“I have lost my job” is still not a frequently heard phrase and yet, it is no longer as rare as it used to be. In earlier times, losing one’s job usually had a performance connotation -- I was not found good enough, my boss does not like me, I have been framed in some defalcation matter etc. In such cases, in most cases people were given several hints or warnings and therefore were mentally prepared for it if and when some drastic action was taken.
Today the qualitative difference is that “losing my job” has often nothing to do with an employee's performance. Rather it may have to do with the various external factors like, a) company deciding to close down this activity, b) selling off the activity to another company which stipulates that all old employees or many of them must first be asked to go of c) new technology rendering current business unviable or d) new pollution norms force company to shut down activities etc.
In the latter case, particularly in case of business exit, or sale to a new company, employees get very little notice and coping with the pressures of this major change of losing one’s job becomes traumatic.
How should one handle this ? There are no easy answers for each person’s experience is unique. Nonetheless there are some preparatory and defensive steps that one can take in today’s fast changing times so that one is not caught flat – footed and can face the “uncertain future” with greater confidence.
The first step is mental ; this is, to understand and accept that “it can also happen to me”. Most employees who come to us for jobs when they have faced such “sudden ??”(is it really sudden or was I oblivious to the many signals that were coming out) forced exits lament that I had no idea that this was going to happen to me !!
This is simply not correct. One must understand, as Alvin Toffler has so convincingly shown in his book “Future Shock” that not only is there an increase in the speed of change but that the rate of change itself is faster, indeed, the acceleration itself is accelerating !!
If one therefore accepts that “anything can happen tomorrow” it is only prudent to prepare as best as one can for the unpredictable tomorrow . How does one do that ?
For simplicity of understanding we are listing below a series of steps – but we hasten to clarify and emphasise that it is neither as simple as “a listing of steps” might suggest nor is it necessarily going to happen in the sequence suggested.
1. Keep your eyes and ears open in regard to what is happening in and to your company – not merely confine your interest to your own department or section.
2. Go a step further ; track what is happening to your industry. This will give you early warning signals if there are any major upheavals likely, if any new mergers or acquisitions are being planned, if any new legislation will impact your industry and/or your company etc.
3. How can you do the above ; essentially by reading -- business newspapers, business news magazines, watching business news, interacting with other industry players either in meetings or seminars or exhibitions, reading journals pertaining to your industry, scanning the internet for new developments etc.
4. Closely monitor the performance of your company – not merely that of your department. This will again give you early signals if anything major is likely to come up.
5. Develop contacts in the industry with fellow professionals even if they work for competitors, with dealers and suppliers and also with research institutions if there are any in your field. The connection with dealers and suppliers is particularly useful as they are the first to get a whiff of any closure, slow-down, “business changing hands” etc as companies take pre-emptive action in stopping supplies to the market or cancelling / postponing orders from vendors if any change of plan is on the anvil.
Similarly, become member of a few professional associations like AIMA, HRD Network, NIPM, ISTD, CSI, IIIE, IE, IIMM, etc. which will not only widen your circle of contacts but also keep you professionally up-to-date.
6. If you have some understanding of the share market, watch the “industry – specific” indices like steel, pharma, IT etc which are also sensitive to what is happening in the industry , though they tend to be short-term reactions and therefore should not be the sole criterion for taking any major decision.
7. As can be readily understood, the above are all measures to help one know reasonably early if there is going to be a major upheaval which may even lead to loss of one’s job.. This will help one better prepare for the eventuality As the saying goes, fore-warned is fore-armed.
8. Coming now to the financial aspect of coping with sudden job loss there are some useful, essentially common-sense measures that one can and should take. These are :
8.1 No matter at what level you are, you must save regularly for a rainy day. While this advice is never disputed the problem arises in its implementation. The chief barrier we find is in the way people approach “savings”. Some put aside money in savings, no matter what. Most plan for savings as the “sum left over” after we have met our essential needs. The latter are the ones that regularly fail to save because their essential needs never leave any money for savings.
