This past week I’ve been talking to a lot of people. Now I always talk to a lot of people. I will say honestly that the only time I ever got detention or was sent to the corner in school was for talking. However this past week has been a different kind of talk. Like the rest of the world my friends and I have been talking about the economy and the fear of the unknown. It’s like once you’ve been laid off you become the guru of knowing how to deal with the unavoidable and the punch line to many (not so) funny jokes. So while you can be emergency prepared for fires, earthquakes, volcanoes and zombies I get asked how can you prepare for the unavoidable unknown?
You don’t. As much I know that I hate not being able to control the universe there are far more outcomes I can’t control than I can. Look at me? Another life lesson learned! If this was a 80′s sitcom I’d be ready for my freeze frame and slow fade to music.
So what can you do? Best advice ever — roll with it. Pay attention to your industry. Not just the clients you work with, or like, but the entire industry as a whole and watch how those layoffs impact the rest of the industry. It’s not going to save your job. It’s not even going to make you feel better about being let go but it will prepare for your next role. And trust me when I say this there is life after unemployment — just less money.
