Key Success In Getting A Job After Retrenchment

This is a recent article that was written by myself...

In every recession, where retrenchment are a common news, how can the retrenched workers find job in the shortest possible time, and ensure a better employability in the long term. Switching industry maybe the solution to it, but how to ensure a successful penetration into a new industry depends on changing your mindset...

The key success to get a new job after being retrenched is to first change your mindset. Whenever a recession comes, retrenchment seems to be the major corrective actions that many corporates will adopt to keep themselves afloat. This is especially evident in the manufacturing sectors where many managers, engineers and technicians have been made redundant due to low production activities. However, despite most industries were badly affected and resort to pay cut, retrenchment as a cost cutting measure, some other industries will be actively hiring. So switching into a new industry may be the way to ensure you are able to bring the dole back home. And to achieve that, the most importantly factor is to have a shift in the mindset. 

The followings are some basic steps in shifting mindset and getting yourself a new job: 

1. Accept reality, and quickly get out of the depression Most people will feel traumatized when the retrenchment news is broken to them. While some simply break down and cry, others may choose to act as if nothing happens. Whatever your reaction is, make sure you spend sufficient time to accept the reality. This will help you to get out of that depression and move forward to take back control of your life. 

2. Write down all your transferable skillsets. When you've written down all your valuable skillsets that you think is of value, spending sometime to think of the times when you're displaying these skillsets to overcome various obstacles. Feel the emotion, the confidence, the adrenaline rushing up to you, making you almost invincible. Amplify this feeling 10 times, 100 times to make yourself feel like you can overcome all odds. This stage is for you to gain back control and confidence, so that you can start taking charge of your life and move to where you want to go. 

3. Research emerging industries and seek out which one requires your skillsets Talk to people, read the news to find out which industry is actively hiring. The newspaper and job portals will give you a good indication of it. List down which of your valuable skillsets these industries requires. Talk to the industry “insiders” or recruitment agencies on the market standard of compensation and career prospects. Choose the one industry that most require your skillsets.  

4. Set a realistic expectation of salary and job title Moving into a new industry means you're not only competing with experience “insiders”, but also fresh graduates who may have a edge over you in terms of much lower salary and relevant academic knowledge. So set your expectations lower in terms of job title and salary. The salary should be slightly lower than the market standard, and sufficient for you to survive. Remember, the idea is to penetrate into the market to gain the experiences for the long term. 

5. Take massive actions Start taking massive actions by submitting your resumes, talking to people who knows people in the chosen industry. At this stage, if you didn't prepare yourself with the necessary research and preparations mentioned above, you may start to get frustrated and lose your drive and confidence, which is something that is important when presenting yourself to the prospective employer. 

I wish you every success in getting a new job!  

To Your Success,

Allan Heng

How To Increase Your Chances Of Getting Headhunted

In this information age, being headhunted is getting easier as the opportunities and chances of your skills being exposed to others are much more. Getting headhunted is not about merely showing your resumes and your accomplishments. It's about getting yourself known to relevant people that makes the difference. Below are just a few areas where you can get others to know you more professionally:

1. Participate in relevant trade exhibitions
This is probably one of the most effective and easy way for exposing yourself to people within your trade or industry. Don't just go to trade exhibitions with the sole objective of understanding the latest technology or products. Talk to as many people as you can. The focus is to let more relevant trade companies know who you are. And remember to exchange your business cards for future correspondance.

2. Join the School Alumni
School Alumnis are as good as trade exhibitions because you can get to know people of the same specialised trade/area. You can even get yourself more exposure by being one of the alumni committee member. That'll give you more reasons to contact the members.

3. Join social networking sites like LinkedIn, MySpace & Facebook
It has becoming not a trend, but a way of life for people to engage into cyber social networking. Some headhunters even screen through their candidates through their social networking sites profiles to ascertain whether is he/she the right person. Just make sure your profile is casual and reflects your true personality.

Another thing about such sites is that you can widen your social network easily, and should you need job recommendations, it spreads extremely fast. And such referrals will land yourself much more easier into your desired job.

4. Join relevant forums
Make sure you put a decent profile and state your interests. Read through the topics that are relevant to your desired job, and make comments on it. This will allow people to get to know you more, and start to look at you as a professional in your trade.

5. Writing & submitting articles
Writing articles to your local press, magazines will greatly enhance your image as a professional. However, you'll need to know what articles the press and/or magazines will be interested in. So make sure you do some research on what type of articles do they generally publish. Alternatively, you can also submit shorter articles to Ezines like Ezine Articles. They're a huge e-articles directory that have millions of visitors visiting them and searching for relevant articles.

One tip for you: If you can't think of any topics to write to your desired press or magazines, go to Ezine Articles to do your research on the type of topics that generated the most visitors.

6. Create Your Own Blog
Creating your own blog builts credibility, reputation and allows people to "locate" and understand you easier. All you have to do is to get a free blog provider like Blogger or Wordpress, and just follow their instructions. And make sure you update your blog regularly so that your blog can be easily searched by the search engines.

If you're really interested in creating your blog, you should learn some internet marketing techniques to increase your exposure.

Getting headhunted is not an overnight thing. You'll need to build your credentials bit by bit. And if you apply what I've mentioned above, you'll definitely increase your chances of being headhunted by leaps and bounds.

To Your Success,
Allan Heng