Navigating Career Shocks & Setbacks

By Dr. Kelly Hall

As 2022 ended, many in our community were impacted by layoffs. When I learned of the job losses at companies such as Pluralsight , Podium , and Route , it reminded me of my own layoff experience years ago. Even though nearly two decades have passed, I still remember the range of emotions I felt—upset, angry, betrayed, worried, and uncertain about the future. I was so disappointed; I loved that job. Some have said that you can’t connect the dots of your life looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. And that has certainly been true for me. Looking back, I can see that layoff prompted me to return to school to finish my degree. That layoff set me on a trajectory where I met some of the most impactful mentors in my life. That layoff expanded my thinking on where I might leverage my interests and skills, eventually transitioning from industry to higher education. And as an academic, that layoff has kept me interested in following research on career shocks, setbacks, and resilience. From that, I now know there are things we can do today to buffer the impact of negative career shocks that may come in the future and navigate setbacks effectively.??

A career shock is a distinct and impactful event that triggers deliberation about potential career transitions, such as acquiring new skills, searching for a new job, changing occupations, relocating, or retiring. While career shocks can be positive (e.g., an unexpected promotion), negative career shocks (e.g., a poor performance review, a demotion, or job loss) tend to be more salient. These often intersect with our personal lives and can put us in a state where we find more questions than answers. We are more prepared for adverse career shocks and can navigate them more effectively when we employ psychological and behavioral strategies.?

Psychologically, building resilience, fostering a growth mindset, and thinking deeply about what we want and need from our careers are critical. My colleague, Angela Schill , recently wrote a piece about ways to build resilience through self-compassion. Other sources of resilience include:

• Managing emotions (e.g., expressive writing and labeling thoughts and feelings),
• Engaging in physical activities, and
• Tapping into psychological characteristics associated with a strong leader character (e.g., ability to forgive and courage to face the unknown).?

As we build our resilience, we can likewise cultivate a growth mindset, for example, by reflecting on what we can learn from our experiences and by focusing on things we can change. It is also valuable to periodically reflect on what we want and need from our careers, as these change over time. Compared to focusing on narrow career outcomes, pursuing goals that deliver multiple career outcomes (e.g., opportunity for impact, financial outcomes, learning and development, work-life balance) can enable us to bounce back from career shocks more effectively.?

Behavioral strategies, such as fostering meaningful connections and building a strong network, can also buffer the adverse impacts of career shocks. The power of connections and social support was illustrated recently by the tech industry job fair organized by Silicon Slopes on just a few days’ notice. When considering career success and performance, social capital (i.e., resources available to us through our networks) is a multiplier of human capital (i.e., knowledge, skills, and experience). The best time to build effective networks is before we need them, and we should attend to developmental, operational, and strategic networks. This is particularly important for women, as research has shown that, compared to men, women develop less effective networks in terms of the size, quality, and power of their networks.?

Utah Valley University offers expansive opportunities to help individuals develop the characteristics and strategies discussed here. For example, the UVU Women in Business Impact Lab at Woodbury School of Business hosts the Impact Development and Engagement Network (D.E.N.), a monthly gathering where community members can join with industry and academic leaders for a learn-and-network breakfast event. The WBIL team would love to see you at our January 18th event, featuring Nikki Walker , Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Domo Nikki will share lessons learned from Domo's extensive work in advancing gender equality and supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion more broadly.?To attend the event, register here by January 10th.? UVU Professional Education is another great resource with diverse types of transformational programs that facilitate skill, network, and character development. For instance, the?Women's Leadership Certificate Program is grounded in research on leader character, which has been empirically linked to individual, team, and organizational performance and has become increasingly important to corporate board governance.?And for those contemplating a return to school to finish a degree like I once was, know that nearly 30% of UVU’s student body are nontraditional students. We have a wealth of resources to help students of all backgrounds succeed, including the UVU Women's Intercultural Engagement Program , which works with students to remove barriers to graduation and navigate the landscape of higher education.?

Selected Sources

Greguletz, E., Diehl, M. R., & Kreutzer, K. (2019). Why women build less effective networks than men: The role of structural exclusion and personal hesitation.?Human Relations,?72(7), 1234-1261.

Heslin, P. A., & Keating, L. A. (2016). Stuck in the muck? The role of mindsets in self‐regulation when stymied during the job search.?Journal of Employment Counseling,?53(4), 146-161.

Ibarra, H. & Hunter, M.L. (2007). How leaders create and use networks. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2007/01/how-leaders-create-and-use-networks

Seibert, S. E., Kraimer, M. L., & Heslin, P. A. (2016). Developing career resilience and adaptability.?Organizational Dynamics,?45(3), 245-257.

Seibert, S. E., Kraimer, M. L., & Liden, R. C. (2001). A social capital theory of career success.?Academy of management journal,?44(2), 219-237.

Seijts, G., Byrne, A., Crossan, M. M., & Gandz, J. (2019). Leader character in board governance.?Journal of Management and Governance,?23(1), 227-258.

Seijts, G., Gandz, J., Crossan, M., & Reno, M. (2015). Character matters: Character dimensions’ impact on leader performance and outcomes.?Organizational Dynamics,?44(1), 65-74.

Utah Valley University Fall enrollment tops 43,000 students. News @ UVU. (2022, October 17). Retrieved from https://www.uvu.edu/news/2022/10/2022_10_17_enrollment.html ??