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Few things are more stressful than losing ones’ job or working in a role for which you are a poor fit. Given the current economic realities, it is an unfortunate fact of life that managers in nearly every sector are faced with the prospect of becoming a downsizing victim. Many managers who lose their jobs are often baffled with how to best find a new job that is a good match for their skills and interests.
Managers in career transition are often faced with a number of key questions:
Illustrative Client Vignettes*
Nick: The Underemployed Techie
Nick was employed as a help desk manager in a high-tech organization. While he enjoyed his work somewhat, Nick felt depressed and unmotivated since his organization is in transition and he was not able to do work he loves: writing.
We began the coaching process with Nick by assessing his skills, interests, personality, and core values. In one session, we captured on a flipchart a vision for what his life looked like when he fulfilled his dream of being a journalist and well-known author. We also envisioned other goals for his life and identified ways to integrate these goals with his professional interests. Further, we also challenged Nick to find ways to either adapt his current role to incorporate more of his interests, as well as identifying short-term career options where he could move to a more stable work environment in his company - and thus free up some energy to be able to do some writing toward his passion in the evenings.
Finally, we asked Nick develop some strategies for building his skills as a journalist as well as find other writers to network with.
Nick's attitude has shifted dramatically since he now has a transition plan and is actively develop writing skills he loves to use. As a result, people at work are responding to him more positively and supportively.
William: The Downsized Manager
William was a food and beverage director at a large hotel chain. With a long history of success in his career, he was downsized from his role.
We worked with William through all four stages of career transition including branding, targeting, marketing and selling. In the branding stage, William identified his strengths and clarified what made him unique as a professional. He then identified specific job targets based on geography, industry, organization culture, and job focus. As part of this process, William identified a list of organizations that he might consider working for. We then coached him through the process of conducting informational interviews and using social media such as LinkedIn to make contact with people in his target organizations. We then provided feedback on his resume, emphasizing key accomplishments that would be relevant to his targeted employers.
Through this process, William was able to leverage a number of his relationships and interview for a number of jobs. At our suggestion, he began attending professional groups to build more relationships and stay abreast of trends in his profession. We also helped William identify how to structure his days to avoid boredom and isolation.
William identified three excellent opportunities and is awaiting job offers from these potential employers. He is excited about his future and his prospects for career advancement.
* The facts of these cases have been generalized from several clients in order to maintain confidentiality.
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