8.2 Hence it is essential to reverse the approach by first putting the target amount in savings and then “meeting your so-called essential needs with whatever is left-over”. This actually requires a major change of attitude and is not so easy to do. Nonetheless, this is the only way.
8.3 Where should you save : we recommend small savings as the best bet. This includes, Post Office Recurring Deposit, Bank FDs, Ness, and PUFF. In case of PO Recurring Deposit, even a small sum of Rs. 500/- per month accumulates to over Rs. 40,000/- in 5 years. Most people will not find difficult to put aside Rs. 1000/- every month which translates to over Rs. 80,000/- at the end of 5 years.
8.4 If you prefer a longer term horizon, go for NSCs ; we recommend buying NSC of the target amount every quarter or even every month. Thus at the end of 6 years, you will be assured of getting a tidy sum every quarter or every month depending on how you invested.
8.5 Finally, PPF is another very good option even though some of us are put off because of the 15-yer period. However, while that is the Account holding period, money can be withdrawn from the Account, every year from the 4th year onwards and hence, in times of need, one has access to some amount of money from a PPF account also, without having to break or scrap the account.
8.6 The same thing applies for Bank FDs where, you we recommend investing for a 24 month period, a fixed sum every month say Rs. 2000/- every month. At the end of 24 months, the first investment will mature and that can simply be reinvested for another 24 months. Thus after 24 months you do not have to put in fresh money and are assured of getting every month, for the next 24 months a regular sum of money which you can encash whenever such a need arises. The figure of 24 months is, of course arbitrary ; one can choose 12 months or 36 months or any other time horizon one likes.
8.7 We do not recommend putting any money in equities, in this context, because the money being set aside is for meeting the contingency of suddenly finding oneself without a job. Hence we feel it is best to stick to safe and risk-free investments that allow easy withdrawal of money instead of high gain but high risk investments which in bad times can get wiped out to very low amounts.
8.8 Having done this essential saving, if you still have money left over and have access to good advice or yourself have good knowledge then by all means you can go in for equity portfolios.
9. How to actually cope with the loss of a job ? How to find one’s bearings and start productive life again ? It is not easy, but nor is it impossible and we give below some suggestions that may be found useful :
9.1 Get in touch with the contacts you have built up during your employment days ; 90 % will be just sympathetic but not of substantial help, simply because many are simply not in positions of authority while many have other problems of their own. But the remaining 10 % can turn out to be very helpful.
9.2 However, this is essentially a game of numbers ; if you have only 10 contacts then 10 % of that is just one person and if he cannot help then you are left nowhere to go. Hence it is important to build as large a circle of contact and acquaintances as possible - please refer to para 5 above.
9.3 For this it is important that right from today (when the going is good) you must build your own little diary of “important contacts” listing their names, addresses, telephone numbers and, wherever possible try to keep in touch whether through a telephone call or a greeting card or an occasional meeting especially with those who live in the same town/city as you. This is to ensure that when you need to contact them, you do not have to spend two days tracking them down ; secondly your regular touch will ensure that they recognise you the moment you call them instead of your having to go through the embarrassing rigmarole of introducing yourself all, over again.
9.4 Make sure that while you are at a job you not only become computer-literate but, also, computer-conversant if not a computer expert -- this is said only in the context of being able to use the computer and many of the popular applications. You are NOT required to be a computer programming expert. Today, nobody considering you for employment, especially of a temporary or limited tenure period, will even look at you if you do not know how to use computers.
9.5 In this context, it is equally important to be able to surf the internet, search for data using various search engines, send e-mail etc.
Similarly if by virtue of your earlier job you had an opportunity to learn some special application software then please definitely try to become an expert, be it in something simple like PowerPoint Application or Excel Calculations and Projections (Pivot Table, regression Analysis, macros etc) or some special software like AutoCAD, MS Project, Prima Vera, Director, MACROMEDIA, or even DTP Software like Adobe PageMaker or Corel Ventura. Skill in using such specialised software will definitely ensure that you can get paid assignments if not a regular job.
