You can cope with job loss
Dec 30, 2007
TWO years after working as a cashier in a leading financial institution, George is back on the streets. He has been dismissed with two colleagues over allegations of engaging in fraud. Like George, many people find themselves jobless after some time.
By Anthony Bugembe
TWO years after working as a cashier in a leading financial institution, George is back on the streets. He has been dismissed with two colleagues over allegations of engaging in fraud. Like George, many people find themselves jobless after some time.
Naomi Lumu, a human resource consultant with LNS Consultants, says that if not handled well, job loss can destroy an individual completely. She gives the following tips.
Why you lost the job
Carefully consider the circumstances under which you lost your job. This will help you come up with a way forward. Don’t forget that looking for another job means undergoing another interview. Obviously, you will be asked why you quit the previous job. Start thinking of what to say. Your sacking could also have some legal implications. For example, your previous employers may decide to sue you. So you must prepare for any eventualities.
There could be some form of compensation. Plan how you are going to spend your terminal benefits because you don’t know how long it is going to take you to find another job.
Personal effects
Depending on the circumstances under which you lose your job, you may fail to retrieve some of your vital personal belongings from your former workplace. These could be documents in a drawer or on a computer. Someone could destroy them if you don’t act fast. If denied access to the organisation’s premises, ask a friend to help you.
Moving on
Be open to the reality. This will build you emotionally. There is no point in getting yourself depressed. Just relax and find ways of living through it.
Normally, your spouse will understand the situation. However, if you are the sole bread earner, things may be a bit different. How do you let the children know? “When my husband was retrenched, we agreed that he tells the older children, who were in primary school then, that he is looking for a better job,†a wife says. There is no need to tell younger children about your job loss unless they are old enough to understand.
If you think you lost your job because of inadequate qualifications, consider upgrading them.
Sitting home all day doing nothing constructive will get you nowhere. After a few days home, think about and start hunting for another job. Lessons from your previous job will put you in the right mood for this. Any new skills? How can the friends you made help you?
TWO years after working as a cashier in a leading financial institution, George is back on the streets. He has been dismissed with two colleagues over allegations of engaging in fraud. Like George, many people find themselves jobless after some time.
Naomi Lumu, a human resource consultant with LNS Consultants, says that if not handled well, job loss can destroy an individual completely. She gives the following tips.
Why you lost the job
Carefully consider the circumstances under which you lost your job. This will help you come up with a way forward. Don’t forget that looking for another job means undergoing another interview. Obviously, you will be asked why you quit the previous job. Start thinking of what to say. Your sacking could also have some legal implications. For example, your previous employers may decide to sue you. So you must prepare for any eventualities.
There could be some form of compensation. Plan how you are going to spend your terminal benefits because you don’t know how long it is going to take you to find another job.
Personal effects
Depending on the circumstances under which you lose your job, you may fail to retrieve some of your vital personal belongings from your former workplace. These could be documents in a drawer or on a computer. Someone could destroy them if you don’t act fast. If denied access to the organisation’s premises, ask a friend to help you.
Moving on
Be open to the reality. This will build you emotionally. There is no point in getting yourself depressed. Just relax and find ways of living through it.
Normally, your spouse will understand the situation. However, if you are the sole bread earner, things may be a bit different. How do you let the children know? “When my husband was retrenched, we agreed that he tells the older children, who were in primary school then, that he is looking for a better job,†a wife says. There is no need to tell younger children about your job loss unless they are old enough to understand.
If you think you lost your job because of inadequate qualifications, consider upgrading them.
Sitting home all day doing nothing constructive will get you nowhere. After a few days home, think about and start hunting for another job. Lessons from your previous job will put you in the right mood for this. Any new skills? How can the friends you made help you?