The Bridge Employment Ministry Career Transition Guidelines 414-299-9490

Entering your Career Transition

The way you conduct yourself during the first week after you are terminated can make the difference between a productive, short job search and a long, frustrating job search. To make sure your behavior in the early days of career transition doesn’t create unintended obstacles for you later, we suggest you follow these 6 guidelines.

1. Avoid speaking to workplace colleagues or professional acquaintances while your emotions are running high.

Job loss is like the grieving process. It will produce a mix of emotions: anger, shock, guilt, shame, anxiety, sadness, depression and fear. Some people go through emotions in stages; others experience several of these emotions all at once. There is no right or wrong progression.

Your emotions can be powerful at this time, so you must be careful how you speak to others about losing your job. Keep in mind, your colleagues, customers, suppliers, and/or buyers will become part of your contact network in you upcoming job search. You want them to view you professionally – as a person they would recommend as a good candidate for other career opportunities in the current market.

When colleagues call you to “find out what happened”, or you run into customers or suppliers in daily interaction, presenting a calm and positive demeanor will pay you the most dividends in your job search. Using a general explanation, such as the following, responds to their inquiry without criticizing your former employer.

• My job was eliminated as part of a centralization/consolidation/reduction in the workforce.
• The company went through a reorganization and eliminated my position as part of cost cutting measures.
• I left (fill in company name) because of philosophical differences regarding my role in the organization.
• Yes, I’ve left (fill in company name) and I’m exciting about pursuing other opportunities for my career.

Former co-workers will offer their sympathy, telling you how awful you must feel and what a difficult situation you have been placed in. Remember, they are trying to be helpful, but their comments may end up making you feel worse instead of better. To avoid a negative dialogue, thank them for their concern and suggest that you will call them back in a few days after you’ve had a chance to sort through the events surrounding your job loss.

Although you are going through a grieving process, keep in mind your goal – to find your next job. Ask yourself, what is going to do you the most good – presenting yourself as having worked for a reputable employer, or to berate your former employer out of revenge or spite. Criticizing or badmouthing your former employer has the unintended consequence of making you look bad to those who are supporting you in transition. Remember, your last employer becomes the first line item on your resume. Presenting that company as reputable only serves to enhance your reputation. Think about it from this perspective, if your former company was so bad, why did you continue to work there?

2. Rely on available resources to reduce worry and stress.

This is easier said than done. We know this is a stressful time. You may be worried about the mortgage/rent, your financial obligations or letting your family down. If this is the first time you’ve experienced unemployment, you may be thinking, I don’t even know how to begin looking for a new job. Right now, focus on the idea that you are moving into a new phase of your life. The Bridge was designed to provide you access to a support mentor to help you through this difficult time. We will provide you resources that will help you in your new job search as well as how to handle the related issues you are currently facing.

3. Don’t to anything hastily.

Everything you do during your job search should be part of a well-though-out strategy. Whether you develop this strategy through your own research or through the assistance provided by The Bridge, don’t make calls to contacts or send resumes to prospective employers until you are comfortable these contacts are being made in a manner productive and positive to your job search. Don’t panic and use up valuable contacts before you know how to approach them effectively.

4. Don’t blame yourself.

Today’s employment environment is much different than our parents experienced. They may have joined a company and worked there for most of their lives. That’s not the employment environment in today’s market. During the last 5 years, approximately 86% of companies reduced their management structure. It is not unusual today to find a 40-year old white collar employee changing jobs 2 to 3 times during his/her career. It’s probable that at least one of these job changes was involuntary. You’re not alone in having experienced an unexpected job loss.

5. Do tell family and very close friends.

Your emotions need to find an appropriate release for you to move past the shock of your job loss. It is extremely important that you wisely choose who you vent to. Let go of your feelings in front of your family, close friends and your Bridge mentor. Releasing these emotions in front of people you trust to keep your confidences is healthy and will help to manage your stress. The best listeners are those who have been through career transition themselves. You’ll find there are more of them then you may have realized. Many of the volunteers in The Bridge became involved because they too have experienced job loss and want to help others deal effectively with it. Use them to your advantage and trust in their experience. Using these resources effectively will help you prevent exposing any negative feelings to the business world that could compromise your job search.

6. Trust that you will find a new job.

You will find a new job! The challenge is often when, where or what. Every year, many people who have lost their jobs find new ones. Think about the number of new hires you saw at your last employer. It’s safe to say that those people landed at your former employer as part of their own career transition experience. A national consulting firm used by many organizations to assist outplaced or downsized management, states that 85% of their clients find new jobs at the same or better pay, most times with increased job satisfaction. While worrying is natural right now, keep telling yourself that you will succeed. Use the resources around you, including The Bridge, to help maintain a positive outlook.

The Bridge is co-sponsored by St. Mary Catholic Faith Community, Hales Corners, Whitnall Park Lutheran Church, Hales Corners, St. Thomas of Canterbury Episcopal Church, Greendale, and St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Greendale.