me is not thinking, just acting. Like when you want to jump off a waterfalls into the pool below: don’t think about it. Just jump! It’s an exhilarating feeling. I fear public speaking, but when I get up and just do it, I feel great. From Jade Craven on Twitter: “I fear everything. I’ve recently decided to ignore my fears and just go for it! So many opportunities have come as a result.”
6. Prepare yourself for battle. When you’re going to take on an adversary, you prepare yourself. You arm yourself, and have a battle plan, and train yourself. Do this in your battle against your fear: arm yourself, have a battle plan, train yourself. If you want to be a musician but you fear failure … practice, practice, practice, then come up with a plan to succeed, then get all the skills and info you need to implement the plan, then practice some more. Then go out and implement the plan!
7. Be in the moment. Fear of failure (and other similar fears) are fears of the future. We get caught up in worrying about what might happen. Instead, banish all thoughts of the future. Banish even thoughts of past mistakes and failures. Now focus on right now. Do something right now to beat your fears, to pursue your dreams, and forget about what might happen. Just do it, now, in the moment. When you find yourself thinking about the past or future, bring yourself back in the moment and focus on what you’re doing right at this moment.
8. Small steps. Conquering fear and pursuing a life goal can be overwhelming, intimidating. So start small. Just take one little baby step. Something you know you can do. Something you’re sure to succeed at. Then feel good about that (see below) and take another small baby step. Keep doing this, and soon you’ll have conquered a mountain.
9. Celebrate every success! Every single thing you do right, celebrate! Even the smallest little thing. And use this feeling of success, of victory, to propel yourself forward and take the next step. Bill Gates describes a “spiral of success” that he used to build Microsoft up from its early success of MS-DOS, to its success with Windows and Word and Excel and Internet Explorer and all that (I know, blech, but still). Use this idea of a spiral of success in your life — build upon each success, use it as a stepping stone to the next victory.

“To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.” - Bertrand Russell

Have Faith - It will pull you through the toughest times

Everything happens for a reason. When adversity strikes regardless of all the efforts you have put in, there is always a blessing in disguise. This belief will give you the strength to keep moving forward when others quit along the way.

Before we can succeed in anything, we have to first learn to fail, make mistakes and deal with setbacks. Success never takes a straight line

When building Disney, Walt Disney went thru near bankruptcy 12 times before he succeeded
Donald Trump went thru near bankruptcy twice
Lim Tow Yong, founder of Emporium was decleared a bankrupt at age 72 with debts in the millions. He later start up a new company and made back his fortune at the ripe old age of 82

Nine years after Steve Jobs started and successfully built Apple computers, he was fired from his own company by the very CEO he hired. To makes things worse, the following company he started (NEXT computers) also went down in flames. It was only after a string of major setups that he built PIXAR and returend to bring Apple back from the verge of bankruptcy

We missed 100% of the shots we dont take

Excerps from Secrets of Building Million Dollar Business - Adam Khoo

I JUST KNOW

"It is the mind that maketh good of ill, that maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor
-Edmund Spenser

This too, should pass

There is always a way to turn things around if I am committed

while its unbelievably painful right now, I know that this must have happened for a reason. I dont have a way to back it up. I JUST KNOW. It is my faith. Use faith as the ultimate reference. your willingness to trust that there is reason, even if you are unaware of it, will free you of the most painful experience of your life and empower you

Could it be possible that what seems to be the worst days in our lives are actually the most powerful in terms of the lessons we choose to learn from them?

An achiever never sees a problem as being pervasive, that is, one problem which controls their whole life. If we dont see failure as a challenge to modify our approach but rather as a problem with ourselves, as a personality defect, then we will immediately feel overwhelmed

Ask a different question - How can you use this? What can I learn from this so that it will never happen again? Empower yourself! Focus on solutions. Questions are the laser of human consciousness - they concentrate our focus and determine what we feel and do

------------ Awaken the Giant within - Anthony Robbins

Live with a spring in your step

If you see children walking along the sidewalk agter a rain, and there's a puddle in front of them, what are they going to do when they get to that puddle? They are going to jump in! They are going to laugh, splash around adn have a good time. What does a older person do? Walk around it? No, they wont just walk around it - they'll complain the whole time!

You want to LIVE DIFFERENTLY

You want to live with a spring in your step, with a smile on your face. Why not make cheerfulness, outrageousness, playfulness a new priority for yourself? Make feeling good your expectation.

You DONT NEED A REASON to feel GOOD - you are alive! You can feel good for no reaon at all!

- --- Awaken the Giant Within - Anthony Robbins

Ask, Seek and Knock

The Right Job - After you are let go

"At first, maybe people were looking at me differently, and talking about me because I wasnt working anymore", "I tried not to pay attention to that"

The goal, if you have been let go, is to stay out of what I have always referred to as "the vortex of defeat", in which you let youself spiral into inertia and despair

Prospective employers will of course ask you about why you left your last job. Come right out and say you were asked to move on.

Just as important, take responsibility for your departure. His ownership of the situation made him infinitely more appealing than the typical kind of defense I heard a hundred times "my boss was really difficult" or "they dont care about the customers as much as I do" or "it was all politics there. It never mattered what you did; all that mattered was who you knew"

Compare that with Charlie's approach - even recognising he was on the far end of rationality! when he got back into the job market; he didnt blame a soul but himself. He told interviewers what he learned from the experience and what he would do differently in his next job. "I am determined to be more externally focused from now on, and "I will definitely move faster on underperforming people, One of my objectives is to prove I dont make the same mistakes twice

If you have been let go, you NEVER want to present yourself with a swagger. But you do need to project REALISM and OPTIMISM. Draw on your reservoir of CONFIDENCE. Say what happened, say what you have LEARNED and never be afraid to ask "JUST GIVE ME A CHANCE"

Someone will

Your Career - Finding the right job

Excepts from Winning - Jack Welch (the famous CEO of GE)

First, finding the right job takes time and experimentation and patience. After all, you have to work at something for awhile before you know if you can even do it, let alone if it feels right.

Second, finding the right job gets easier and easier the better you are. Maybe that sounds harsh, but its just reality. At the end of the day, talented people have their pick of opportunities. The right jobs find them

So if you really want to find a great job, choose something you LOVE to do, make sure you are with people you LIKE and then give it your ALL

If you do that, you're sure to have a great job - and you will never really work another day in your life

No more dentist for next 6 months!

Finally finished my last follow up following my wisdom teeth extraction which I undertake over the past 2 months. In short, I took out 4 wisdom teeth (over 2 visits), got 10 days of MC and 5 visits to the dentist. Am I proud and relieved its all over :>

Second and third jog completed

I feel good. Really good