Risk management during career transition

      Heart pounding?  Sweaty palms?  Hyperventilating?  Do you believe these are symptoms of a career transition?  WRONG!   Changing careers should not feel like you are leaping into an abyss.  Yes, there is going to be some stress but it is manageable.
       A clear understanding of the reasons that prompted your decision to change careers is essential.  This information will let you know how quickly you will need to leave your current employer, resources, availability of references and your feelings about the transition.  The latter is extremely important!  Your feelings will impact how you interact with others, approach necessary tasks and ability to recall information.
        Develop a Career Transition Plan, which is a formal strategy listing the steps need to be taken.  These steps should meet the SMART criteria.  They should be specific, measurable, accountable, realistic and time specific.  Federal, state and county employee can consult with their personnel department.  The U. S. Office of Personnel Management offers the Career Transition Assistance Program.  (www.opm.gov/rif/employee_guides/career_transition.asp).   Military personnel can participate in either TAP or DTAP (http://www.turbotap.org/portal/transition/resources/About_Us).  Major corporations that are downsizing  or relocating frequently offer employee assistance programs or outsourcing sources as part of the discharge package.  Determine your entitlement to these benefits by consulting the human resources department and/or union representative.  Depending upon your state unemployment services may provide counselling services that outline the steps to be taken and other supportive services.
     According to Susie Orman, you can be financially responsible and make a midlife career change.  She recommends that your have at 6 months of saving at all times and provides steps on how to make a career transition in her article "Getting Set to Start Over"  (http://www.oprah.com/money/Getting-Set-to-Start-Over).  Consulting with your financial planner, personal banker, investment broker and/or accountant will help you make decisions on the best time to leaving your present position, withdraw money and adjust your financial investments.   
     Purchasing a business or franchise requires due diligence.  Informational interviews, The Occupational Handbook and the Department of Labor can provide industrial information but legal advise is necessary.  Checklists such as the one listed at http://www.findlaw.com/  on "Buying a Business: Due Diligence Checklist" is a good place to start.  Organizations such as SCORE and the U. S. Small Business Administration (http://www.sba.gov/), Success Magazine, or sites such as http://www.entrepreneur.com/ are useful.  Depending on the type of business, consider using an attorney that specializes in e-Commerce Law, Entertainment & Sports, Environmental, Tax, Business or Real Estate/Property Law.
     The financial aid office for institution of higher learning that you are considering can provide assistance.  A Google search will provide a plethora of sites that  promise to help locate funding for this pursuit.  One of these sites is www.collegegrantnews.com/new.php.
      If you need help creating your career transition plan, contact me at 402.965.1496.
 

And the question is ...

To be or not to be unemployed, that is the question.  Whether it is better to suffer the pitiful stares of friends and family or to take arms against the sea of questions regarding your source of income?  Hamlet was mourning the loss of his father and his identity (son) while the loss of employment represents the loss of income and the identity.  This identity includes income provider, head of household, job title, and possibly a career.  Like Hamlet you are facing a dilemma because you are processing grief.  The question that needs to be answered is - Do you disclose your work situation or not?

Disclosure is the best way to cope with the natural desire to deny being unemployed.  Grief has four stages: denial, anger, negotiation and acceptance.  Each stage is transversed in sequence and can be revisited if emotional prompts are present.  Control when, where and to whom you make initial disclosures.  You need to be open and honest with your family, close friends, financial advisers and most importantly yourself about your situation.  This honesty will help you stay focused and ask questions about benefits, severance packages and gain financial/emotional support during this difficult time.  Given the current economy, most people understand your situation and will be supportive.  This does not mean that there won’t be “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” from concerned family members or friends but the best way to handle them is with a good offense.  You know these people so anticipate their questions and reactions. 

Anger can be directed at others or yourself.  Consider feelings of agitation, discomfort, jealousy, and annoyance when people attempt to provide assistance or advise as indicators that you are in the anger stage.  You might manifest your anger by yelling, screaming, or crying.  Being part of a support group could help ventilate feelings without the emotional fallout.  Many job clubs and state employment offices offer this type of assistance.  The opportunity to vent frustration about your job search and feelings of betrayal by your previous employer is a form of disclosure which could help avoid being overtaken by your negative emotions or engaging in self-destructive behavior.

Hamlet’s soliloquy is an eloquent examinable on how stressful negotiating with oneself can be.  Attempts to define who you are and where you are going will result in many, many hours or debate with yourself.  Monitoring how you talk to yourself during this process is critical to your success.  Why?  The phenomena of self fulfilling prophesy is at work.  If you keep saying “I am unemployed.” you will stay unemployed.  You have a job!  Your job is to discover new options for yourself.  You job is to redefine yourself.  Your job is to explore alternative careers.  Your job is to explore new life styles.  Your job is on hold, while you take a ‘sabbatical’. You job is to preserve your heritage, by caring for an elderly relative.  Your job is to be a role model for your children.  There are many ways in which you define your current life style without focusing on the negative.  There are 5 other aspects to your life which should provide the positive energy to maintain the infrastructure necessary for your life to maintain its shape. 

Accepting your situation does not mean the death of your problems.  There will always be issues in life.  The trick is maintaining the integrity of your infrastructure.  Know your core values, establish and pursue goals, routinely reassess your situation and consider alternatives and look at other parts of your life for inspiration.

The major aspects of your life are: Professional, Financial, Health/Wellness, Spiritual, Emotional and Relationships.  Life coaching could help you understand the relationship between these areas, clarify your values, establish and track your progress towards your goals.  Contact me at 402.965.1496