How To Job Search If You Get Laid Off – 9 Practical Tips

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For many of us, job is not just a source of income but it is much more than that. Job gives us an identity and a purpose in life as our entire productive time during the day revolves around it.

Losing a job can never be easy. No one ever imagined that this can happen with any one of us. A sudden job loss can be really shocking, frustrating, de-motivating and it has the capacity to hit our self esteem in a negative way.

Companies doing lay-offs is not very uncommon, however, not every lay off is linked to employee performance. People are laid off due to multiple reasons including industry down-turn, organizational restructuring, personality issues, ethical issues, department closures etc to mention a few. What-ever could be the reason, the person getting laid off always has an opportunity to move ahead, start again and look for newer paths. 

Let us look at some of the practical tips that will not only help you to re-evaluate yourself but also help you to get a new job at the earliest possible.

1. Take a break to discover you – While working on a job you just keep on running, trying to meet your targets and calendar deadlines. This is probably the first time in your career you need-not have to get ready to go to the office.  I suggest you not to rush for finding a new job (if possible). Take a small break. Sit at home or plan a trip. Have some personal time to discover yourself. Deliberate if you are on the right track and working on the job you really love? This is the most important question to be answered for a happy, rewarding career.

2. Update your cover letter/CV and Online profiles – Once you are ready for the job search, prepare a brief yet comprehensive ‘cover letter’ and update your ‘CV’. The importance of cover letter/CV can’t be ignored. They are the instruments that will help you getting interview calls. Take professional help if you are not really confident about them.   

3. Talk to your family & close friends – Your family and close friends are the most trusted companions. They are the ones who fully support you in your difficult times. Take this opportunity to get close to your near & dear ones. Talking to them will help you to come back to the normal quickly so that you can focus on your job search with a positive frame of mind. 

4. Re-ignite your old network/colleagues – Now since you have initiated your job search, the first set of people you should reach out are your colleagues/friends from your old network. They are the ones who know you well and are aware of your capabilities. They can recommend your credentials in their network and help you getting some relevant interview calls. Now-a-days, most of the companies are recruiting new candidates through references as it makes their job easier. They get recommended candidates who can easily fit in their company culture.     

5. Reach out to your previous companies – If you have worked with some other companies in the past and had built a great reputation there, this is the time for you to reconsider them and reach out to them for any newer opportunities. Given that you have done some good work for them earlier, they will be more than happy to relook at you for any relevant opportunities with them.

6. Make best use of internet/social media – Internet has really made our life easy. Job search portals are helping us to identify and reach out to relevant jobs in the shortest possible time. Apart from traditional job portals, make use of portals like ‘linked-in’ to reach out to professionals/job consultants in your industry. Don’t shy asking for help show-casing your competencies/experience. Reaching out to people from your industry is a great source of getting new leads for your job search.

7. Don’t just spend entire day on job search – To be frank, job search can be a really stressful task. Don’t overdo it; make a routine for your day. Don’t focus on job search for more than 2 hours in a day. Given that you have time on hand, use it to focus on your hobbies, improving health and developing new skills in your field. This will indirectly support you in your job search by keeping you calm, sane and updated.

8. Keep a record of all advance stage interview leads – In case your job search drags for long, you will be having a big number of potential job leads for employment which you may need to follow up after regular intervals. Keeping a record of all advance stage leads with relevant details will simplify your job search process.  

9. Be open for part time/temporary/other jobs till you get the right fit – This can be a personal call for each individual however I recommend you to be open for all kinds of jobs till you get your best fit job. A relevant job search for an experienced individual may take up to 6 months or sometimes more. A make-shift job will not only help you paying your bills but also help you to be in touch with the market. This will also tell a lot about your adaptive qualities and create a positive reputation for you in front of your future employers.    

The journey to job search may be tough but you will be able to overcome this if you keep a positive frame of mind all along the way. Just get in and give your best.

It would be great if you share your job search experiences in the comments section!!

