Laid Off - My Story
I was laid off last year and really struggled to find work. It took me about 6 months to find a job and the job I have now is a contract position. It will only last for another 6 months unless for some reason the contract is expanded. Being laid off taxed me emotionally. I had to deal with the shame of coming home and telling my family what had happened. We kept it from our children for a while but then it became obvious to them. It didn't seem right that I was home when they arrived and summer break was coming up.
Fortunately, I have been blessed with a supporting family. The job I have now pays less than what I was making before and we're buying health insurance for our family on the open market. This means we've made a lot of sacrifices in how we live but we know our situation is a lot better than others who are struggling day to day and are still laid off. I'd like to share some tips I came across that really turned around my job search and if you find them useful maybe you'd be interested in joining me and building this online community together. Here they are:
1) Create a profile for yourself on the website Linked In. I work in IT so this was especially effective for me. I invited people I was working with at previous jobs to be my contacts and recommended individuals who I thought had done good work. I wrote thoughtful recommendations and in return were given a few recommendations back. I also found several niche specific boards at Linked In that pertained to my field. I spent my free time posting here and helping other people solve problems.
2) Create a twitter account for yourself. I started tweeting about my profession at least 2x a day and started building a list of followers. It's easier than you think - follow people with similar interests. Tweet something of value every day and if you are not followed back by someone just drop them. I even went so far as to follow total strangers every day. I would say that only 1 in 10 people would follow me back but in the 3 months I was laid off I gathered 1,500 followers.
3) Clean up all of your social networking profiles. Keep in mind that your employer will do a background search and you want to present a good image to them. This means removing any drunken tweets or incriminating facebook pictures. I don't think the privacy settings in Facebook will be good enough - maybe I'm just paranoid but I get the feeling they are selling this information to agencies to make money.
4) Register at some of the various free lancing websites to do some part time work. This keeps money coming in and you can list on your resume with absolute honesty that you are employed as a freelance consultant.
I did a little twist with #4. I asked everyone who I was doing to write me an endorsement for my Linked In profile. You see - all of this advice is about building up something called "social proof". Social proof is basically a way to make it acceptable to make a decision. By creating a strong online presence for yourself with endorsements (followers, linked in recommendations etc.) you make it much easier for someone to hire you. It's something to consider. Like I said, if you found this article of value then come join our community!
Fortunately, I have been blessed with a supporting family. The job I have now pays less than what I was making before and we're buying health insurance for our family on the open market. This means we've made a lot of sacrifices in how we live but we know our situation is a lot better than others who are struggling day to day and are still laid off. I'd like to share some tips I came across that really turned around my job search and if you find them useful maybe you'd be interested in joining me and building this online community together. Here they are:
1) Create a profile for yourself on the website Linked In. I work in IT so this was especially effective for me. I invited people I was working with at previous jobs to be my contacts and recommended individuals who I thought had done good work. I wrote thoughtful recommendations and in return were given a few recommendations back. I also found several niche specific boards at Linked In that pertained to my field. I spent my free time posting here and helping other people solve problems.
2) Create a twitter account for yourself. I started tweeting about my profession at least 2x a day and started building a list of followers. It's easier than you think - follow people with similar interests. Tweet something of value every day and if you are not followed back by someone just drop them. I even went so far as to follow total strangers every day. I would say that only 1 in 10 people would follow me back but in the 3 months I was laid off I gathered 1,500 followers.
3) Clean up all of your social networking profiles. Keep in mind that your employer will do a background search and you want to present a good image to them. This means removing any drunken tweets or incriminating facebook pictures. I don't think the privacy settings in Facebook will be good enough - maybe I'm just paranoid but I get the feeling they are selling this information to agencies to make money.
4) Register at some of the various free lancing websites to do some part time work. This keeps money coming in and you can list on your resume with absolute honesty that you are employed as a freelance consultant.
I did a little twist with #4. I asked everyone who I was doing to write me an endorsement for my Linked In profile. You see - all of this advice is about building up something called "social proof". Social proof is basically a way to make it acceptable to make a decision. By creating a strong online presence for yourself with endorsements (followers, linked in recommendations etc.) you make it much easier for someone to hire you. It's something to consider. Like I said, if you found this article of value then come join our community!
