“I love this company. The people are great and I really like what I do. Everyone is friendly, smart, and considerate. And I’m worried sick. Why? I think our jobs are going to be outsourced and no one’s going to tell us until the day the doors close.”
What are your options?
“I don’t have any because it hasn’t happened yet, so I can’t do anything. I’m sure something bad is around the corner and I can’t stop it. There’s no point looking for another job if nothing bad does happen, right? Or is that wrong?”
Let me understand this: you’re worried that you’re going to lose your job. You don’t want to consider alternatives if you don’t lose your job. You prefer to wait and worry than make a plan and take an action.
“That’s it! And let me tell you, I am plenty worried these doors are going to shut and there’s nothing I can do to keep them open. So that’s my problem. I hope you can fix it.”
That’s how it feels for employees who suffer the alternating currents of angst: they love where they work and they’re scared witless that their companies will be sold, services outsourced, or production off-shored. They feel unsure, insecure, stuck in time and immobilized by turmoil. How about you? If this is your story, I can’t re-write it, but you can.
Pick up a pencil, crank up the computer, pull out the phone book, and get ready to take action with a new attitude, a job search strategy, a fresh resume, and a network of people who urge you forward and don’t hold you back.
New attitude: You get to choose. You don’t need permission. That’s right. You get to choose if you want to stay in this job or if you want to leave for another one. You get to choose if you want to accept another job or you want to reject one that’s offered. Your employers get to choose and they don’t need permission. They choose where, when, and with whom they open or close, grow, shrink, or stand still.
Job search strategy: When you like what you do and share the values of people who run the company where you work, you have a great match. When you can describe that match to anyone you meet, in as few words as possible, you’re on the right track. So right now, write now. If you can put it on paper, you can say it. Once you can say it, you can network with it, interview about it, and negotiate to get it.
Refresh your resume with a lead objective that crisply states what you do best that you want to do next. Follow that with a reverse chronological listing of dates and places of current and past employment. Specify accomplishments that validate your job-worthy credibility and the viability of your job objective.
Networking: Build a directory of people who share your values and interests, and include their phone numbers, email, and land addresses. Call each one of them and request 20-minute meetings (keep it brief and keep it simple). Describe your job objective and professional goals. Ask for names. You want names of people you can contact who also share something in common with you; people who just might know of a good match for you. Follow-through. Get more names. Follow through. Get more names.
Stick with people who have broad perspectives, encouraging behaviors, positive dispositions, and objective insight. Ask them questions and listen to answers. Stay on message, stay the course, and you’ll find the job you want that wants you. Then you get to choose.
