Career Identity Crisis

Jul 31st, 2009 | By Bill | Category: Employment News



So, you recently lost your job. If you are anything like millions of Americans, you have plenty of questions but very few answers.

Back in 2001, I was Project Manager at one of the largest telecoms in the country. I enjoyed my work and was proud to say that I did not just have a job but a career at twenty-f … er… something. So, when the dot com bubble burst and left me unemployed, uninspired and with very little of the hard earned dollars I had poured into stock options, I was devastated.

Job searching wasn’t as simple as I thought it would be. Starting out, I assumed that I would get the same job, same money somewhere else. Shucks… I was highly qualified! But, after 4 months of striking out… I just wanted to take my bat and go home. Only home was just a payment away from being “that place I used to live.”

I was in that space you are likely in today. Sink or Swim Time! Do you drown in your self-pity or start kicking and stroking your way out of this murky place? Let’s talk about how to make that happen.

First, you absolutely must figure out who you are. You are not your job. You are Kevin, or Betsy or whatever your name is. You were created with amazing talents and abilities that you never got to use at that crazy place called “work” anyway! Who defines you? Hopefully, not your last employer. This is your job, buddy.

Why does Al the Accountant have to be boring and monotone? No! Al makes the best crab cakes this side of the Atlantic or wherever you find crab. Al, go out and sell your crab cakes to Amy’s Dish & Dash! Live the dream, man! Live the dream!

Second, giving up is not an option. Your mortgage, your cell phone and your lights are not going to pay their own bill. That’s your job. Those “things” you have acquired depend on you and you must take care of your own basic needs. Work at WalMart on the graveyard if you have to but whatever you do, don’t give up. Wash a car, bake a cake, clean a toilet… hey! In times like this, you have to consider every option there is. Working at night or early, early morning gives you free time during the day to interview.

Myself? I make, what is arguably, the best Peach Cobbler in America. So, I sold them. I went door to door to businesses and sold mini cobblers for $5 each. I only made about $45 a day until one day a repeat customer asked me to cater an entire meal for her staff. That led to referral after referral and eventually within a year I was making a minimum of $300 a day catering. I never gave up. I used the talent I had to make it work. There were lean months when I just wanted to throw in the towel but I knew that if I did that, I would never know what could have been. But mostly, I didn’t want to have to go back to a cubicle.

Lastly, be consistent. If your resume says you are organized and efficient, you need to be that every day of your life. No one believes you are organized if you say you “forgot” to bring your resume to the interview. And do you really think that arriving in a wrinkled shirt screams, “efficiency?” Take stock of who you really are, not just what you wish you could be. Write that down and it may lead you on a completely different journey.

Most of all, be open to the possibilities and opportunities that will present themselves in many different forms. Just because you have been in sales for 20 years, doesn’t mean that you can’t cross over into operations. Doing something for a long period of time does not determine what you are capable of. The answer to that question is inside of you.

Lainika Johnson-Colbert’s face is well-known in the Sonoran Desert, having appeared on various local morning shows and in print media. You can currently see her in the May 2009 Issue of AZ Woman Magazine. info@lainika.com http://www.lainika.com

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