Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?: A Crash Course in Finding, Landing, and Keeping Your First Real Job (52 page)

Check into health insurance extensions (COBRA plans), pension plan transfers, and other paperwork.

Schedule an official departure date. Turn in keys and ID.

Send thank-you letters with new contact information to supervisors and close colleagues. Send around an e-mail thanking a wider group of colleagues and offering your new contact information.

Let your professional network know that you’ve taken a new job.

You’ve seen the pictures and read the headlines. Employees are called into a conference room and told they have ten minutes—under surveillance—to pack their personal items, hand over their keys, and leave the building.

Chances are this won’t happen to you. But if it does, it’s a good thing you prepared by keeping your work samples. Some companies have employees leave under escort even when it’s a matter of a routine layoff—it’s hard to predict how a person is going to react to job loss. (Urban legend has it that a prominent financial institution in New York posted a round-the-clock guard on its rooftop terrace before a round of cuts.)

If you think you’re being let go unjustly, without cause or prior notice, or that the company is in breach of contract, seek legal counsel. Do not sign agreements or accept severance offers without consulting experts.

Wallow in the anger and sadness if you need to. You might go through the first five of the seven classic “stages of grief”: shock, denial, anger, bargaining, and depression. But then you’ll be ready for the last two: solution-seeking and acceptance. It will be time to pick yourself up and move on. As a reintegration guide for ex-offenders so succinctly puts it—and this is advice for people likely in more dire circumstances than you—“Employers want to hire your future, not your past.” Remember this.

When you job-hunt and talk to others about your situation, do your best to sound upbeat and positive. If you’re asked what happened, don’t tell a tale of woe and injustice; say “it wasn’t a good fit” or refer to “office politics.” Beware of talking about a “personality clash”—people who don’t know may assume the personality problem was yours. Don’t bad-mouth your former boss (even if he was truly nightmarish). If you were laid off, don’t tell anyone who’ll listen that the company is going under; frame things in terms of “budget cuts” and “belt-tightening.”

Keep it short and sweet, and focus on the skills you acquired on the job; I’m guessing you did acquire skills, even if it didn’t end the way you imagined it would.

Review your finances to see how many weeks you can afford to job-hunt without taking on temporary employment or freelance work. Try to appreciate the free time you have. Start rereading the chapters of this book you didn’t think you’d need for a while. And understand that having to fire or lay someone off is no one’s idea of a good time. You may have to do it yourself someday, and maybe you’ll remember what it felt like to be on the other side of the desk.

Do some honest soul-searching and self-assessment. If you were fired because of performance problems, ask yourself whether you really gave it your all. Do you need a new attitude? Was the position or industry just not right for you?

You will worry about references. Reread
chapter 5
. If you were fired based on a claim of unsatisfactory performance, you won’t want to use the boss who fired you as a reference; instead, use a colleague or supervisor who’ll speak highly of you. But there’s no telling who’ll contact your boss on his own. Though there’s not much you can do about that, your boss may be bound by company regulation to say nothing other than, “Yes, he worked here.”

EARLY WARNING SIGNS

Every state has different guidelines, but in general, if you have been employed at a company for a year or longer and are fired or laid off, you are entitled to several months of unemployment benefits. The amount you’ll get is based on a percentage of your salary, often fifty percent, up to a state maximum.

You are not entitled to unemployment if you quit without valid cause; leave due to illness (in which case you should investigate disability benefits); are fired for misconduct or are involved in a labor dispute; or leave for personal reasons such as getting married, going to school, or moving. You must be able to prove that you are seeking employment, sending out résumés, and accepting appropriate positions as offered. Unemployment benefits are taxable, so keep good records.

Contact your state unemployment office to find out the eligibility and reporting requirements for your area. You will be asked for your former employer’s contact information and Federal ID number, your salary and dates of employment, your mother’s maiden name, and your Social Security and driver’s license numbers. File as soon as possible—it can be several weeks before you receive your first check. Find out if you need to go to the unemployment office once a week to collect your benefits or if can you file by dialing in or online. You should also inquire about whether you are able to work part-time, take courses, or freelance while on unemployment.

If you’re leaving a job without a new job lined up, whether by choice or not, get back in touch with your network. Don’t assume you need to start from scratch; once you’ve made a good connection, it should be yours for life if you’ve been courteous and communicative. Let your contacts know you’re looking. No need to highlight the fact that you were just laid off or fired in your cover letters; when someone asks why you are leaving your job, state matter-of-factly, “I was laid off along with ten other employees.” If the context of your layoff might help soften the effect, be sure to work it in: “I had just been hired and so was the first laid off” or “I left on very positive terms, and my supervisor has offered to serve as a reference.”

Ideally it will be your choice to move on, but even if it isn’t, you
can
control how you handle the situation and how you present it to others. You’re in charge of the next step. So take charge and move on!

I’ll end with a joke. A man dies and goes to Heaven. He meets an angel, who asks if he has any questions. “Just one,” he says. “My whole life, I was a good man. I was honest, good to my customers, good to my family, helped those in need, gave to charity … I prayed for only one thing in my whole life—to win the lottery—and my prayer was never answered. Why not?” The angel answers, “The least you could have done was buy a ticket.”

I’m not suggesting you buy lottery tickets, but I can tell you this: You definitely won’t get jobs you don’t apply for. Now it’s time to figure out what you want to do, and then figure out who to talk to make it happen. Help people help you. Own your nose ring, literally or figuratively. Find the right job, land it, keep it. Have some fun along the way. Good luck with your first real job.

—Ellen Gordon Reeves
[email protected]
www.caniwearmynosering.com

abbreviations,
56
,
75

acquaintances,
22

activities,
21
,
49
.
See also
hobbies; interests

age,
25

alumni career networks,
19
,
198

anxiety,
15
–16

appreciation,
32
.
See also
thank-you notes

attire,
129
–132

background checks,
180

balance,
8

benefits.
See also
promotions; salary

health insurance,
185

perks
vs
.,
175

bios,
43

bloggers,
14

body language,
157

bosses.
See also
references; recommendations

communicating with,
187
–188

hostile,
205

brainstorming,
39

budget,
172

business cards,
27

casual Fridays,
131

celebrities, as references,
112

chronological résumés,
43

citizenship status,
56
–57

communication

during interview,
126
–127

focus, in networking,
26

with bosses,
187
–188

community groups,
21

community service,
8
.
See also
volunteering

confidentiality,
114

connections,
22

contacts,
27
–29.
See also
leads; networking; references

mentioning in cover letters,
77

from interviews,
168

at right level,
30

contracts,
163
–164,
169
–170

cover letters,
5
,
153

address in,
81
–82