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You’ve been notified that through no fault of your own, your job is slated to be unexpectedly eliminated and you have a few weeks until your end date.
The chances of this happening to you at some point in your career are pretty high – according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about one in ten employees is laid off every year. And it can occur for a variety of reasons:
Your company decides to move its corporate office halfway across the country, and you must decide to move or take a severance package.
Your company merges with or is acquired by another company, and duplicative job positions are eliminated.
There is an economic downturn, or other unexpected financial pressure (e.g. trade war with China) that forces your company to reduce its staff as part of an organizational restructuring.
Your company adopts a new long-term strategic plan that downsizes your department to the point elimination, or outsources your job functions to third parties.
These are just a few examples and are by no means an exhaustive list, but they all have one thing in common – they are all beyond your control. Here are 10 tips to help you do that can help you adapt and overcome.
1. Recognize that it’s not personal. It’s just business. In business, when high-level changes are made or profits are down, payroll is usually affected. And when that happens, chances are you may be one of several employees where you work impacted by forced staff reductions. You’ll be able to frame it as a layoff to future employers, which removes a great deal of stigma.
2. Assess your timeline. Let’s assume you have some time before your job actually goes away. On one hand, you’re about to be unemployed and conventional wisdom dictates you immediately launch a new job search with the goal of transitioning into a new position before your eliminated job officially ends. On the other hand, your company needs its employees until their designated end date, so they may offer substantial retention and severance pay to key employees who remain until the sixty days are over. Understand this so that you can time your search accordingly. Which leads to…
3. Assess what your company is offering. Talk with Human Resources to understand if and what retention pay, severance pay, and any other compensation or services the company may offer. Understand that if you get any sort of compensation to stick around until the end, you’re trading money for time – you’ll need to determine if the extra compensation is worth shutting yourself out of new job opportunities that may arise during your final weeks or months.
4. Consider getting professional legal advice before signing any exit agreement. Usually, as part of any job elimination process the company will ask terminated employees to sign a variety of legal documents in exchange for retention and severance pay. Understand what you’re signing; good legal counsel may be beneficial to your overall exit strategy, and can help you understand what restrictions you may face in terms of potential work timelines, restrictions in accepting roles within your same industry, or other restrictions or benefits.
5. Get good references early. Whether you stay until the end or jump ship, a stack of positive references will help you. Most people will take the time to write you a reference. Send them a thank you note.
6. You’re in marketing now – and your product is you. You can’t start a job search without the perfect modern resume… and cover letter… and LinkedIn profile… and the list goes on. You must do it, so get started early. Don’t wait until you’re not working. An early start helps you get a jump on the search, especially if your company is also laying off several other individuals with your same skill set who will be hitting the market at the same time. (From the vault: The Essential Job Search Checklist)
7. Launch your new job search in an open manner. When you’re the victim of some corporate whirlwind that’s public knowledge you have the benefit of job searching without any restrictions or fear your current employer will find out. Make the reason your job position was eliminated a concise and sympathetic statement in your Elevator Pitch (i.e., the response to, “Tell me about yourself”) and let recruiters on LinkedIn know you are actively searching for new opportunities. (From the vault: How to Nail the Dreaded Elevator Pitch)
8. Aggressively leverage your professional network. Now is the time to hit up all the people whose professional relationships you have diligently nurtured over the years. Since you’re looking for a job in an open manner, canvas your contacts. People are often willing to help if you’re willing to return the gesture in the future. (From the vault: 6 Simple Ways to Take the Pain Out of Career Networking)
9. Keep up your job performance. Back to our countdown clock toward your exit date. Whether you decided it’s better to jump ship or work until your designated end date, it’s not advisable to allow your work performance to slip when you’re asking for references and interviewing for jobs, and it’s equally unadvisable to wait until your end date to update your resume. Really think about the best way to structure your final days in order to make the transition as smooth as possible.
10. Take advantage of any outplacement services your company offers. Many companies will offer outplacement services as part of their severance package (and if they don’t you can still ask for it). Outplacement services normally include resume/cover letter writing or coaching, help developing your story/elevator pitch, and general career counseling, among other services that can help jumpstart your job search.
Philip Roufail contributed to this article.
Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercareerstrategies.com.
