Table Of ContentCareers/Job Searching
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Get Over It and Get Your Career Back on Track L
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Losing Your Job Might Be the Best Thing That Ever Happened to You!
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If you’re one of the millions who have been laid off , fi red, or otherwise let go from your k
job, you might be angry, scared, and having trouble fi guring out what to do next. Career f
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counselors Deems and Deems off er the solution: a proven system for getting past your r
emotions and fi nding a new job that may be better than the one you had. Y
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Get Over It and Get Your
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Make Job Loss Work for You gives you the skills to
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Career Back on Track
● Tackle your emotional reactions—including shock, anger, denial, self-doubt, and e
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depression. O
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● Use the proven Deems JobGetting Skills™ System to focus your career direction. e
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● Write resumes and cover letters that get results. I
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● Interview with confi dence. a
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● Negotiate the off er and get a great start in a new job. d
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About the Authors Y
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Richard S. Deems, Ph.D., is the founder of WorkLife Design, which provides services ur
in leadership development, managing change, and career coaching. He has been on the C
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graduate faculty of Northern Illinois University and Iowa State University. He is the r
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author of several books, including How to Fire Your Friends, Hiring: How to Find and r
Keep the Best People, and Making Change Work for You! B
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Terri A. Deems, Ph.D., directs the Iowa offi ce of WorkLife Design, providing services o the Deems
in career coaching, leadership, and workplace culture. She is an adjunct instructor for n
T JobGetting Skills™
Drake University and received the Cutting Edge award from the International Academy r
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for Human Resource Development for her research on vital workplaces. She is the c
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coauthor with Richard of Leading in Tough Times and Downsizing with Confi dence.
Deems
and
Deems
Richard S. Deems, Ph.D.
800-648-JIST | www.jist.com
Terri A. Deems, Ph.D.
$12.95 Higher in Canada
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Richard S. Deems, Ph.D.
and
Terri A. Deems, Ph.D.
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Make Job Loss Work for You
© 2010 by Richard S. Deems and Terri A. Deems
Published by JIST Works, an imprint of JIST Publishing
7321 Shadeland Station, Suite 200
Indianapolis, IN 46256
Phone: 800-648-JIST Fax: 877-454-7839 E-mail: [email protected]
Visit our Web site at www.jist.com for information on JIST, free job search tips, tables of
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See the back of this book for additional JIST titles and ordering information. Quantity
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Printed in the United States of America
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is on fi le with the Library of Congress.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, or
stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher except
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book for any purpose other than your own personal use is a violation of United States copyright
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We have been careful to provide accurate information in this book, but it is possible that errors
and omissions have been introduced. Please consider this in making any career plans or other
important decisions. Trust your own judgment above all else and in all things.
Trademarks: All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service
marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
ISBN 978-1-59357-740-7
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Dedication
To the thousands of people with whom we’ve worked in JobGetting projects
And to our families for their continued support
And to Sandie, who keeps Richard grounded
And to Annie and Ben for keeping Terri on track
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Contents
Read This First .........................................................................................xi
Chapter 1: What Can I Expect Now? .....................................1
Typical Reactions to Job Loss .....................................................................3
Shock and Disbelief ...............................................................................................3
Anger and Resentment ...........................................................................................3
Denial and Bargaining .........................................................................................4
Self-Doubt and Put-Downs....................................................................................5
Withdrawal and Depression ...................................................................................5
Acceptance and Affi rmation ....................................................................................7
Your Family’s Reaction ...............................................................................7
Manage Your Reactions to Job Loss ............................................................8
Chapter 2: What Do I Do Now? ...........................................11
Some Dos and Don’ts ..............................................................................11
Dos ...................................................................................................................11
And a Few Don’ts ..............................................................................................12
Now, Some More Practical Dos .............................................................................13
Myths and Realities..................................................................................14
Mindset....................................................................................................16
Chapter 3: What Do I Have to Offer? ................................21
Step 1: List Tasks, Functions, and Responsibilities ...................................22
Step 2: Ask “So What?” ...........................................................................24
Step 3: Quantify Results and Prepare One-Liners .....................................26
Step 4: Identify Your Major Themes .........................................................28
Step 5: Describe Yourself ..........................................................................29
Chapter 4: What Are My Options? ......................................35
Taking Stock of Yourself ...........................................................................35
Special Knowledge and Content Skills ....................................................................35
Values, Feelings, and What’s Important to You .......................................................37
Natural Strengths...............................................................................................41
Putting It All Together........................................................................................44
Your Ideal Work Environment .................................................................45
Top Job Options .......................................................................................47
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Make Job Loss Work for You
Exploring Your Career Options ................................................................52
Informational Interviewing ..................................................................................53
Ask Other People the Three Questions .....................................................................54
Chapter 5: What About a Resume? ......................................59
Resume Basics ..........................................................................................59
Resume Layout and Format ......................................................................60
How Long Should My Resume Be? ......................................................................60
What Format Should I Use? ...............................................................................61
What Kind of Paper Should I Use? .....................................................................67
Resume Content.......................................................................................67
Heading or Banner .............................................................................................67
Career Summary .................................................................................................68
Key Strengths .....................................................................................................69
Work History and Action Statements .....................................................................70
Education ..........................................................................................................72
Professional and Community Activities ..................................................................74
Endorsements ......................................................................................................74
Sending Your Resume ..............................................................................75
Building an Electronic Resume ................................................................76
Keywords ...........................................................................................................76
