Outplacement

It's been a very interesting week. I have been incredibly busy, and incredibly driven, actually much more so than before I lost my job, and contrary to what I'd expected.

The company has set me up with an outplacement service. You know, the type that helps you out with resume development, interviewing strategies, etc. Needless to say, as I'm typically not a touchy-feely person, I was very sceptical. I figured, I already had a resume and my media-training would go a long way towards knowing how to respond in interviews. I thought I'd pick up some tips, but that'd be pretty much it.

While I was partially right (my resume was in decent shape:-), I still have learned a ton, and they've opened my eyes to a different way of approaching the next position. The thinking's based on 2 main ideas:

1) create a self-marketing plan. Aproach this as the chance and time to really evaluate what the right position and industry is for you, and then develop an actual pro-active marketing plan towards those roles. Using research tools, Dun& Bradstreet databases, bridge contacts, etc. As a marketer, I love this idea: to identify your target audience and then develop a plan towards them using multiple channels. It creates focus and there's a clear goal. The outplacement agency showed data that ~ 40% of jobs are actually created for people, rather than exist to start with, which is very motivating, and helps to avoid the 'just apply towards classified ads' syndrom.

2) network, network, network...as 70% of jobs are found through networking rather than traditional channels (classifieds, internet job boards). This is of course something we've heard before, but I always just thought of it as 'going to the people you know in the industry and asking if they know of any positions.' ..which of course, they don't most of the time. The outplacement agency showed a different way of approaching the networking. Basically, you go to all your A-list contacts, and use them to make other contacts that can move you further in the direction towards your goal. Instead of asking if they know of jobs, you'd say something along the lines of 'I don't expect you to have any jobs or know of any jobs, but what are some of the companies I should think of or people I should talk to that can have some further insights and ideas', which is usually a question that people are comfortable with and can answer. Also, it's more effective to do this face-to-face or by phone, rather than by email or letter.

So, I've been busy in developing that self-marketing plan and calling my first round of contacts. It's easy that way to get talking, and talking and talking...which is actually a really fun way to do a jobsearch, much more fun (and productive) than spending hours on end scouring internet job boards (of course, I do some of that too). And it restores faith in humanity. most people truly want to help you out and are happy to do a joint brainstroming, and usually as part of the conversation, there are things that bubble up that help them too.

With all that, I've been in a much better mood than I thought I'd be at this point . There are still times, now and then, that I get a pit panicky and start thinking financials, but that usually doesn't last too long. Not much you can do except move forward, right?

Another funny thing from the outplacement service: apparently the 'emotional stages' after job loss are the same as the emotional stages after a death (coined by Kubler-Ross): denial - resistance - exploration and commitment. Funky. As the exploration phase is categorized by high enery - that must be where I'm at.