In Focus

Getting fired: Your pink-slip checklist

The difference is in the details

Are you unemployed? Or, are you perhaps under-employed and seeking to make an upward change? 

Technology puts information at our fingertips and gives us the ability to thoroughly do our homework. Job seekers have no excuse for being unprepared, and the option of doing research is no longer an option -- it's a must. People need to be well informed about the companies to which they apply and understand if their backgrounds and skill sets are potentially good matches for targeted employers. With relative ease and speed, we are able to research a company's competitive marketplace, new products, services, and get a handle on open positions. It's the details of our informed search that make the difference between getting hired and being the first runner-up.
 
Resources, such as resume and cover letter writing services, are available, as are opportunities to learn new skills, gather information through webcasts, or join groups of likeminded individuals -- without leaving our computers.

Today's technologies, when leveraged with an eye toward maintaining authenticity, provide job candidates with easy-to-use, tactical means of finding and capitalizing on the right opportunities.

Let's take a look at some of the steps we recommend.

 

Comments

Chris Merritt-lish
Chris Merritt-lish May 15, 2009 at 2:07 PM

Thanks Erika! It is very difficult to get motivated to find a new job after getting fired. In most ideal circumstances, we should position ourselves NOT to be fired. At TheCanned.com, a website to help the unemployed, we discuss ideas on how to keep the job you currently have. Many people, have preemptively negotiated pay-cuts to save their own jobs. If you are interested in reading more, check out Mike's article, "A Novel Way To Keep Your Job."

Joanna di Paolo
Joanna di Paolo May 14, 2009 at 12:15 PM

I read the headline of this post and had an instant reaction: incorrect terminology. Yo, iMediaConn. Editors: I know you messed w/ the headline to make it more sensational but this was cheap!

Getting "fired" and getting "laid off" are VERY different things. A firing usually results when an employee is dismissed for lack of performance, bad behavior, non-compliance, etc. A layoff (i.e., when a "pink slip" is involved, which is an obsolete term anyway, since nobody actually gets a pink slip anymore), is, by definition, no fault of the employee, and often due to economic or financial circumstances. (Except, of course, when a company uses downsizing as a way to practice ageism or other types of discrimination).

BUT in these times, when so many dedicated, talented and hard-working people are being downsized, it is important to distinguish between the two. Referring to people who have been laid-off as "fired" is unfair, and adds to the stigma and despair that often accompanies the status. I understand this post is intended to be helpful, but with a headline like this, it definitely begins with a negative, even antagonistic tone.

Deb Haldar
Deb Haldar May 13, 2009 at 11:30 AM

Very helpful article, thanks Erica :)

melissa anidolopez
melissa anidolopez May 13, 2009 at 10:38 AM

This is a fantastic article. If you need more information on what to do after being laid off visit a great online community for the unemployed at www.lemonadeit.com. Feel free to post or share advice in the communities section. There is also a great article on what you need to do to get back on track at: http://www.lemonadeit.com/node/162
All the best!
When life hands you lemons...
Lemonadeit.com!

Greg Padley
Greg Padley May 13, 2009 at 9:33 AM

Excellent Erika!

Great advice for everyone at any stage of their career.
Thank you!

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