3 Steps to Prepare for a Potential Layoff

3 Steps to Prepare for a Potential Layoff3 Steps to Prepare for a Potential LayoffAre you in danger of losing your job? Whether rumors are circulating or you have reliable information that your team or company is restructuring, the time to prepare is now. This is true even if you imagine that your job is safe.When a company is undergoing a merger, acquisition or internal reorganization, things can move at a rapid pace. Frequent and unexpected changes may occur. The best thing you can do is to get ready in case you are told to move on. Its a good idea to take unterstellung actions, even if you end up keeping your job, because they will help you no matter what comes to pass.1. Reach out for professional and personal reasons. The worst thing you can do is sit around and feel sorry for yourself. Acknowledge that it could end up being a difficult or bad situation, then decide that you will take positive steps forward to reduce the impact of the professional and financial repercussions. Get back in touch with former colleagues and tell them what you can about what you may be facing soon. Dont be afraid to pick up the phone for a quick call instead of writing emails, as this is likely to make a bigger impact. Ask for their advice, and if they can keep their ears open for any possible opportunities in your field. The wider you cast your professional net, the better.You should also let friends in on the situation. They can be helpful professionally and support you when you need it most. While you may not be comfortable alerting family to a possible job change that is completely out of your control, it may help you deal with it better emotionally. Sharing this information will likely help you to confront the situation and encourage you to take active steps to deal with it.2. Develop your story. Everyone worries about how a layoff or gap in employment looks to employers. You need to be ready to answer the question, so youll feel mora confident when it arises. Realize th at you cannot be faulted for losing your job after a merger, acquisition or internal change. It happens to a lot of people and is out of your control. What you can control is how you present it to employers and, more importantly, how you present yourself.Be transparent. Tell an employer in a cover letter, email or phone conversation why you lost your job and then go further. Explain briefly what makes you unique as an employee and how you can help them. This demonstrates that you havent let it get you down and still believe in your value.3. Update your branding materials. One things for sure When you start networking with people and applying to jobs, theyre going to ask for your resume. Its likely that they will check to see if you have a LinkedIn profile as well. Maybe youll need to submit a cover letter for a job. If youre in a creative field, you should make sure your online or hard-copy portfolio is updated with your latest work. Dont wait. Get it all ready now because the last thing you want to do is scramble when you groe nachfrage into someone who asks you to send them your resume. That usually results in a poor product because you dont have time to do it well when you feel pressured to send it out.When you update your resume, dont throw your latest job or work on there. Take time to look over your entire document. After all, this is exactly why you are planning now for what may come later. As you read, think about it critically, as if youre looking at a co-workers work rather than your own. Ask yourself Is it readable? Can I easily figure out what this persons expertise is? Does it include a career summary, bullets that show the impact of my work, education, technical skills and honors and awards, if applicable? Are there grammatical errors or formatting mistakes?Your LinkedIn profile adds more to your professional story. Think about the following Does my summary discuss the value I bring to a company? Does it share something personal about why I lo ve what I do or how I got into the field? Have I used keywords from my industry that apply to my professional history throughout the profile, including in the summary, job descriptions and the skills section? In addition to the sections above that I typically see in a resume, did I include volunteer work and interests? Did I include links to presentations, writing or other media Ive developed?