Anth Quinn

The fallout from the recent credit crunch seems to be at the root of the increase in people losing their jobs over the last few weeks and this is really got me thinking about the effect on your life of losing your job or even simply living under the threat of losing it.

There is no doubt that this is a really scary prospect for many people, the thought of unemployment and any resulting financial or social hardship is keeping many people awake at night worrying about what they will have to do.

Are you worrying about your job?

If you are one thing is certain, sticking your head in the sand and pretending it’s not happening is the worst possible form of action.

I’m not an expert career adviser but I do have helped quite a few people to change career. I also have personal experience of the effect of unemployment and its associated challenges as well as some experience of turning it into a positive experience.

In my early 20s I spent 18 months on the employment register after being made redundant at the end of my welding apprenticeship and finding it impossible to find any welding work.

If I’m being totally honest, I was in a bit of a whole mentally; feeling lost and couldn’t see any way out.

Luckily for me my brother had been working as a forklift driver and hating it. The good news is that he used his desperation for change as the fuel to kick himself into action and sign up for night school. He worked like a dog, studying before work, on coffee breaks (ignoring the cat calls from his work ‘friends’) and after work too. 10 months later he ended up passing with flying colours!

His example of academic success helped change my beliefs about what “people like us” could achieve and I too began to study in order to escape the dole queue.

I can still remember the feeling of exhilaration as I said to myself:

“You can turn your life around too!”

…and I began to see beyond my old limited thinking and consider new possibilities. I can also still remember the laments of my ex-welder colleagues bemoaning their situation and inability to find work as welders.

“But, Anth man welding is all I know!”

This coming from a 19-year-old boy who was totally locked into the identity of “welder” to such an extent that he couldn’t see beyond it.

[It doesn't matter if you're 19 or 69, if you are someone who only identifies themselves and the possibilities for your life by your existing or old job role, please read the above paragraph again!]

I’m not setting myself up as special, as I mentioned earlier I was lucky because someone helped me to raise my aspirations, believe in myself and begin to take action to take control of my situation.

…and that made all the difference!

This simple change in thinking transformed the next 20 years of my life as I graduated from University and built a successful career way beyond my expectations when I was serving my welding apprenticeship. It’s funny I bet you’d never guess that redundancy could be one of the best opportunities life ever gives you!

I’m no special case either; thousands of people all over the world make simple decisions in the face of tough life situations and take proactive action to turn their lives around.

I’m not saying it’s easy but it’s a lot easier than sitting back; worrying and hoping you’re not going to be affected.

When faced with enforced changes in life it’s very very common to resist the change and to look for someone to blame – but none of this is going to help you find a new job!

Everyone’s situation is different, but if you:

Lost your Job?

Finding a job is more than just reading the newspapers and visiting the Jobcentre – Job-hunting is a skill in itself:

If you’re consistently not getting past the application/interview could you be doing something wrong?

Get some advice/feedback on your applications keep taking action and seeking feedback, keep tweaking your approach! Ring everyone who you apply to, explain your situation and ask for specific feedback about what you could do to increase your chances of success next time? Every now and then someone will give you a little piece of gold! You might not like it, but remember they’re the one’s hiring - so it’s worth listening to their opinion!

Trying to Keep Your Job?

If you’re looking to keep your job, some ideas might be:

· Work on adding value and subtlety being seen to do it.
· Increase your skills
· Work on doing the best job you can
· Develop your rapport, communication, influence and persuasion skills
· Work on developing good relationships with your boss

Doing all of the above won’t help you keep your job, if the company closes but even then your proactive attitude and new skills will make it easier to find another.

Are you in financial trouble because you’ve lost your job?

This is a tough place to be, but take some action to manage this now!

Do you know where your current spending what you’ve got? No! Take action to find out and begin to manage your money new while you’ve still got some. This will be a very useful skill to hang onto as you begin to get back into the black and build your savings in the months and years ahead.

If you’re in debt ignoring it only makes things worse!

Get some free expert advice and act on it!

In the UK you could ask the Citizen’s Advice Bureau?

If you’re somewhere else in the world find out who can help and ask for it!

The thing is that the economy is cyclical and tough times don’t last for ever but knowing this isn’t always a comfort when you’re in a tough spot. Just remember that you can take action!

The economic climate is truly not your worst enemy; hiding your head in the sand, worrying without taking positive action, apathy and resignation will put your life on hold and making yourself a victim will not help.

Even if you’re in a tough spot and are scared to take action and first, recognise that being willing to face up to the reality of the challenges you face and being willing to take action will not only help you in the short term – developing these habits will put you in a much better place when the good times come around again too.

The bottom line is that you can take action…

My question to you is:

“What action could you take today?”

I realise that this post is a little different to many of the others and may seem a little “off topic” but to be honest if it encourages you to take action then that is enough for me.

I’d love to hear what actions you take,

So take action and remember to ask how you can have some fun doing it!

Bye for now,

Anth.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 7:14 pm and is filed under Career. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.