9.6 The real battle is however mental and in this you will have to overcome or tackle the following issues :
9.6.1 You must not feel shy or defensive about informing your close acquaintance about your loss of job. It is not a social stigma as many of feel in the reaction to this event ; most people understand that this has happened owing to circumstances beyond your control and hence it is not your fault. What this implies is that you must be ready to adjust your “spending style and standard of living” to the new reality. Hence, do not feel shy to use a bus or train instead of the taxi and car that you were used to for all these years. Go easy on dining out and expensive clothes. If you smoke and drink, consider a cut in the intake.
9.6.2 Many of us fall in the trap of trying to keep up the pretence that nothing has happened by living “just as we used to, to prevent others from knowing that we are passing through some bad times ; this is immature behaviour for the fact is not concealed or hidden. The only thing is that we run out of our limited funds much faster, bringing more misery and often larger debts.
9.6.3 The second most important aspect to be borne in mind is that your wife or husband and your children have to equally share these difficult times with you and all the cutbacks it entails ; even at the risk of displeasing them the cut on “standard of living factors” must apply to all ; do not try to be an indulgent father or mother by “protecting” your children by letting them spend in the same manner as they earlier did or serving them food or spending on their fun and entertainment as before ; in fact you are preventing them from learning some of the harsh lessons of life which will make them weak if, they have to ever face this problem in their life.
9.6.4 Do not feel embarrassed or worked up because you are spending more time at home or are having to work from home. This can only depress you. Of course, in this matter you need strong support and understanding of your spouse.
9.6.5 Nothing happens without trying ; hence make as many approaches as you can. Respond to every advertisement that you feel has some possibilities. Meet every consultant you know and don’t feel shy to remind them of your need. Most consultants are deluged by applicants and, it is not really possible for them to search out your application from the large heap that they have and match it with a job that matches your profile.
In practice, what happens is that the consultant recommends the 5 most “easily found” resume from his data bank that are a reasonably good match with the job profile. To make sure that your resume is one of them, you need to ensure that your resume is always on the top of his heap and that your name is always his “top-of the –mind recall” This can only happen through repeated and regular contacts and meetings with him.
9.6.6 Next, don’t be too choosy or fussy about the peripherals issues ; for example, you will often get a job offer saying you work with us for 6 months and then we will see. If otherwise the job, pay and company are good and acceptable to you, don’t get rigid about getting a permanent offer ; accept what is coming and then do your best.
9.6.7 You need to now mentally accept that the days of “permanent employment” as an automatic offer are over and many offers will come for shorter tenures or be open-ended offers to be reviewed at the end of a period. Also the social stigma attached to a temporary job and/or many job changes is much less now. Hence, please be flexible on this point.
9.6.8 Similarly don’t make a big issue about work location. We often get people (in Mumbai) in similar situations who don’t take up jobs (when they are in crying need of it) because they are looking for a job on the “Western line” and therefore will not take up an offer on the “Central line”. This is a luxury you can ill afford.
9.6.9 Keep up your spirits by dong some regular exercise - yoga or aerobics or walk or swimming. Don’t stop socializing – that is one sure way of going into depression, though of course you must eschew expensive parties and outings.
9.6.10 Teaching / Tuitions is another good option to explore. Take up the subject you know best and enjoy and offer your services ; once again, the important barrier to overcome is your own hesitation in taking up the lowly perceived “tuition” activity ; in fact, it is one of the noblest professions considering that you are passing on knowledge to young minds. Besides, it is good to remember that some of the Tuition Institutes today are having turnovers running into hundreds of crores. Indeed, many of these institutions are always on the lookout for good teachers and if you enjoy teaching in a classroom setting, this is one of the very good options to explore.
