When people lose their job, the question arises of how to deal with the time that suddenly becomes available beyond job searching and applications. This is particularly challenging in cases of immediate release, as those affected had no time to prepare for the new situation. Amid many meaningful activities, the obvious is often overlooked.
The most important thing after losing a job is to create a new daily structure. In addition to job hunting and applications, many people take care of things they have long neglected: they carry out repairs in their homes, organize their finances, tidy up their home office, get their worn-out shoes repaired, and get back into shape at the gym — all highly recommended activities.
Creating order helps bring closure to the past. Tidying up your surroundings also clears your thoughts and emotions. On this topic, I recommend the entertaining book about «decluttering» by Karen Kingston: «Clear your clutter with Feng Shui».
Fortunately, I still have a profession
What many people neglect between job searching and new employment was pointed out to me many years ago by an unemployed portfolio manager. I was supporting him in his job search as a personnel consultant. During our conversation, I noticed he was exceptionally well informed about the financial markets. When I asked about it, he told me that he gets up at his usual time every morning, and after breakfast, he sits at his computer until noon, reads research reports, and engages with the financial markets. In the afternoon, he focuses on his job search. I was impressed by his discipline. He seemed surprised by my reaction and replied that he had only lost his job — not his profession. He still pursued it with passion, regardless of whether he was on a bank’s payroll or not.
How much do you love your profession?
I had a similar experience with a client in an outplacement. As a highly qualified specialist, she initially struggled with her situation because the job search proved more difficult than expected. She realized that there were few open positions at her level and that the search might take longer than anticipated. So how did she respond? She simply continued working. Alongside her daily job search, she published professional articles in her field on LinkedIn and in trade journals, attended conferences, gave talks as a speaker, and at the same time maintained her network for her job search.
Not every profession is as well suited to this kind of continued work as those of my two coachees. But everyone can use their time without a job for further professional development — whether by refreshing their IT or language skills or by reading up on current specialist literature.
Engaged in this way, the state of joblessness is far easier to bear.
#outplacement #application #personalbranding
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