What to do After Losing Your Job

Losing your job is never a great experience. Although, sometimes it doesn’t come as a complete surprise, it’s normal to experience a range of emotions from shock to anger, sadness, desperation and stress.

You may have found yourself at a loose end on the job front, but don’t worry, Fuse Recruitment’s do’s and don’ts explain what you should do if you’ve been fired.

Do consider why you lost your job

In order to move on with your career, it’s important to fully understand the circumstances behind your termination. Was it something that you had done, or was it something the company had done? Was your position simply no longer needed? Whatever the reason, knowing exactly why it happened is imperative so that you can explain it to future employers. If the sacking occurred as a result of your own actions or behaviour, learn from the experience and ensure you don’t make the same mistakes in a future position.

Do start crafting a new resume

Chances are you are going to need a new job in the not too distant future, so an updated resume is a necessity. Make sure that all your job search correspondence is positive and don’t mention that you were fired in your resume or in your cover letters. Instead, focus on your strengths, abilities and experience, and clearly explain how you would be an asset in the position.

Do remain respectful and professional

Losing your job is a blow to your ego and feelings of anger or hostility are difficult to avoid. However, whatever the reasons surrounding your termination, it’s important to maintain a professional and respectful relationship with your former employers. It’s likely that in the same industry, your paths may cross again further down the line, so it’s best to try to avoid animosity at all costs.

Although it may not seem like it at the time, being sacked isn’t always a bad thing. Take time to consider what went wrong and approach your new job search with care and diligence. Learn from your mistakes and move onwards and upwards. Don’t shout about it

Although you may want to have a good rant about what happened and the unfairness of it all to your friends, family, colleagues or anyone who’ll listen; it’s important to give yourself a chance to cool off before doing something you may regret. Now that you’re out of a job, you’ll need to start looking for a new one, and how you present yourself is vital. Keep any communication about the circumstances of your dismissal to those closest to you and craft a formal leaving message to deliver to everyone else.

Don’t start applying for irrelevant jobs

Although being unemployed is a serious financial burden, it’s important that you don’t immediately start submitting your resume to every job that crosses your path. Getting sacked can be the wakeup call that you need to evaluate your career and what went wrong in your previous role. Spend a bit of time considering what you liked about your previous role and what your main strengths were, in order to decide the type of job you should be moving in to. Once you’ve decided this, you can start searching for the roles you are particularly interested in and tailor your CV to these particular roles.

Don’t panic

In a state of shock and surprise, it can be easy to be consumed by what’s happened as thoughts of ‘what am I going to do now?’, and ‘how am I going to pay the bills?’ fill your mind. It can be difficult to calm your anxiety, but it’s the most important thing that you can do in the current situation. With a clear head, you are better able to evaluate your circumstances and develop a sound plan to move forward with your career.

It can help to know some of the world’s greatest minds have been fired at one point in their career. JK Rowling, Walt Disney and Oprah were all sacked from jobs before they made it big … so learn from them and don’t let a small setback hold you back.

If you have lost your job recently, try not let it get your down. Instead, browse our job board to find your next opportunity!