Do you remember when you were being let go, fired or reduced? It probably felt like the worst day of your life or maybe even unfair and unjust. The reason I say this is because I recently watched a movie, Up In The Air, and it had a great a quote in it. George Clooney plays the main character and when he fired someone he would say, “Anybody who ever built an empire, or changed the world, sat where you are now. And it’s *because* they sat there that they were able to do it.”
What a great quote, right? The point of this article is for those who are unemployed or in transition. It’s so easy to become depressed, unmotivated or angry.
What happens when you let these feelings or emotions overcome you is that they begin to show in your attitude and more importantly in your interviewing. Nobody wants to hire anyone who constantly says, “Woe is me”. Any successful job search will take three-six months. If you can understand that and agree with it, then you be okay with the process taking time. Again, if you can agree with it, then there is no reason to have the debbie-downer attitude. We all understand it is a tough situation to go through, but even in this bad economy, there are still plenty of jobs out there to be filled.
How do you overcome this then?
Being unemployed can be a good thing. It gives you a chance to get back on track with what you love…to reconnect with your passions. Take the time to seek out new opportunities, professions or industries that aligned with what you love or believe in. It will give the chance to reconsider what you’ve been doing or possibly leverage it into something else… maybe start your own business!
Some many times, when I was a corporate recruiter, I would interview people who had some kind of chip on their shoulder about whatever reason and as a trained interviewer, I was able to easily see through it. I’m not saying that you should never feel depressed, unmotivated or angry, but what I am saying is that you should be able to bottle them in an interview. I used to love interviewing people who were excited about the opportunity, who wanted to learn more and who were showing me their enthusiasm. It’s infectious and it makes you want to “like” the person! Now, think of the opposite. Someone walks in and is unhappy, complaining about how they were unjustly fired and just has a puss on their face. Would you hire that someone?
Remember, its *because* you were able to sit in that chair and take that firing that you will be able to rise up and move on to something bigger and better.
It was believed that when a phoenix died, it would turn into ashes, but from the ashes of its predecessor arose a new phoenix. That is what is happening here, you are being reborn and preparing yourself to build your empire and change the world!