9.6.11 Finally, if nothing works out, what should you do. Use the time that you have , while you are waiting to get a new job or some temporary assignment, to upgrade your knowledge and skills. Do not sit idle. That is fatal. Keep yourself busy by revising your knowledge in your area of expertise. Read magazines and journals and wherever it is affordable, even attend training programmes to hone your skills with the latest developments in the filed. This will not only keep you gainfully employed but will be of great help when a suitable opportunity presents itself, because you will be up-to-date with the latest developments in your field.
9.6.12 In this context, it is often worth considering teaming up with some known acquaintance “for free” ; offer to him that you would like to help him out in his work at no charge since you basically want to keep yourself occupied and keep in touch with your work. This will be a well appreciated gesture but more important will help you keep gainfully occupied and prevent depressing thoughts ruining your day.
9.6.13 If, for some reason, you are having to spend time at home, with nothing to do, then do something. Essentially this means that even if you are at home, set yourself a routine and follow it. For example, get ready for “work” every day by 0900 or 0930 hours and then retire to one corner of your house where you can either work on the computer or do some reading or do some writing till lunch time. Have your lunch, take a small nap if you like and then again come back to your “office corner” at home and continue with your Knowledge enhancement programme.
This is a very good coping strategy and helps tremendously in keeping up you morale. Besides it also helps you avoid getting in the way of your wife, who has developed her own routine of running the house when you are normally away at work.
To conclude, coping with a sudden job loss is a traumatic experience but it is possible to handle it without too much damage.
The most important part is to make sure it is not “sudden” by always remaining alert and alive to the developments in your company and industry.
Secondly, one must always be ready with one or two options even when the going is good. This means constantly exploring opportunities even if you are very happy and well placed in your current job.
Third, remember that there will always be a rainy day, and hence save up for it when you can afford to and not only when you need to, by which time it may be too late. The trick to making savings is to save first and then spend on the “essentials” rather than spend on what we consider essential and then “save if something is left over”. The latter never happens.
Finally, if the job loss has arrived, your foremost task is to keep your morale high (and by extension, keep the morale of the family high) by making vigorous efforts to gain another job or temporary assignment, making a planned and conscious effort to keep yourself updated with developments in your filed, ensuring that you remain in touch with your basic knowledge and skills and adhering to a “routine” which will help you mentally cope with this situation.
Mumbai
March 23, 2006
Today the qualitative difference is that “losing my job” has often nothing to do with an employee's performance. Rather it may have to do with the various external factors like, a) company deciding to close down this activity, b) selling off the activity to another company which stipulates that all old employees or many of them must first be asked to go of c) new technology rendering current business unviable or d) new pollution norms force company to shut down activities etc.
In the latter case, particularly in case of business exit, or sale to a new company, employees get very little notice and coping with the pressures of this major change of losing one’s job becomes traumatic.
How should one handle this ? There are no easy answers for each person’s experience is unique. Nonetheless there are some preparatory and defensive steps that one can take in today’s fast changing times so that one is not caught flat – footed and can face the “uncertain future” with greater confidence.
The first step is mental ; this is, to understand and accept that “it can also happen to me”. Most employees who come to us for jobs when they have faced such “sudden ??”(is it really sudden or was I oblivious to the many signals that were coming out) forced exits lament that I had no idea that this was going to happen to me !!
This is simply not correct. One must understand, as Alvin Toffler has so convincingly shown in his book “Future Shock” that not only is there an increase in the speed of change but that the rate of change itself is faster, indeed, the acceleration itself is accelerating !!
If one therefore accepts that “anything can happen tomorrow” it is only prudent to prepare as best as one can for the unpredictable tomorrow . How does one do that ?
For simplicity of understanding we are listing below a series of steps – but we hasten to clarify and emphasise that it is neither as simple as “a listing of steps” might suggest nor is it necessarily going to happen in the sequence suggested.
1. Keep your eyes and ears open in regard to what is happening in and to your company – not merely confine your interest to your own department or section.
2. Go a step further ; track what is happening to your industry. This will give you early warning signals if there are any major upheavals likely, if any new mergers or acquisitions are being planned, if any new legislation will impact your industry and/or your company etc.
