When your brass ring turns green: Part 3 - Don’t let the door hit you in the…

You’ve gotten the word and you are out the door – now what?

Sometimes this means that you are packing up your office or work space and out the door immediately – with or without a severance package. Sometimes this means you have a period of time to finish up your work before a specific departure date, again with or without a severance package. Either way, the day will come when you don’t have a job to go to in the morning.
1. If the company is offering out-placement services – take advantage of the services offered. Maybe you don’t want to join a support group, or go into the out-placement office each day as though it were your job, but most out-placement services offer a variety of tools and services that will help you get your thoughts together. You owe it to yourself to at least take a look.
2. Set aside a portion of every day to devote to your job search. There are some people who advocate making your job search your new job. Personally, I see what they mean but in the current job market I find it a one-way ticket to the land of depression. How much time you spend is dependent on your personality and tolerance level. The minimum amount of time I spend each day is a half an hour and I have spent as much as a full eight hours. The point is - I devote some time every day to researching companies, networking, searching job boards, and/or applying for jobs.
3. Take care of yourself. Being out of work is not a free pass to sleep in, get involved in day-time television, or let yourself wallow in negative feelings. Tackle a project you’ve been putting off around the house. Decide to finally lose that extra 10, 20, or…pounds that you’ve been carrying around. Write that novel you’ve always wanted to write. Take a cooking class. Volunteer at your child’s school, a nursing home, a non-profit, or local pound. Find something you want to do and make the time to do it.
4. Apply for unemployment compensation if you aren’t receiving a severance package.
5. Consider taking a part-time job even if you have a severance package. If you do have a severance package – please read the fine print to be sure that taking on a part-time job won’t reduce the money you would get. Even though you won’t be making much money, it might help you stay in a positive frame of mind.
6. Make sure you have two great interview suits (with accessories) that are clean, well-mended, and ready to go at a moment’s notice.
7. Continue to build and maintain your network. Don’t be ashamed of being out of work. There isn’t a stigma connected to being downsized, so tell people when they ask what you do. You never know who might be next to you in the grocery line, at the hair or nail salon, or on the treadmill at the gym.

Stay tuned – next time I’ll start writing about how it feels to be displaced and what I’m doing about it.