Member Articles

If it’s the job, throw your energies into finding a new position that will satisfy you. Part of that is leaving behind a good impression in your current workplace so that you’ll get excellent recommendations. Interviewers will also appreciate your ability to put a positive spin on a bad situation. Explore what you want to do moving forward and consider new positions that will help you get there. Think of your layoff not as a statement of your failure, but rather as an observation that you would do better personally and professionally elsewhere.

If you don’t feel like you want the same things from your career that you did when you started, or that it’s not what you thought it would be, maybe now is the time for you to switch gears. Being an accountant didn’t work out? Maybe a new life as a massage therapist might be more fulfilling. Or how about finally getting that advanced degree you’ve been talking about for years? A lot of people have used their pink slip as permission to turn their passions into new professions. Do you love reading? What about going back to school for a master’s degree in English literature? Enjoy heading to the gym after work? What if the gym were your work?

As you show up every morning to a job that’s no longer really yours and that you may no longer enjoy, think about the kind of job you would like to have. When times get tough, the annoyances that have always been present come to the fore and are easier to see. After you’ve been laid off, the commute that was always too long, the pay that was never enough, and the positive reinforcement that was never there will really start to bug you. Think about alternatives as you move forward. Could you work from home? Find other incentives than money for the work you do? Start your own business and become your own boss?

3.) Skip the sob stories. Speaking of the office environment, nosy colleagues are often the worst part of being laid off. There will likely be at least one seemingly well-intentioned person hovering over your desk constantly to offer his or her “sympathy” (read: gloat) over your lost job. He or she will ask questions like, “What are you going to do now?” and spew platitudes like, “Everything will work out -- I think.”

Don’t put up with or encourage this kind of behavior. Any insecurity shown on your part will attract these busybodies like ants to honey. No matter how scared or angry you may feel, smack a smile on your face and exude positivity. You’ll avoid letting anyone make you feel worse, and you’ll impress your former boss, who will likely remark on your poise to future employers.