In today’s economy, there are no promises. Even if you have lost a job before and landed with a great new one, there are no promises that it will last. The volatility of the economy for the last decade or more has pushed many people onto the job market, some that thought it would never happen to them. Added to the economic crisis the multiple unknowns of the Affordable Healthcare Act and the uncertainty of what that will do to their budgets, many employers are erring on the side of caution and keeping hiring to a minimum.

As much as December can be lauded as a season of joy, for many people it is also the season when they find out that they no longer have a job. As employers look at long range and short range projections of both earnings and expenses, people can become expendable.

What should you do if you lose your job or think you may lose your job?

Be proactive. Don’t wait to see what will happen. Get organized and create opportunities.

Without sounding self-serving because I am in the career industry, you really do need to hire a career expert. You often see people turning to government job centers or college career services, which would be fine if those places sent their staff for training from the international career organizations but rather they tend to rely on 10-30 year old text books and training guides. I have been in the career industry for 30 years. I wouldn’t even let someone use anything I wrote in 1995 much less 1983. There is a huge difference in working with a career professional.

1. Hire an expert to write your resume. Here at Design Resumes, it is a collaborative process. Whether you are in Wausau, Wisconsin or on the East or West coast, I deliver my services using an interactive interview process, writing as you watch. My unique process helps me delve into your accomplishments and create a professionally-written resume that resonates with your talents and gifts. You can write a resume yourself but unfortunately I have seen far too many home-crafted resumes from people who didn’t invest in the hours of research it takes to do it correctly.


2. Learn to use social media to benefit you. Your job search will benefit from you connecting with people you know and onward to people you meet. Often you have no idea who is connected to whom and LinkedIn is a great way to figure that out. Facebook is a great way to build personality and use messages to speak privately to people who could help you. No whining on social media or it will all be in vain.


3. Understand the meaning of true networking. When I ask clients if they are networking, they almost always reply that the large gatherings (Chamber events, networking meetings) don’t work for them. But this isn’t what I mean by networking. You need to make sure you let key people know you are looking and often that is best done with a phone call or over a cup of coffee.


4. Use a job loss as an opportunity for good. Explore what you love to do. I know so many people who have been stuck in jobs they don’t love but they stay for the paycheck (or the benefits). In their heart, they have something they have always wanted to do. If it is a different job, find out how to learn to do the job and then apply. Or if it is that venture you always wanted to do, it has never been a better time from the standpoint of technology to launch your own endeavor. You can build businesses, work from home, and reach the world from your phone, tablet, or laptop.


5. Don’t get trapped into feeling sorry for yourself. Too many people choose a bottle or a drug when they lose a job or don’t like the job they have. If you grab the beer or your drug of choice, you are making sure your job search will go in reverse.


6. Invest in yourself. Reading is not outdated. Whether you like paper books or like me, you like having everything in your tablet, more books come on the market all the time about every topic under the sun. Many are free or low-priced if you know where to look so spend time learning. Blogs like this one are also written about every possible topic so you can find credible experts and learn away.