3. How can you do the above ; essentially by reading -- business newspapers, business news magazines, watching business news, interacting with other industry players either in meetings or seminars or exhibitions, reading journals pertaining to your industry, scanning the internet for new developments etc.
4. Closely monitor the performance of your company – not merely that of your department. This will again give you early signals if anything major is likely to come up.
5. Develop contacts in the industry with fellow professionals even if they work for competitors, with dealers and suppliers and also with research institutions if there are any in your field. The connection with dealers and suppliers is particularly useful as they are the first to get a whiff of any closure, slow-down, “business changing hands” etc as companies take pre-emptive action in stopping supplies to the market or cancelling / postponing orders from vendors if any change of plan is on the anvil.
Similarly, become member of a few professional associations like AIMA, HRD Network, NIPM, ISTD, CSI, IIIE, IE, IIMM, etc. which will not only widen your circle of contacts but also keep you professionally up-to-date.
6. If you have some understanding of the share market, watch the “industry – specific” indices like steel, pharma, IT etc which are also sensitive to what is happening in the industry , though they tend to be short-term reactions and therefore should not be the sole criterion for taking any major decision.
7. As can be readily understood, the above are all measures to help one know reasonably early if there is going to be a major upheaval which may even lead to loss of one’s job.. This will help one better prepare for the eventuality As the saying goes, fore-warned is fore-armed.
8. Coming now to the financial aspect of coping with sudden job loss there are some useful, essentially common-sense measures that one can and should take. These are :
8.1 No matter at what level you are, you must save regularly for a rainy day. While this advice is never disputed the problem arises in its implementation. The chief barrier we find is in the way people approach “savings”. Some put aside money in savings, no matter what. Most plan for savings as the “sum left over” after we have met our essential needs. The latter are the ones that regularly fail to save because their essential needs never leave any money for savings.
8.2 Hence it is essential to reverse the approach by first putting the target amount in savings and then “meeting your so-called essential needs with whatever is left-over”. This actually requires a major change of attitude and is not so easy to do. Nonetheless, this is the only way.
8.3 Where should you save : we recommend small savings as the best bet. This includes, Post Office Recurring Deposit, Bank FDs, Ness, and PUFF. In case of PO Recurring Deposit, even a small sum of Rs. 500/- per month accumulates to over Rs. 40,000/- in 5 years. Most people will not find difficult to put aside Rs. 1000/- every month which translates to over Rs. 80,000/- at the end of 5 years.
8.4 If you prefer a longer term horizon, go for NSCs ; we recommend buying NSC of the target amount every quarter or even every month. Thus at the end of 6 years, you will be assured of getting a tidy sum every quarter or every month depending on how you invested.
8.5 Finally, PPF is another very good option even though some of us are put off because of the 15-yer period. However, while that is the Account holding period, money can be withdrawn from the Account, every year from the 4th year onwards and hence, in times of need, one has access to some amount of money from a PPF account also, without having to break or scrap the account.
8.6 The same thing applies for Bank FDs where, you we recommend investing for a 24 month period, a fixed sum every month say Rs. 2000/- every month. At the end of 24 months, the first investment will mature and that can simply be reinvested for another 24 months. Thus after 24 months you do not have to put in fresh money and are assured of getting every month, for the next 24 months a regular sum of money which you can encash whenever such a need arises. The figure of 24 months is, of course arbitrary ; one can choose 12 months or 36 months or any other time horizon one likes.
8.7 We do not recommend putting any money in equities, in this context, because the money being set aside is for meeting the contingency of suddenly finding oneself without a job. Hence we feel it is best to stick to safe and risk-free investments that allow easy withdrawal of money instead of high gain but high risk investments which in bad times can get wiped out to very low amounts.
8.8 Having done this essential saving, if you still have money left over and have access to good advice or yourself have good knowledge then by all means you can go in for equity portfolios.
