You Got a Job! Or Did You?

(Based on a true story)

Fast forward a few years. It is 6:30 in the morning, and time to go to work. You are excited as you get up and envision the challenges of your new job. After breakfast, you kiss your spouse, your 2-year old son and your infant daughter goodbye as you head out the door. On your way to work, you think about your finances and how you will afford your upcoming family vacation. After the birth of your daughter, your spouse decided to stay home, since the cost of day care for two children was nearly as much as their salary. You are now a one-income family, and you can pay the bills, but there is little left for other expenses. As you pull into the parking lot, you take a deep breath and make a promise to yourself, to work your way up the ladder and secure financial stability for your family.


As soon as you walk into the building, however, you notice that something is wrong. Your colleagues are quiet. You brush your premonition aside as you turn on your computer and see several new emails from your boss. You open the emails, but even before you can read them, your boss walks in and closes the door behind him. “Look”, he says, “I am sorry to have to be blunt, but as of today, your position has been eliminated. We are going through a restructuring, and several positions have been terminated, including yours. It is not personal, believe me, it was a decision from higher management. You have until the end of today to pack your belongings. I know you have only been with us for a few months, but you have done good work. I’ll be happy to give you a good recommendation. I am truly sorry, I know you have a family, but there was nothing I could do.”

This is the true story Leslie, (not his real name), the father of two young children. Fast forward another year. Leslie is now settled into a new job, but the previous 12 months were no picnic. He was laid off in the middle of a terrible job market and there were no positions in the area. In order to pay the bills, he took a temporary position in another state and visited his family on weekends. After six months of a grueling long-distance marriage, he finally received an offer from a company just 30 minutes from his home. What is the lesson from his story? How does one recover from a sudden layoff?

First, remember that there is no shame in being laid off. Companies let go of hundreds or even thousands of employees at once and being laid off does not look bad on your resume. Employers are interested in the skills that you bring to their organization, rather than whether you survived a layoff. Second, you have to keep a current “Rolodex”, which today translates primarily to an updated LinkedIn profile. Leslie got his temporary position through one of his professional contacts. The job was not ideal because it was far from his family, but it gave him the opportunity to keep networking and look for a more convenient job.

These temporary long-distance solutions are becoming frequent as companies have waves of layoffs, and bread-winners need to find jobs fast. Another father of three young children found a position half-way across the country from his family after his company declared bankruptcy. Since there were no other employers in the area, he had to move his family to his new location over a 6 month period. Yet another mother of two teens lost her position just a few months before she had to start paying college tuition for her older child. There are thousands of these stories, and it is almost becoming a way of life in certain industries. Complacency is no longer possible. You always need to be ready to leap for new positions. Keep your professional network and resume current, and you will have a world of opportunities at hand