Life after redundancy: How to pick yourself up after losing your job
Losing your job is hard. Picking yourself up is tougher. You may have been fired or been made redundant, but getting back into the job market with the right mind frame is essential.
Too often people fall into a rut after they lose their job – it is essential to keep healthy, both mentally and physically.
Here are some tips to consider after losing your job:
1. Get a reference
Depending on what the circumstances were when you left your job, attempt to get a reference. This may be difficult, but can be very beneficial when trying to get back into the job market.
2. Stay in the game
You may feel you want to take a break from work or your industry, but the longer you are out of it; the harder it will be to get back in. Instead, stay in contact with former colleagues, develop a wider network of contacts, sign up for a new course or learn a new related skill. Keep your ear to the ground and keep up with the goings-on within the industry.
3. Stay positive
Do not spend time brooding and dwelling over what went wrong – this can be counter-initiative and unhelpful. Don’t complain about your last employer to your friends – or, worse, in a job interview. See your time at your previous workplace as a positive experience which has set you up to get a better job.
4. Remodel yourself
See losing your job as an opportunity to pursue a new career. Consider what it was about your last job that you enjoyed and hated; think whether that industry is right for you. Losing your job is the perfect chance to consider what your goals are in your career, now is the time to decide the best course of action is to achieve these goals.
5. Take time to think and grieve and rest
Take a week off straight after “It” happens. Spend time with friends and family. In the military, this would be called R & R – rest and recuperation. You need to recuperate. To lick your wounds, spend quiet time. Even adopt the foetal position for a few days. But by day three you need to be up, doing exercise like swimming, walking or jogging and watching movies with friends. Comedies and light things that make you laugh and forget and heal. But remember – on day eight, get into action – rested and focused.