Laid-Off or Fired? Your Next Job Is Still Right Around the Corner
Dec 18, 2009 Job Search Strategies
After you have gone through psychological and career self-assessment, you will begin to be able to articulate to others who you are, where you’ve been in your professional or work life, and where you are planning to go. A big part of this is verbal communication, the art of being able to tell someone who you are and what you want to do in 15 seconds. The better you know yourself, the easier it will be to tailor your pitch to any hiring manager’s needs. Sometimes called an elevator pitch (think of aspiring entrepenurs who only have a few seconds–in an elevator, natch–to grab the heart and mind of a potential joint venture capitalist), I call it the verbal rundown.
There are a few things to remember, though. Your rundown is not the time to go into how much you hated your boss or your job. No negatives allowed! This includes being laid off. With the economy as it is, layoffs are fairly commonplace. It does not have the stigma associated with it that it apparently used to. You may feel a certain way after having been with a company for a number of years, but do not take it personally.
How do you present a layoff to your colleagues, contacts, network, future employers? Companies cut back because of bad decisions by CEOs, economic downturns, or other catastrophes. The company did not fold because of you, so don’t shoulder the burdens of the company by telling someone, “They laid me off.”
The company did not lay YOU off.
Instead, the company restructured and your position was eliminated. Remember that phrase. That’s all anyone needs to know. Stories are rampant in corporate America of the madness that happens during layoffs. Some examples I have heard are taking a list of employees and crossing off every fifth name, or upper management throwing darts on a wall to pick randomly who gets the slips. Sometimes managers lay off a whole team of people, and then are called in to be laid off themselves. Who knows why your particular position was eliminated? But you shouldn’t take it personally. And the company doesn’t owe you anything (unless they haven’t paid you some back wages and that’s a different story!)
Often we become married to the job or company, but the employer hasn’t married us! You may have filled your cubicle with all your photos and kids drawings, but if your number is up, it’s time to go. As long as the company has paid you for the time you worked, they don’t owe you anything. That’s life. That’s the dog eat dog reality of capitalism. It’s not personal. So don’t present it that way, or raise flags for people who may hold your next paycheck in their hands, or who can help you get to that next payday.
Tags: Employment., fired, firing, interview, laid off, layoff, personnel, termination, verbal communication
