6 Simple Steps To Switch Your Career After Layoff
The first thing that comes to your mind, the moment you are laid off is, “what am I going to do next? ”
It’s tough to remain steady, focused and motivated. You may be emotionally hurt, and thinking about how to survive financially. Here is a step-by-step process to guide you through and help you to find your way to a successful new career.
1. Acknowledge Your Feelings
Layoff may come as a shock to you. You may spend some time trying to figure out why it happened. You may feel angry and betrayed. Assure yourself that all these feelings are normal. If you feel that you are unable to handle it on your own, you may want to talk with a professional counselor.
2. Quick Financial Review
First of all review your finances and make a budget. See for how long can you survive being unemployed? How much money will you need every month? Once you know this, you can begin to make your short and long term plans, and you will feel a lot safer too.
3. A Chance to Reengineer Your Career
You should realize that this is an ideal chance for your to switch your career if you wished to do so. This is your chance to reinvent yourself and select a career that you enjoy. You can start doing what you enjoy the most. Don’t worry about the pay in the beginning, once you find your field of interest, you can make your way through.
4. Interim Plan
If you plan to choose a new career, you may need more time than you can afford. Here are some things you can do to support yourself in the mean time.
Temporary Assignments
Accountants, administrative assistants or nurses can easily fit into this type of workstyle. They can take on temporary assignments, test different types of employers and make new contacts.
Consulting Assignments
If you are an experienced professional, you can start offering consultancy services, and in return meet new contacts, add value to your résumé, try a new work style and earn good amount of money. An easy way to get started is to support an established firm needing additional consultants. Otherwise, you’ll need to market yourself through your network, a recruiter, or different Web sites.
Seasonal Work
Seasonal work may be good as a temporary source for earning money, e.g., between October and January, retail sales is a perfect temporary job. During school months, some school districts will issue emergency teaching certificates for certain individuals to fill substitute teacher positions.
Freelance Writing
You can earn some money by writing articles for professional journals, magazines and Web. This may lead you to discover a new talent that turns into your next career.
Whatever you do, it is important to be realistic about your financial needs and plan for them.
5. Building New Skills
It is a perfect time for you to add some new skills to your resume. You can learn some new software applications, do some short courses, do research work, learn a foreign language, or whatever that interests you most. Look at your layoff as a chance to take a break and learn about yourself. Arm yourself with new skills, more knowledge and step into your dream job.
6. Your Long Term Plan
When you have found out what you want to do with the next phase of your career, or maybe the rest of your life, it is time to go out and make it a reality. Search for the next job in the new field. Use newspapers, websites, contacts, everything you can think of and work ambitiously and with motivation to find your dream job.
With high spirit, you will definitely find what you want and hopefully you will be able to turn your layoff nightmare into a dream come true.
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