Taking Cricket as a Career in India – Pros & Cons

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Cricket as a sport is one of the most loved games across entire South Asia including India. Cricket was introduced in India by the British. It was considered as a gentlemen’s game and played by only rich and elite.  Post India’s independence, Cricket has surpassed any other sports in the country in popularity and fan-following. Now the game is so popular that it has become the game of masses.

Historically, most of the sports including Cricket were merely considered as a source of recreation and entertainment by the people of India. Cricket as a career was never viewed as an option by youngsters & their families. Further, it was tougher to be selected as a part of national cricket team, given the intense competition for the limited number of positions available in the team. The parents always wanted their Children to study and take up careers like administration, banking, engineers, doctors etc to mention a few.

However, now the times have changed slowly but significantly. Given the commercialization of sports, there are much wider and better options available in cricket for the youngsters. The fame, money and career options are not just limited to the players of national cricket team. The new cricket formats like Indian Premier League (IPL) etc have widened the scope of the game and have provided newer opportunities of career advancement for more & more youths (even if they are not part of national cricket team).

Given the new opportunities burgeoning in this space, cricket has surely become a lucrative career option for today’s youth. Let us look at various aspects of the game that has changed over time and has impacted the thought process of the youth to take cricket as a career for them.

The Pros

Changing mindset towards Sports as a career - The mindset for Sports as a career has changed for good. The parents are no longer inclined only towards academics (& related fields) for building a career. Rather, now the focus has shifted towards individual’s passions and interests.  Fields like sports, arts, vocations etc have become viable career options for consideration.

Rising opportunities – There was a time when opportunities in cricket were very limited. The players who couldn’t make it to the national team were considered a failure and had a career full of struggles. Now the situation has changed. Due to the advent of new formats (like T-20 cricket) and new tournaments (like IPL), the opportunities in cricket has multiplied. There are so many cricketers like Rishabh Pant, Chahal, Bumrah, Samson etc who have risen to the ranks of national team mainly through platforms like IPL.

More career and fall-back options – Playing professional cricket is not the only option available for the youngsters. Once a person has prepared to become a professional cricketer, even if he is not very successful in professional cricket he can look at alternate career options within cricketing arena (like becoming Umpire, Commentator, Physiotherapist, Support Staff, Manager, Coordinator etc) for various professional teams at franchise, state, national and international level. Additionally, a professional player may become a coach by opening a private academy or decide to work in schools/colleges as cricket coach. The options are diverse.

The Cons

Intense competition – With India having population of 1.3 billion and everyone so passionate about the game, there is no doubt that one has to face intense competition to become professional cricketer in India. Obviously some youngsters still make it to the top but it is not easy at all. There will be challenges along the way even if you are highly talented.

Need to have a God-father – Just like for film industry, it is also being said for cricket that one needs support from a God-father to be selected at the top-most levels (national level) in cricket. However, given the rising number of opportunities this is of lesser importance since you still need to showcase talent, hard work and passion to reach to middle levels (state/franchise level).    

Subjective selection criteria – The selection criteria of cricketers for the higher level is considered subjective and lacking fair processes to measure a player’s performance. There could be many factors impacting the performance of a player (like strength of opposition team, type of pitch etc). Apart from the performance, players also need to aware about the importance of being on top of the mind of media and selectors.

Quality of cricket infrastructure – Ever after so much attention on cricket, the cricket infrastructure in India is not yet fully modernized and competitive. Most of the cricket pitches in India are flat and batsman friendly. These pitches are unfair for the bowlers as they are not able to perform to the best of their potential. The best performing batsmen on Indian pitches fail to impress on fast pitches in many other countries. This is high time for Indian cricket authorities to focus on cricket infrastructure for training & identifying best talent for the country.  

For taking cricket as a career, one needs to be really passionate about it. If one is passionate enough, then he need not worry about making a successful career in this game as there will be enough opportunities available for him. Just make a plan and keep on giving your best.