Don’t Panic! What to do when you’ve been laid off

A layoff can be the worst of times-or the best of times. "It all depends on how you view it," says Patricia Lavin, a personal and professional life coach based in Pelham, NY. "Nobody wants to get a pink slip, but getting one can be the beginning of a new opportunity."

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Forty and Fired: A Guide to Picking Up the Pieces and Moving On

It's the middle-age nightmare: you're fortysomething and suddenly fired. It wasn't like a plant-closing, so you didn't see it coming. The boss just called you in one Friday, said your division was being sliced in half, and you're out. Now what?

"What's the first thing you should do? Take a deep breath, put your mind on hold for a while, and then don't do anything at all, at least for a couple of days," advises Leanne Bradshaw-Daniels, a counselor in the Washington, D.C., office of Drake Beam Morin, the worldwide outplacement firm. "Just let it be."

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Assessing Your Communication Skills

Evaluate how well you communicate by responding to the following statements.  Mark the options that are closest to your experience.  Be as honest as you can:  if your answer is “never,” mark Option 1; if it is “always,” mark Option 4; and so on.  Add your scores together, and refer to the Analysis to see you skilled you are at communicating.  Use your answers to identify the areas that need improvement.

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Business Writing Skills

Determine Your Objectives

• Know your objectives and how they will shape your message
• Know the types of objectives that are relevant to business writing
• Write in a reader-oriented fashion

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7 Helpful Tips to Immediately Increase Your Confidence

• Ask yourself, “What’s the worst that could happen?” Take action on what you have control
  over and minimize risks for what you don’t. Then invest your energy wisely.
• In doing something for the first time, imagine that you have already done it in the past. Close
  your eyes, then vividly imagine you succeeding wildly at what you are really going to do for the
  first time. The mind does NOT know the difference between something VIVIDLY imagined and
  something real. Make it vivid by involving all 5 senses.

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Helpful Temping Tips

• Instead of voicing each worry you have and appearing overwhelmed, calmly ask your contact
  person for the name, location, and phone number of someone you can consult if problems arise.
• It’ll save you a lot of work and time later if you use a loose-leaf notebook-preferably one that
  you can carry with you once you’re working-to store the information you gather.

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Handling Your Assignment like A Pro

As you begin your first day on your new assignment, keep professional demeanor uppermost in your
mind at all times. That’s what sets you apart, often from the full-time employees. Indeed, it calms, as
well, the apprehensions of those who look askance at “temps.”

Shake hands when you meet anyone at the new company—from the receptionist to your supervisor.
At the end of the shift, make it a point to say good-bye to people and thank them for the courtesies
extended to you, if appropriate.

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