Five Things I Wish I Knew Before I Become Victim Of Cost Cutting

Three days from today, I walked out of my office with a smile on my face. I took a walk towards my nearby residence, everything seems normal, After stepping in, I took rid of my official suite, had my dinner and slept early. The morning arrived and I was up by my phone alarm and couldn't sleep after a-lot of attempts. While taking a sip of tea in balcony, I looked at my mobile which I picked up while stepping in balcony. I realized something strange, it didn't ringed at all since morning.That was the time when I realized 'I Lost My Job'. It seems I was abandoned, I had some instant feeling in my mind.

I lost my professional identity.

I lost my self esteem and confidence.

I lost my daily routine and purposeful activity.

I lost my work based social network.

I immediately rushed back to my room, turned on my laptop, opened up google and typed "Things to Knew after Job Lost" and ended up at the Forbes page reading the below article. I found it useful and sharing it here

Five Things I Wish I Knew Before I Lost My Job

By Employee Zero, one of the 14 million unemployed Americans

I began the year 2011 with high hopes. I was working in a job I loved in a field that I had dedicated my life to. I had paid my dues, working long hours, skipping vacations and missing holidays. In my 40s, I had finally reached a level where I could start to realize my dreams and maybe put down some roots.

At the end of the year, I find myself looking at the future with dread. I am a suspected criminal and presumed drug addict. People say I am inept, lazy and unskilled.

How did it come to this?

I got laid off in September. Now in the ranks of the unemployed, suddenly all the things that I thought I was, no one sees anymore. Instead, in public policy debates, I am just one of 14 million Americans that many consider a problem. To myself, I am still the same skilled, ambitious, generous, curious person I was three months ago. In the national debate, I am a person who needs to be drug-tested and monitored, who wants to take a check for doing nothing.

All those skills and experience I spent years cultivating? Worthless. They say I need to learn how to weld, operate a forklift or perhaps train to be a software developer or pay for classes in whatever field employers say they need today, and who knows if they will need tomorrow.

I hope no one reading this ever gets laid off. But if ever you do, here are some things you should know, things I didn’t fully understand until I lost my job.

1. Being downwardly mobile isn’t as easy as it sounds. Believe me, after three months of unemployment, I have lowered my expectations regarding salary, benefits, and even basic courtesy from potential employers. I realize in policy debates that it is my lavish unemployment insurance payout that is keeping me from accepting a lower salary, but in reality if you have a salary history that shows you were even marginally successful, potential employers are immediately suspicious of your intentions. I have many times tried to sidestep the salary question. But today, it seems like most employers want to weed out those who may have any expectations at all of a better salary.

2. Luxuries aren’t always what you think they are. I know the unemployed are not supposed to enjoy luxuries such as cable television or refrigerators, but while some luxuries are easy to cut once you become unemployed, others are less so. The car payment gets you to interviews. Internet access allows you to look for a new job. And there are areas where it’s not clear. About a week after my layoff, my cat had a foot injury. It took two vet visits and more than $200 to make sure the paw was healed. Now my pets, which I’ve had for more than five years, seem like a luxury, but I just can’t imagine life without them. I also am grateful that I don’t have kids. I can’t imagine what it’s like to debate whether to take a sick child to the hospital because you can’t afford it.

3. Get used to being invisible and not having a voice. What I miss most about work is not just the paycheck. I miss having an opinion that matters. I used to be a person who was entrusted with decision-making. But when you are unemployed, no one cares what you think. You are suddenly part of a faceless group that has the same needs, experience and skill level. The unemployment office in my state holds sessions on how to create a resume, as though no one who is unemployed today has ever had to do that. In the media, I see few voices of any of the 14 million Americans who are unemployed. Of course, many of us choose not to be visible because there are those who will shout that we deserve our fate. That is part of the reason even I won’t sign my name to this piece.

4. Waking up early is easy. It’s going to sleep that’s hard. I have been busier than ever since my layoff. Finding a job is harder than going to a job in the morning. Every day, I send out resumes, make calls, respond to inquiries, and work my contacts for leads. Then there is the waiting for a response. You seem close to getting hired, then emails go unanswered. One good thing about all this activity is that it keeps my mind off the possibility that I could never work a regular full-time job in my field again. Instead of giving in to those moments of blind panic, I go online and fill out another application or send out another resume – even at midnight.

5. Never underestimate the generosity of family and friends.What is mainly getting me through this is that I do have a strong support network of people who believe in me. They have pointed me to job opportunities, taken me out to dinner, and just kept checking in on how I am doing. And when I am at my lowest, somehow they always remind me that I am not a statistic, that I am still a person with something to offer the world.