What Should Employees Do During Company Layoffs?

In the unfortunate event of a company layoff employees should be asking their employers some key questions like

What severance packages are available to me at this time and what does it include? Identify how much you would be paid and for what length of time? Does this include your benefits as well. what is covered and what is not? Be sure to get it in writing signed by your company and yourself. You can also have an employment lawyer review this information and anything additional in regards to your position. You should also consider meeting with or speaking to a Financial Planner or Advisor to make sure that your financial goals are still being met or will change over the next few months.

Career Strategy Assessment & Self Evaluation

Once your paperwork has been completed and you now have a clearer picture of what your finances will look like over the next several months you should decide first if you need to take a mental break away from any form of work or applying for work to reset and center yourself. This will also help you to begin to map out your personal, life, spiritual and professional goals with clarity. Take time to rest and travel as needed. Once your ready to get back into the action then begin to map your career journey with a plan.

At Circle of Opportunities we conduct a thorough Career Strategy Assessment with our clients so that they can begin identifying the individual steps they need to take to achieve their goals. Begin by asking yourself who are you as a professional what do you do or are an expert in and what type of work do you want to do? What is the title that you want to hold, at what level and for what type of company? What industry do you want to be in and what expertise do you bring along with your experiences? What are your skills sets, technical skills, soft skills, communication skills and personality like? What are your major achievements, accomplishments and education? Asking yourself these questions will make you realize what areas you excel in and what areas need improvement. What can you learn before, after and during your new role? How can you skill up and gain more certifications, trainings or knowledge about a specific niche? How much will that information be valuable in your career, will this provide you with a significant increase in salary or new career opportunities? Challenge yourself to think bigger and grow even further in your professional development goals.

New Resume & Cover Letter

Now that you have identified your career goals it's time to write everything out on a brand new updated resume. Your resume should always be written professionally to reflect your expertise and skills from the highest level. This should include your name, contact info, title, professional summary, core competencies, professional experiences, education, certificates, accomplishments and technical skills. This is the core foundation for writing a great resume that will land you a high paying role. It takes a specific skill set to master writing a great resume that is also ATS compliant and keyword optimized. Your resume works to get you lots of interviews while your interviewing skills is what lands you the job offer. Your resume enters the room before your even invited in for an interview so you always want to make a lasting impression on the reader. They should have little to no doubt about your ability to execute the work on paper based on the job description. A new resume will also be helpful if your planning to apply for school, a boot-camp and or volunteer work as well.

Optimized LinkedIn Profile

Having a keyword optimized LinkedIn Profile is like playing the career lottery everyday, you just never know when your number is going to be called for that excellent dream job that you have been waiting your entire life for so you want to be as prepared as humanly possibly for that moment to happen sooner than later. A fully optimized LinkedIn Profile requires you to have great professional photos, a banner, great title, professional summary, experiences, skills, recommendations, projects, volunteer work, activities and being social on the platform. For most people this proves to be a very difficult challenge because they simply just don't know what to write or what to do with their profile to attract excellent opportunities. Our LinkedIn Optimization Method transforms candidates profiles and increases their visibility to recruiters over 80% or more depending on your industry and years of experience. Recruiters should be reaching out to you everyday sharing job descriptions for open vacancies without you even applying. Your network and contacts should be increasing YOY with key industry recruiters so you never miss out on an exciting new opportunity ever again. It's not always about what you know but also who you know and who is willing to advocate for you and your talent. Your LinkedIn Profile also helps you to negotiate your salary by showing the best value that you bring to teams based on your professional accomplishments and what other people are saying about you.

Interview Preparation & Career Coaching

Interviewing for a new role can seem very daunting especially if you have been in the same position for 5 or more years. You have given and sacrificed so much to your employer and now it's time to do the same thing for someone else. Hiring new people, creating new teams, processes, procedures, operations, business goals and performance metrics. These are just some of things you might be discussing during your next interview. We always recommend that you first think like a STAR. What would a star candidate do during this interview, how would they stand out from others and make a great impression. How do they think about stories, scenarios, and examples for Tell me about a time when you worked with a difficult client? Would they be fumbling over their words and pulling data out of their ass or would they be calm, cool, collective, self assured and prepared to answer those questions cool as a cucumber. An interview is really a conversation about you, who you are, what you have done and accomplished in your career. Your interviewer will try to learn more about your personality by asking you behavioral based questions to evaluate how well you will get along with their team members. One of the most important questions they are trying to figure out is are you the best fit for this team at this time? If the answer is yes then you might just have a 6 figure offer waiting for you and remember to negotiate that salary. Utilize the STAR Interview Method it works every time.

New Beginnings

The hardest part about a company layoff is the uncertainty of where you will go next and what you will do; maybe it's writing a book, blog, becoming a YouTuber, starting a new company or an entirely new career. No matter where you are there is hope for a brighter tomorrow because the great thing about opportunities is they always exist it is your ability to see them clearly that must adjust. Start over, start fresh and try something new. Get Connected & Join the Circle of Opportunities. Speak with a Career Coach by Booking an appt at www.calendly.com/jointhecircle or Sign Up Now!

To see a list of companies currently going through layoffs visit websites layoffs.fyi or thelayoff.com for more info.