9. How to actually cope with the loss of a job ? How to find one’s bearings and start productive life again ? It is not easy, but nor is it impossible and we give below some suggestions that may be found useful :
9.1 Get in touch with the contacts you have built up during your employment days ; 90 % will be just sympathetic but not of substantial help, simply because many are simply not in positions of authority while many have other problems of their own. But the remaining 10 % can turn out to be very helpful.
9.2 However, this is essentially a game of numbers ; if you have only 10 contacts then 10 % of that is just one person and if he cannot help then you are left nowhere to go. Hence it is important to build as large a circle of contact and acquaintances as possible - please refer to para 5 above.
9.3 For this it is important that right from today (when the going is good) you must build your own little diary of “important contacts” listing their names, addresses, telephone numbers and, wherever possible try to keep in touch whether through a telephone call or a greeting card or an occasional meeting especially with those who live in the same town/city as you. This is to ensure that when you need to contact them, you do not have to spend two days tracking them down ; secondly your regular touch will ensure that they recognise you the moment you call them instead of your having to go through the embarrassing rigmarole of introducing yourself all, over again.
9.4 Make sure that while you are at a job you not only become computer-literate but, also, computer-conversant if not a computer expert -- this is said only in the context of being able to use the computer and many of the popular applications. You are NOT required to be a computer programming expert. Today, nobody considering you for employment, especially of a temporary or limited tenure period, will even look at you if you do not know how to use computers.
9.5 In this context, it is equally important to be able to surf the internet, search for data using various search engines, send e-mail etc.
Similarly if by virtue of your earlier job you had an opportunity to learn some special application software then please definitely try to become an expert, be it in something simple like PowerPoint Application or Excel Calculations and Projections (Pivot Table, regression Analysis, macros etc) or some special software like AutoCAD, MS Project, Prima Vera, Director, MACROMEDIA, or even DTP Software like Adobe PageMaker or Corel Ventura. Skill in using such specialised software will definitely ensure that you can get paid assignments if not a regular job.
9.6 The real battle is however mental and in this you will have to overcome or tackle the following issues :
9.6.1 You must not feel shy or defensive about informing your close acquaintance about your loss of job. It is not a social stigma as many of feel in the reaction to this event ; most people understand that this has happened owing to circumstances beyond your control and hence it is not your fault. What this implies is that you must be ready to adjust your “spending style and standard of living” to the new reality. Hence, do not feel shy to use a bus or train instead of the taxi and car that you were used to for all these years. Go easy on dining out and expensive clothes. If you smoke and drink, consider a cut in the intake.
9.6.2 Many of us fall in the trap of trying to keep up the pretence that nothing has happened by living “just as we used to, to prevent others from knowing that we are passing through some bad times ; this is immature behaviour for the fact is not concealed or hidden. The only thing is that we run out of our limited funds much faster, bringing more misery and often larger debts.
9.6.3 The second most important aspect to be borne in mind is that your wife or husband and your children have to equally share these difficult times with you and all the cutbacks it entails ; even at the risk of displeasing them the cut on “standard of living factors” must apply to all ; do not try to be an indulgent father or mother by “protecting” your children by letting them spend in the same manner as they earlier did or serving them food or spending on their fun and entertainment as before ; in fact you are preventing them from learning some of the harsh lessons of life which will make them weak if, they have to ever face this problem in their life.
9.6.4 Do not feel embarrassed or worked up because you are spending more time at home or are having to work from home. This can only depress you. Of course, in this matter you need strong support and understanding of your spouse.
9.6.5 Nothing happens without trying ; hence make as many approaches as you can. Respond to every advertisement that you feel has some possibilities. Meet every consultant you know and don’t feel shy to remind them of your need. Most consultants are deluged by applicants and, it is not really possible for them to search out your application from the large heap that they have and match it with a job that matches your profile.
In practice, what happens is that the consultant recommends the 5 most “easily found” resume from his data bank that are a reasonably good match with the job profile. To make sure that your resume is one of them, you need to ensure that your resume is always on the top of his heap and that your name is always his “top-of the –mind recall” This can only happen through repeated and regular contacts and meetings with him.