Electronic Format ...............................................................................................77
References ................................................................................................78
Some Final Resume Dos and Don’ts .........................................................80
Chapter 6: How Do I Interview Successfully? ..................83
Typical Interview Procedures ....................................................................83
Executive-Level Positions .....................................................................................84
Management Positions ........................................................................................84
Professional Positions ..........................................................................................84
Hourly Workers .................................................................................................85
How the Hiring Process Works ................................................................85
Making the Best Impression .....................................................................86
How You Look ...................................................................................................86
How You Act .....................................................................................................88
What You Say ...................................................................................................89
Some Basic (but Problematic) Interview Questions ...................................90
Tell Me About Yourself........................................................................................90
What Are Your Greatest Strengths? ......................................................................91
What Is Your Greatest Weakness? ........................................................................91
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Contents
Why Are You Available Now? ............................................................................91
What Are You Making in Your Current Job? or What Are Your Salary Goals? .......92
Tell Me How You Handled… ..............................................................................93
Why Should I Hire You? ....................................................................................93
Some Additional Questions ...................................................................................94
Still More Questions ............................................................................................97
Behavioral Interview Questions ................................................................97
Sample Behavioral Questions ................................................................................98
How to Answer Behavioral Questions ....................................................................99
Questions You Can Ask the Interviewer .................................................100
When the Interview Is Over ...................................................................101
Ace the Interview! ..................................................................................103
Chapter 7: How Do I Find and Respond to Job
Openings? .............................................................................111
Get Organized! ......................................................................................111
Where the Jobs Are ................................................................................114
Want Ads/Job Networks ....................................................................................115
Executive Search Firms, Recruiters, and Placement Offi ces .......................................122
Targeted Direct Cold Calls ................................................................................124
Networking......................................................................................................127
Using the Internet..................................................................................133
How Will You Turn Job Hunting into JobGetting? ..............................135
Chapter 8: What Is the Deems JobGetting Skills™
System? .................................................................................139
Things to Know Before You Start ...........................................................140
The Five JobGetting Steps .....................................................................141
Step 1: Research the Position ..............................................................................141
Step 2: Research the Organization .......................................................................145
Step 3: Evaluate Your Strengths and Interests .......................................................148
Step 4: Design Your Positioning Strategy .............................................................151
Step 5: Implement! ............................................................................................152
Formulating Your Plan for Action ..........................................................153
Final Thoughts.......................................................................................155
Chapter 9: How Do I Negotiate the Final Package? ......161
When to Negotiate ................................................................................161
Why Should I Negotiate?.......................................................................162
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Make Job Loss Work for You
How Do I Negotiate? .............................................................................162
How Much Should You Ask For? .......................................................................163
Make a Counteroffer .........................................................................................164
Continue Negotiating ........................................................................................164
Accept the Offer ................................................................................................165
Chapter 10: How Do I Get Started in My New Job? .......167
Getting Started ......................................................................................167
Preparing for Your Future ......................................................................169
Keeping Track of Your Results ..............................................................170
Epilogue: But I Don’t Feel Like It! ...................................173
Real Stories ............................................................................................173
Richard ...........................................................................................................173
Morrie ............................................................................................................174
Kelsey Grammer ...............................................................................................174
Terri ...............................................................................................................174
Harold ............................................................................................................175
Sheryl .............................................................................................................175
No Sniveling! .........................................................................................175
Appendix A: Should I Become Self-Employed? ...............177
Self-Employment Issues .........................................................................178
Resources ...............................................................................................179
Appendix B: Action Words.................................................181
Index ......................................................................................183
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Acknowledgments
M
any thousands of people have contributed to this book. They are the
people we worked with in outplacement, career coaching, and leadership-
development projects. We have learned so very much from them. Each person
was a learning project, and both we and they learned—lots.
We wish we could list all who have inspired us to continue our research and
application, but that would take up many, many pages. However, there are
several who have greatly contributed to our success and the success of this
book. The late John C. Crystal, who fi rst developed life-work strategies,
coached Richard in his early years of career management work. Crystal and
Richard co-authored several articles and book chapters on career issues, and
were working on three books together when Crystal suddenly died. Richard
remembers what Crystal said after reviewing one manuscript: “There is too
much Crystal and not enough Deems.” He would be proud of this book because
Crystal is there but it’s a lot of Deems—and Deems.
It was in a meeting with Crystal, Roger Hiemstra, David Tiedemann, and
Ginny Dennehy that Richard fi rst heard the term “JobGetting.” Someone in
the group said something like “I don’t care about job searching, what I care
about is JobGetting!” We’ve used the term ever since.
Ginny Dennehy, who co-trained with Crystal, has been a major force in
Richard’s development as a career coach. She patiently coached him through his
fi rst workshops and provided feedback showing him how he could be among
the best.
David V. Tiedemann, distinguished career education scholar, always had
positive words for Richard’s early work in job search strategies. Though we lost
touch in later years, David gave encouragement and wise counsel when Richard
needed it most.
Kathy Kolbe has helped us understand conation, the third part of the mind the
ancient philosophers talked about. Her research answers the question of how we
naturally get things done. It’s a major component in fi nding that place where a
person is “doing what comes naturally.”
Roger Hiemstra, Richard’s doctoral advisor, always encouraged him to
experiment, to try out new things, and to see what might happen. Not only
did Roger help Richard learn a great deal about adult development, he also
introduced him to Sandie.
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