We Were Dismissed, and We're Embracing It – Learn How to Land a New Job That Fits You Personally
The start of a new year is often a moment for introspection, and for a lot of us, that involves considering our professional paths.
Two publishing professionals who lost their positions due to organizational changes originally thought their world had ended.
"I invested everything into the job... I believed in the principles we promoted. However, regarding my situation, those principles didn't apply," she states.
The two chose to employ the word "fired" and believe that being honest about what happened can help you handle the experience.
"There are countless soft terms for losing a job. However, the quicker you own it, the sooner you're candid about it, the quicker you can move on.
"That's the direct path to whatever you wish next," she continues.
Currently, they are excelling in new positions, where one owning her own media company and another holding the position of lead editor at a prestigious publication.
Whether you've been made redundant or are simply contemplating a change, these are four methods for guidance.
1. Consider The Past Year
It's common to experience a bit low concerning your career after a holiday break.
A careers coach highlights the importance of looking back before starting a new job search.
She suggests professionals to evaluate what they want to increase, what to reduce, and what motivates or depletes them.
Reviewing your accomplishments to find common themes can also help. "Avoid just looking at the most recent period, since everyone suffer from for recent-event bias that can impede your judgment," she states.
Another professional says it is important to decide where your work occupies in your life.
This means being candid regarding the hours you spend working and its impact on your social life.
Following her job loss, she recommends against letting your life be dictated by your career.
2. Implement Small Steps
The advisor says people can make incremental moves towards changing careers without a complete leap.
She took several years to make the jump from a corporate role to operating a company full-time, building her project alongside her job, which meant financial stability.
"It needed additional time, but that represented the method I used sustainably," she says.
She advocates for an experimental strategy.
This might involve volunteer work, participating in a work project that interests you, or agreeing to a different task in your existing role.
"If it fails, you discover it's not a fit, however, it's wiser to learn now instead of after you've switched careers," she adds.
She also advises looking into interim roles. These might not be the ideal job, but they act as progress towards your goal, like a job with similarities to your target field, but in a different industry or sector.
"It means giving yourself the permission to say this works for now, but that does not mean permanent.
"That can be an intelligent tactic for getting much closer to your career change."
3. Recall Your Successes
For anyone who has recently been made redundant from your position, you are not the only one – redundancy rates have increased significantly recently.
A former editor was the top editor for a fashion publication, but in 2022 her entire team were made redundant following a decision to discontinued the physical magazine.
Understanding that this event was not a reflection of her skills assisted her process the change.
"What you've learned doesn't disappear because you lost your job.
"Don't relinquish your power, it's crucial for everyone to recognize their own worth."
Another professional was let go following a long tenure with a finance publication following a regime change in senior ranks and the arrival of new leadership.
She stresses that so much of the embarrassment of job loss is self-imposed.
"Given that hundreds of thousands of professionals losing jobs, it's rarely personal. Chances are very much not you, so avoid carrying that feeling forward."
4. Develop a Career Checklist
If you're urgently looking for employment or are utterly miserable in your current role, the temptation is to apply hastily at any opportunity – ignoring your own happiness.
But this is a significant mistake.
Rather, she recommends an exercise called "reviewing" – filtering opportunities down to job descriptions that capture your interest.
She advises browsing professional networks and collecting several that you like.
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