Peninsula Employment Group



"Bay Area Employment with the Personal Touch"
	HOME	ABOUT PEG	JOB FAIRS	CONTACT PEG

	The Joy of Being Laid Off (Lessons Learned): Surviving and Thriving
By Rich Stiller

I have been laid off 4 times in my career. I escaped at least another 3-4 layoffs by finding anther job before the axe fell. As an unfortunate part of my career in Human Resources, I had to participate in the layoffs of thousands of other people.

Having worked at approximately 15 different companies from 1977 through 2002, I realized that I was better at finding jobs than keeping them. Along the way, I got to know quite a bit about getting laid off and how to transition to the next job. Some of this was through my own experience and some of it was through observing and helping others.

Here are some of the lessons I learned.

1. There will always be layoffs.

There is no safe job or safe company, so get used to it. If you are one of the lucky ones, you will never have to be laid off. I wasn’t among the fortunate ones so I learned to live with the reality that my job could disappear at any time. In fact I learned to thrive in that environment. Being laid (off) helped me become more adept at finding work and not being afraid of being without job. I always knew I could find another one.

2. Decide if you are a "zoo animal" or a "hunter."

Zoo animals live in the same company year after year and never attempt to leave. They get fed by the zookeeper each day and feel quite safe. In time, they simply don't know how to leave. Their biggest dream is to have a larger cage with more food. There is only one major drawback: if the zoo ever goes out of business, or has to kick the animal out of the zoo, the animal has no idea how to survive.

Hunters, on the other hand, are used to moving from job to job. If they lose a job they know how to "hunt" and get another. They have learned through necessity. They know the art of networking and staying in contact with people. In contrast, zoo animals know their neighbors (the animals in the cages next to them) and that’s about it.

3. If you are laid off, be prepared to leave in 15 minutes.

If you have more than fifteen minutes worth of stuff in your office, you have too much. This is the first day of the rest of your life, why not start looking for your next job right away?

4. Don’t go around asking "why me?" even to the people who are laying you off.

Most of the time, those doing the lay-off are reading from a script. Whether they know why you were laid off or not, they will rarely tell you the truth.

5. There are five stages you typically go through when you get laid off (similar to those experiencing other types of loss, such as the death of a loved one):

1. Denial. 2. Anger. 3. Bargaining. 4. Depression. 5. Acceptance.

I try to put acceptance first so I can get on with my job search. If I care, later on I will deal with the other four. Nobody wants to hire an angry, depressed person, so get over it.

6. It ain't the resume.
A job hunter needs a resume as a tool in their job search. What I hate to see is people saying that they cannot start their search until they get their resume done. More than likely they are going to get a job because of who they know, not because of the perfect resume. By all means work on your resume, but start your job search too. More than two-thirds of all jobs are filled by referrals, not by answering job ads.

The bottom line is that it really sucks when you get laid off, but the universe doesn't care. Really, only you do. You probably are going to be angry and depressed and maybe even want revenge. The best revenge I know is getting a new job and moving on with your life!

Rich Stiller is a Staff Writer for Career Currents. He is a sought after speaker and radio guest. He has held numerous director positions for such companies as Sun Micro Systems, Electronic Arts, Transmeta. He has written several management as well as career books.