Don’t Let Anger Rule Your Job Search . . .

As the unemployment rates go up steadily, you may become angry as you join the statistics. It is okay to get angry for a while. Take a shower and verbalize your anger in the shower, or lock yourself in your parked vehicle and scream at the top of your lungs everything that you are feeling. Now you have vented. It is not harmful to you to vent in this way.

If it begins to take over your thinking, it is undermining your job search.

Several years ago I was working with a client when a very angry gentleman came into the office. His body language was very aggressive and I was apprehensive. Thankfully the client that I was working with quickly grasped the situation. He rose from his seat and offered the gentleman his place. He said, “I can tell you are in a hurry and I have all day. Why don’t you go ahead?”

When asked how I could help — he responded angrily, “I don’t know what you can do. I just lost my job. I had repeatedly asked my supervisor if my job was in danger and he never let me know it was.” He continued to talk about his anger and I listened intently.

My response to him was, “I know just how you feel. Several years earlier I was also involved in a corporate restructuring and my job was on the line. The stress built up as competent workers were terminated and/or laid off. I was one of those people who hung on for dear life until the stress got to me and I left.” I told him that I remembered my anger and the sorrow that I felt at leaving a company that I thought I would retire from. He told me he felt the same way but that his greatest anger was with his supervisor who had not told him the truth.

I then shared with him many of the stories I had heard from my clients and through articles that I had been reading. His supervisor probably had no choice as he was probably following management’s instructions to not divulge details of upcoming layoffs. If he had told anyone, his job would probably have been on the line also. During severe economic downturns, everyone goes into survival mode and he was simply surviving. I also shared with him the survivor’s stress that these people often go through. They have so much guilt because they were involved in the layoffs, while at the same time they wonder when the ax will fall on them. He mentioned that, in his anger he had never thought of that.

As we continued talking, I asked him if he had been on any interviews. He said that he had but that they seemed anxious to shorten the interview. I asked him to stand back and look at himself coming into my office. How did he see himself? Did he appear confident and ready for the interview or did he appear as an angry man with a chip on his shoulder? He stood quiet for a very long time. Then he said softly, “This is why they ended the interview so fast.”

It is okay to feel anger but if it continues, you should talk to someone about your feelings. See a professional if you are having trouble sleeping or functioning in a normal manner.

In these economic times, the bottom line is the company’s survival. Unfortunately, it affects you and many others. Turn it around and dig deeply into how you are going to promote yourself to the next company. Bad mouthing a former employer does not do it. The person interviewing you will think, “Hmm, I wonder what he will be saying about our company.” You do not want to be perceived as a future “problem.”

Instead, acknowledge in the interview that companies are facing tough economic times and so they do what they must — they reorganize. Sometimes entire departments are dissolved, stores closed, and plant operations curtailed with reductions in workforce. Then demonstrate to them what you bring to the company to help sustain it and make it grow in these tough times.

This is a wonderful opportunity to look at your experience and training. Can you go back to school and get additional training? Do you qualify for any government assistance to achieve that training? Can you take 1-2 classes in computer technology to bring you up to speed? Look at those skills that have to be brought up to date or sharpened. In the alternative, there are many self-help books that can walk you through the process of learning Word, Excel, Access and many other programs.

Do not let your membership in trade associations lapse. You want to keep in contact with those in your field. Make your presence known and find out what opportunities may be available. However, don’t make a nuisance of yourself or you will be avoided like the plague.

Are your skills transferable? Make sure that when you apply for a job outside your field, that you match as many skills as you can. Read the newspapers and news magazines to see what is happening. If you have not had experience in this field, see if you can do an internship. If you want to explore community service, think of volunteering. Skilled trades can volunteer to churches or organizations like Habitat for Humanity.

One of the benefits of volunteering is that it keeps you busy and keeps your mind off your anger. It can also be relaxing. Who knows who you might meet when you volunteer. Remember to give it your best. This is all experience you are gathering and sharing.

Some of you may even think of starting your own business. If you do, I wish you the best of luck in this endeavor. You will experience so much growth and knowledge.

Let the anger go. It only hurts you. Take a positive stance in your job search and demonstrate that you are actively employed in landing your next job. Bitterness only destroys you. Throw it out with the garbage. It may take time but you can do it.

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