Category Archives: Advice

GUEST POST: 3 Steps to Recovery From A Job Loss

August 22, 2015Advice, Hope & Encouragementcelebrate, celebration, downsized, downsizing, experience, job loss, lay-off, layoff, skillsKurt Kirton

skills, layoff, encouragement — Photo by rami.halim

Have you ever lost a job? Perhaps you were downsized when your employer reorganized or was sold. Maybe you were fired.

My first lay-off involved a factory job. We showed up for our regular work shift and were given pink slips and directions to the nearest unemployment office. Years later I was downsized from a white collar job when corporate priorities changed. I’ve also left jobs amid strong hints that I’d be fired if I didn’t leave. I didn’t like those jobs and knew within months that I’d made a mistake letting myself get hired.

Even so, losing a job is absolutely devastating. It damages our sense of self-worth because we invest so much of ourselves in our jobs, even the bad ones. Inevitably we wonder what we did “wrong”. But it’s important to recover quickly and move on. After some trial and error, I hit on this sure-fire method to do that.

Step One – Buy a BIG bottle of champagne. Throw a champagne party to you salute yourself as a great person. It’s not your personal fault that the company had financial problems causing them to downsize. You’re not responsible for the screwed up life of a bad boss who took out her/his emotional problems on you (and your co-workers).

Step Two – Recognize the skills and experience you developed with your former employer. Every job I lost taught me at least one skill that helped me get the next job. So you’re in a better position in this job search than you were in the last one because you have new skills to sell!

Step Three – Acknowledge that sometimes losing a job is the best outcome. It forces us to move forward in our lives. If a job is truly awful, losing it can literally be a life saver. After one particularly rotten job ended, my mental and physical health improved so dramatically that I never again made the mistake of hanging on for the sake of a paycheck.

So if you’ve just lost a job or are still grieving the past loss of a job, reevaluate your situation. Buy that champagne, and salute yourself. Then start searching for the next job which may just be a lot better than that bum steer you lost.

About the Author:
Norma Shirk helps employers create human resources policies that are appropriate for the employer’s size and budget. The goal is to have structure without bureaucracy. Learn more here about Corporate Compliance Risk Advisor.
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3 Ways You Should be Growing Your Network at LinkedIn

August 8, 2015Advice, In Transitioncolleagues, connections, friends, groups, job search, linkedin, network, networkingKurt Kirton

grow network linkedin — Photo by Christophe Kiciak

The more connections you have at LinkedIn.com, the more likely people may be to accept your request to connect. Also, the larger your network, the more 1st- and 2nd-level connections you’ll have available when you’re networking.

Here are 3 main ways you can grow your network at LinkedIn:
1. Those You Know Already – After setting up your profile, invite those you know to connect. From the Connections link in the options bar at the top of most pages, choose Add Connections, and follow the process to import your email address book. LinkedIn can then suggest connections. Here’s another route: A list of “People You May Know” will also show up on different screens as you use LinkedIn. Don’t use the Connect quick-link, however. Make your request more personal. Go into each person’s profile to send connection requests, so you can customize the message they’ll see. You can also go back and add friends from high school or college.

2. Those You Meet – Add each person you meet as you network to your LinkedIn connections. Do so within two days so they won’t forget who you are, and always mention the event where you met when customizing the wording of your connection request. (As part of the targeted networking process, you’ll be requesting LinkedIn connections to people with whom you’re attempting to schedule networking meetings. This will also grow your network.)

3. Group Members – This is how I grew my network from about 50 people to 200. Join LinkedIn Groups (probably no more than 8-10) that have to do with your field. (To browse Groups, use the search blank at the top of the screen, change the setting to Groups, and enter keywords.) After you’ve joined the group, from the top of the Groups page, click the Members link; you can only see all members if you’re a member of the group. From their profiles, you can start to invite select people to connect. On the “How do you know ___” screen, select Groups; then choose the Group you both have in common.

Your personalized message can be something like, “Hi, James. We’re both members of the Music and Marketplace group here on LinkedIn. I’d like to connect with you.” Participate in discussions as often as you can. This way, you may meet potential employers or people who can help you learn more about topics in your field. You can also establish yourself as a subject matter expert by contributing original material to your groups. I once got a contract position after having met a hiring manager in one of my groups.

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Life 101 for the New Millennium: 3 Things You Should Know About Saving

June 6, 2015Advice, Budgeting & MoneyCFP, emergency fund, financial planner, investing, investments, money management, nest egg, retirement, roboadvisors, saving, savings, savings account, tax-deferredKurt Kirton

saving, financial planning, money — Photo by Mark

THE WHY
With layoffs, economic downturns and upswings, and unexpected expenses, I’m sure you’ve already noticed life is an uncertain thing! For that reason—and also other happy ones like saving up for a house or first child—you’ll want to polish up your savings skills and start thinking about a strategy.

It’s always good to have at least one to two months salary in savings in case of layoff or emergency. This can really take the stress off if you run a little short one month and need to take a brief loan from this fund—also there’s 0% interest this way vs. borrowing from a bank, your credit card, or a cash advance establishment.

Another reason to save is to build up a nest egg for retirement. Even starting small as soon as you can is a smart idea since the money will have more years to accumulate interest if you start early. Begin by checking into the 401k plan your employer may offer since it will usually match a percentage of what you put in.

WHO CAN HELP
A financial planner (CFP) can give you advice on how you should save your emergency fund, build up a house down payment, and/or add investments to your retirement strategy—which will earn more interest than simply stuffing money into a savings account. And I don’t mean playing the stock market, although some folks do that.

To find a trusted CFP, ask your social network and your parents. Then go into the meeting with your goals and discretionary income in hand so they can recommend investments that fit your goals and level of risk tolerance. Non “fee only” CFP’s will not charge to work with you and tend your investments since they make a small percentage of the interest generated. Each investment should send you regular statements so you can see how it is performing.

Always tend toward investments that are tax-deferred. This means the money is not taxed on dividend, interest, and capital gains income until you begin to withdraw the funds when you retire. This way your income grows tax deferred.

ROBOADVISORS?
If you’re an “early adopter” of technology, there’s a new field of “roboadvisors.” The thinking here is that if you’re already using technology to find a date or restaurant, why not use it to invest? The idea is that managing money shouldn’t have to be more expensive, exclusive, or time consuming than grabbing some coffee at Starbucks.

These roboadvisers have lower minimums than a big firm like Schwab and, after gathering info from you and drawing on its algorithm, will output custom investment suggestions without any human interaction. Wealthfront, AssetBuilder, Betterment, and SigFig are examples. (Source: Jennifer Barrett, “Know & Tell,” Details, (Nov. 2014): 48.)

So whatever your level of interest or ability to save up for retirement, your first home, etc., it’s always wise to start early thinking about savings, money management, and investment. Reduce all the stress you can, I say!

This post concludes the “Life 101 for the New Millennium” series. I hope it has been helpful and that you pass it along to friends and colleagues. There is additional information you can reference on saving and checking out prospective financial planners in one of my earlier posts.

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Looking for a new job? Want to get the one you want faster? Check out my new book, Here Today, Hired Tomorrow.