When people are being fired, many say to themselves, "I'm good at what I do. I won't have trouble finding a job." Unfortunately, job hunting calls for special skills. If you are being fired, ask for outplacement help as part of your separation agreement. In full outplacement, counselors guide you in your search until you find a job, and you are given office space and administrative help. It makes all the difference in finding new employment quickly and confidently. Partial outplacement may consist of a one or two day workshop on resume" writing, interviewing, and general job hunting techniques, and may also include a few hours with a counselor. You are then left to fend for yourself.
You cannot purchase the services of an outplacement firm yourself. Your old company pays the fee, which usually amounts to 10 to 20 percent of your previous compensation. Full outplacement help will be worth more to you than an extra month's pay.
If you are currently employed, or outplacement is not available to you, consider your options. A seminar is fine but will not see you through the job hunt process. Job counseling firms often charge from four to six thousand dollars up front, and some have been known to lose interest once the fee is paid.
You need job hunting advice and support. Job hunting is stressful and lonely. You may feel that you are the only one going through what you are going through. You may even feel as though you will never work again.
Join a group such as 'The' or 'Forty Plus'. They complement each other. The offers job search training and coaching from professional career counselors. You can also meet with a counselor privately to help you figure out your job targets, prepare your resume, or get individualized help on a specific part of your campaign. Forty Plus offers office space, typing equipment, phones, and lectures. You will be with others who feel exactly as you do. See The Wall Street Journal's "National Business and Employment Weekly" for listings of these and other programs in your area.
Unemployed people sometimes become embarrassed by their situation and pretend they are not looking which is the worst thing they can do. When you are unemployed and looking for a job, the more people who know what you are looking for, the better. Spend time regularly with other job hunters, and also with a professional counselor who can give you solid advice.
The Practice Of Job Hunting Techniques
Job hunting is a specialized skill just as is public speaking or cooking a gourmet meal. You probably wouldn't, for example, get up to speak before an important audience without preparation and practice.
Job hunting takes planning to decide what your message is; some research; some thinking about your audience and how your message will sound to them; writing and rewriting resumes, letters, and interview presentations; and then some practice to hear how it all sounds.
Successful job hunting is a formal process. But once you know the basics, you can and should put your own personality into your presentations, just as you would in public speaking.
Follow the "rules" for job hunting the same way you would follow the "rules" for public speaking or cooking. As a wise beginner, do everything by the book. After you become skilled, you can deviate a bit for the better because you have mastered the basics. You will do what is right for you and the situation you are in. You can exercise sound judgment.
You will then be at the point where it flows. You will find that you are operating from an inner strength, and you'll feel what is important and what is not. It is your job hunt, and you are the one calling the shots. You will feel sure enough to do what is appropriate regardless of what some expert says. You will know when it is to your advantage to break the rules.
You cannot stop change, so don't develop a siege mentality. Practice job hunting now even if you happen to enjoy what you're doing, and even if you want to continue in your present job. In fact, you will be more effective in your job if you become sharper about what is happening in the world.
The rules of the game keep changing and that's part of the game. Only those who change along with them will be allowed to continue to play.
Our rate of progress is such that an individual human being, of ordinary length of life, will be called on to face novel situations which find no parallel in his past. The fixed person, for the fixed duties, who, in older societies was such a godsend, in the future will be a public danger.
ALFRED NORTH WHITEHEAD
