Fired? Here's how to handle it

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sad Fired? Heres how to handle it

Read the tagline of this blog. It will put things into perspective. I'm hearing about layoffs too frequently now a days. And I thought of doing an article on it. You are lucky if you have the ball in your court and I hope you feel lucky to find this article if it is otherwise.

You are on a casual call on your cellphone when your friend is leaving for the day. A simple casual "hi" is all the exchange you had. The next day you walk to his desk to call him for a coffee and… you know he's gone. As soon as he entered he was directed to leave. Now this kind of welcome may differ by the culture. Where I live, it's not the military style deal. You'll be lucky if you receive a notice in advance but generally you are received by the manager, the official belongings collected and you are notified of the change. Family, kids, parents… the house load and the car loan… You think about them all as you drive back home. What next?

There's lot more to come before anything productive will happen. The first day will be a mix of many feelings and emotions. One moment you'll convince yourself - you are a free bird and that job was nothing more than a stinker. Next, no matter how much you dislike the job, it was eventually not your call; it was your organisation which was in control. Being forced to quit - this feeling will haunt you for quite sometime. It may be a few weeks before you are ready to start again. Having experienced it more than once here are my thoughts and tips.

Chill out. Don't panic and don't stress out. The first few days are going to be heavy. Workout your muscles, chill with a beer and see your old friends. That will be the first step to gain confidence. No matter how this comes you are on a vacation and spend it like that.
Don't sign. If you were just practicing on a rough paper tear it out. If you are asked to sign anywhere, read it through. And again read it through. Negotiate severance and a good one at that.
Relax and spend a silent moment with yourself. You haven't done this is weeks and months. Rise up early spend the mornings out. Fix your routine. I'll repeat - fix your routine. When you are at a loss you will be pulled into a miserable routine and you will want to do nothing or just laze around. Find something to do. Make time for your hobby. Once you are past one week, grab hold of your resume.
Time to pull up your socks. Groom your self. Fix and review your resume. Surf the net and update your information on the job sites. But limit this activity to no more than two hours a day. While you are looking for a job you want to learn something and do better so that you call the shots in your life.
Start a blog. If there ever was a good time to start blogging it is now or never. You are not alone. Do your research and (you won't really have to) learn blogging. Share your experience and tips with your readers. If you don't get traffic you again are not alone. Comment on other sites (this article is a good place to comment and share your story). Invest at least three months in your blog and surprise surprise - you will slowly be looking at a new secondary source of income - this is how you'll equipped yourself for the future.
Don't give up. You'll hear a lot of motivational crap like "when the going gets tough, the tough get going". Guess what, it works. It's nothing more than a bad time and in the end this too shall pass.

What do you say?

Photo by Tuffer (belgian edition)