9.6.6 Next, don’t be too choosy or fussy about the peripherals issues ; for example, you will often get a job offer saying you work with us for 6 months and then we will see. If otherwise the job, pay and company are good and acceptable to you, don’t get rigid about getting a permanent offer ; accept what is coming and then do your best.
9.6.7 You need to now mentally accept that the days of “permanent employment” as an automatic offer are over and many offers will come for shorter tenures or be open-ended offers to be reviewed at the end of a period. Also the social stigma attached to a temporary job and/or many job changes is much less now. Hence, please be flexible on this point.
9.6.8 Similarly don’t make a big issue about work location. We often get people (in Mumbai) in similar situations who don’t take up jobs (when they are in crying need of it) because they are looking for a job on the “Western line” and therefore will not take up an offer on the “Central line”. This is a luxury you can ill afford.
9.6.9 Keep up your spirits by dong some regular exercise - yoga or aerobics or walk or swimming. Don’t stop socializing – that is one sure way of going into depression, though of course you must eschew expensive parties and outings.
9.6.10 Teaching / Tuitions is another good option to explore. Take up the subject you know best and enjoy and offer your services ; once again, the important barrier to overcome is your own hesitation in taking up the lowly perceived “tuition” activity ; in fact, it is one of the noblest professions considering that you are passing on knowledge to young minds. Besides, it is good to remember that some of the Tuition Institutes today are having turnovers running into hundreds of crores. Indeed, many of these institutions are always on the lookout for good teachers and if you enjoy teaching in a classroom setting, this is one of the very good options to explore.
9.6.11 Finally, if nothing works out, what should you do. Use the time that you have , while you are waiting to get a new job or some temporary assignment, to upgrade your knowledge and skills. Do not sit idle. That is fatal. Keep yourself busy by revising your knowledge in your area of expertise. Read magazines and journals and wherever it is affordable, even attend training programmes to hone your skills with the latest developments in the filed. This will not only keep you gainfully employed but will be of great help when a suitable opportunity presents itself, because you will be up-to-date with the latest developments in your field.
9.6.12 In this context, it is often worth considering teaming up with some known acquaintance “for free” ; offer to him that you would like to help him out in his work at no charge since you basically want to keep yourself occupied and keep in touch with your work. This will be a well appreciated gesture but more important will help you keep gainfully occupied and prevent depressing thoughts ruining your day.
9.6.13 If, for some reason, you are having to spend time at home, with nothing to do, then do something. Essentially this means that even if you are at home, set yourself a routine and follow it. For example, get ready for “work” every day by 0900 or 0930 hours and then retire to one corner of your house where you can either work on the computer or do some reading or do some writing till lunch time. Have your lunch, take a small nap if you like and then again come back to your “office corner” at home and continue with your Knowledge enhancement programme.
This is a very good coping strategy and helps tremendously in keeping up you morale. Besides it also helps you avoid getting in the way of your wife, who has developed her own routine of running the house when you are normally away at work.
To conclude, coping with a sudden job loss is a traumatic experience but it is possible to handle it without too much damage.
The most important part is to make sure it is not “sudden” by always remaining alert and alive to the developments in your company and industry.
Secondly, one must always be ready with one or two options even when the going is good. This means constantly exploring opportunities even if you are very happy and well placed in your current job.
Third, remember that there will always be a rainy day, and hence save up for it when you can afford to and not only when you need to, by which time it may be too late. The trick to making savings is to save first and then spend on the “essentials” rather than spend on what we consider essential and then “save if something is left over”. The latter never happens.
Finally, if the job loss has arrived, your foremost task is to keep your morale high (and by extension, keep the morale of the family high) by making vigorous efforts to gain another job or temporary assignment, making a planned and conscious effort to keep yourself updated with developments in your filed, ensuring that you remain in touch with your basic knowledge and skills and adhering to a “routine” which will help you mentally cope with this situation.
Mumbai
March 23, 2006
1 comment:
Good article Heman.
Post a Comment