Laid off? What now?

When you first entered the workforce, you probably didn’t anticipate the economy turning so sour. In fact, you’ve spent many years diligently promoting yourself up the career ladder and establishing a nice set of skills – only to find out your company can’t afford to keep you around any longer.

So what do you do now?

Now you can take those skills you’ve refined over the years and re-evaluate where you are in life. Here are some ideas to consider for your future:

1. Search for a new job.
While it may seem like everyone is unemployed, there are, in fact, job positions being posted. You just need to find them. Ask yourself these questions first: Where else can you reasonably consider relocating – across town or across the country? What salary do you really need to earn? What are you looking for at this point – something similar, which may or may not exist anymore, or venturing into a new field?

Next, determine if you or your résumé needs a makeover. Would working with a career coach help you think through what you want to do with your career and professional life? A career coach can also help you discover how your options match your values, lifestyle, priorities and long-term goals.

Finally, with clearer vision now in place, start looking everywhere. Online resources, newspapers, placement agencies and professional contacts – you have many resources at your fingertips. Plan on this taking a lot of effort – the more work you put into finding a job, the better opportunities you’ll discover during your search.

2. Put your skills to use.
Many people who hire career coaches quickly discover this is a potential career that allows them to produce fulfilling results in both their personal and professional lives. A certified professional coach helps individuals and businesses in a variety of ways, including creating a clear vision and goal achievement strategy; becoming more aware of what beliefs, skills, attitude, behaviors and resources are needed to succeed; streamlining decision making and ensuring it matches goals and priorities; forming a detailed, specific plan that lays out key milestones and progress; and, holding clients accountable to what they want to do and who they want to be.

Certified Professional Coaches are earning the reputation as catalysts for change and partners for success.

To learn more about becoming a coach and the training involved, visit the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). Reasons to become a coach are: the challenge of thinking outside of the box, helping others, self improvement, personal financial growth (experienced certified professional coaches earn between $77,000 and $134,000 per year) and a growing field needing more coaches (part or full time).

3. Go back to school.
This is a very popular route for many laid-off workers to take for obvious reasons. It allows you to change your career path, updates you with the latest information available, and strengthens your resume with a higher degree of education. The educational options are wide open – from online to specialized courses to full four-year degrees, with many opportunities for scholarships and grants available.

4. Network.
The easiest way to network in your community is to get out and volunteer. And organizations are desperately looking for volunteers to help because of higher demands and less available money. See if you can find an organization that will appreciate your skills because this will be another great addition to your résumé.

You may discover that receiving a pink slip wasn’t the worst thing that could happen because it gave you the opportunity to take a good look at yourself and discover if you were going in the right direction. Now you just need to take advantage of the opportunity and find what’s best for your future.

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