On my JibberJobber blog I wrote a post called Depression Clouds Everything and didn’t expect to get any comments. It’s a touchy subject, and I wouldn’t be the first in line to admit a weakness (I’m too proud, which is something I’m not too proud of ;))! Guess what? Currently there are over 250 comments from people who are sharing their stories and frustrations. Depression is a reality in a job search, and it does not discriminate.
I got laid off and I experienced shame, guilt, anger, and all kinds of emotions. I wondered if I was going through some kind of mourning process, since I had lost not just my job, but my identity. The point of the post was not to talk about emotional stuff, but one side affect of my emotions: I could not think and act as logically as I would have if I wasn’t having depression and other emotions. I wasn’t used to those emotions, and my ability to do what needed to do was impaired.
That’s why I think it’s critical that you do what you can for your own career management right now, before you get in that situation. Getting laid off, fired, RIF’d, terminated, or whatever you want to call it, is hard. Looking for a job is hard. Prepare as well as you can now – for starters, review the five things I suggest in Monday’s post.
And if you want a chuckle, check out a PowerPoint I put together a few months ago titled I Just Got Fired.
