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TAKE TWO DEEP BREATHS AND CALL ME IN THE MORNING
CAREEROLOGIST: THAT’S ME

“You’re fired!” The only time that phrase brings us a smile is when “The Donald” says it on TV. The Apprentice reality program is especially enjoyable when we know the person truly deserves to be fired. We may also reflect on times that we were close to being fired and survived.
In our real world of employment, the expletive "you’re fired" is rarely spoken. The words have been euthanized, to downsized, laid-off, restructured, let go, right sizing, cutbacks, temporary resizing… the list continues to grow. These are the current sayings. Do you remember “I got pink slipped or received my walking papers.”

When I receive a telephone call asking for help because they have lost their job, I often assume the role of a careerologist. My title of careerologist was created one night over dinner with some friends. We were discussing my job duties and I told them that as a headhunter my professional expertise knowledge is somewhere between a ophthalmologist and an proctologist. We laughed, I said, “Yeah, many times my role is to advise them to keep their eyes positively focused on the future, even when they have backed into the unemployment fan. My best advice is take two deep breaths and call me in the morning.”

When you are fired, it can be the single biggest career disaster. It cuts to the ego bone and anger is the first reaction. There is no simple prescription to ease your emotional pain. The following are a few steps to help you recover and get you back to work.

1. DIAGNOSE
Acceptance of your situation is the first step in getting yourself on track and back to work. Unless you have substantial and provable data about discrimination playing a part in your dismissal, get over the thought of a lawsuit. Legal action will only eat up your time and energy. If you work in an industry that has a small population of companies you could get black-balled and not know it.

2. PRESCRIBE-RX
Ask yourself - what went wrong? What do I need to fix? Was it my attitude? Was it political? Did I get lazy? Maybe it’s not my fault at all and just caught a bad break. Update and evaluate your resume for content and add all your latest accomplishments. Ask other senior managers for a letter of recommendation. Update your networking contacts.

3. PROGNOSIS
Get busy. Start making networking calls at once. The is not the time to take a vacation. You can take that well deserved vacation after you receive you next job offer. Know the future is unpredictable, but that your marketable skills and abilities will get you your next job. You understand persistence will ultimately result in the employment opportunities you desired. Stay focused and remain positive.



RECENT GRAD STRUGGLES

Dear Headhunter,
I am a recent MBA graduate and currently seeking to advance my career. I am struggling to find a job out there in the working world. I was considering hiring a headhunter to help me with my job search. Do you know how I get in contact with one and how I find the correct one for the type of job I want? I am looking for a job in the financial industry such as a financial analyst. I have been employed with a mortgage company for about 2 1/2 years now so I do have some experience with finance. Also, do you have any other suggestions about where to look for a job besides the normal search places such as monster.com or the newspaper?
Thanks, Erica

Dear Erica,
I'm sorry to say that headhunters are not for hire...they must find you in the process of filling a job opening. Headhunters are paid their fees by their client companies. Reputable headhunters will not ask nor collect fees from job seekers. They are paid to fill openings and not to find jobs for individuals. The best place to look for current openings is still the Internet. Instead of the big job board search individual company web sites are the best for finance openings and then contact them direct...Good luck on your search...GHG



10 MISTAKES THAT CAN KILL YOUR CAREER
OR GET YOU FIRED ON THE SPOT
  1. THREATENING TO QUIT WITHOUT A NEW JOB IN WRITING
  2. ACCEPT A COUNTER-OFFER AFTER GIVING NOTICE TO QUIT
  3. GOING OVER YOUR BOSSES HEAD
  4. LYING ON YOUR JOB APPLICATION
  5. PADDING YOUR EXPENSE ACCOUNT
  6. GOSSIP PURVEYOR – RACIAL OR SEXUAL COMMENTS OR JOKES
  7. OVER-BILLING YOUR CLIENTS OR CUSTOMERS
  8. CAUGHT IN A OUTRIGHT LIE
  9. UNREASONABLE AND EGO-DRIVEN PAY RAISE REQUESTS
  10. CONTINUOUS LATENESS AND ABSENTEEISM’S

Dear Readers:
Please e-mail your best mistakes and I will add them to this list for future publication. I hope to receive some eye-openers. - George

PLEASE NOTE: emails received become the property of "Dear Headhunter" and may be published unless otherwise requested. Questions may be edited for content and length. All questions will be reviewed, some without a reply.

George Gurney has been a leader in the employment industry since 1976. He founded an executive search firm that conducts domestic and international assignments.  He has won numerous awards for recruiting excellence.  He has been a guest speaker at national conventions and seminars.