My Career Disappeared Out From Under Me -- Now What?

Dear Liz,

I worked in a bottling plant where I started as a summer worker and ended up as the Director of Logistics. I had no warning that our plant was being shut down until just a few weeks before it happened. I had completely lost touch with the job market, because I was so focused on doing my job.

It wasn't just a job to me. My teammates were like family. Some of us worked together since the eighties. We were devastated when  our plant closed.

When I finally got it together to start a job search, there was nothing available in my field. Unless you've got a big manufacturing and distribution operation you don't need someone like me.

A lot of the jobs in my area are either healthcare jobs or other jobs I'm not qualified for.

I would be willing to take a pay cut from what I was earning before, but I can't even get a foot in the door. I feel like my career just dropped out from under me. I didn't know what hit me. They gave me a decent severance package but now I should be job-hunting aggressively and I don't see any jobs to apply for.

I'm adrift and I could use your help. Where should I start? Thanks for being there, Liz.

Yours,

Dave

Dear Dave,

That's a tough blow! Although you are in a challenging spot right now, take heart in the knowledge that you are ahead of the curve. All of us are going to have to learn to do what you are beginning to do right now: take charge of our careers.

You haven't seen any ads for jobs that sound like a good fit for you. That's not surprising. Fewer and fewer jobs are getting filled through published job ads, and beyond that, more and more people are earning their pay by working on contract or taking on consulting projects than by sitting at a traditional job and drawing and salary.

Virtually every company has some kind of Business Pain that you can solve for them. You have experience in leadership, logistics, supply chain management, project management and tons of other areas.

Your skills cut across functions and industries. Right now you are looking at your talents and your value too narrowly. Almost everybody does that.

When I left my last full-time, salaried job I was in a fog. I wasn't sure what to do. At Human Workplace we call this confusing place the Desert of Reinvention. It's a hard place to be.

I said the same things to myself then that you are telling yourself now. I said, "Well, I'm an HR person, so I guess I'll do something related to HR." Over time I realized that my narrow self-description and self-perception were the biggest barriers holding me back.

People who meet you don't really care what your past job titles were. They meet you and get to know you and they say "Hey, could you help a buddy of mine who has a company with a production process that could use an overhaul?"

You could run that project with your eyes closed. You could do a million other things to help organizations with their problems, too!

Here are my five recommendations for you:

Get Your New Identity Going

Get a business card with your name, email address, phone number and customized LinkedIn profile URL on  it and the word Consultant or whatever branding you like. Start to give that card out to people you meet.

Get Your Ideas Out of Your Head

Get a journal and write in it. Write about the things you love to do, at work and elsewhere. Write about what you're good at. Write about the confusion you're experiencing right now.

Get Support For Your Journey

Get together with a friend or business-friend once or twice a week or even more often. Get out to a group networking event once a week, too. Get used to talking with people about their problems. That's how consultants spot Business Pain!

Get Altitude On The Pain You Solve

Take the first step toward launching your own consulting business by listing the pain points that you can relieve for your clients. What kinds of problems do organizations run into most often in the operations and logistics realm?

How can you describe your services in writing so that you can rebrand yourself a consultant in your LinkedIn profile? How much do your favorite pain points cost organizations? How much will you charge for your services?

Keep Your Mojo Fuel Tank Full

Finally, manage your mojo carefully. Your body takes a beating when you're going through a life transition  like the one you are experiencing. Don't push yourself to get through the Desert of Reinvention any faster than Mother Nature wants you to go.

Get lots of sleep and exercise, and do things that make you feel good, whether that's golf or cycling or working in your garden. You might take a survival job to pay the bills -- lots of people do. Your survival job will not define you. It's just a step on your path.

You are in reinvention, and your possibilities are greater than you can even imagine right now. They will become clearer as you try new things and grow a new set of muscles. We are cheering you on! 

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