🔗 Share this article

A new year's onset can be a time for reflection, and for a lot of us, that encompasses considering our career trajectories.

Two publishing professionals who lost their jobs due to organizational changes at first believed their world had ended.

"I invested all my energy into that role... I believed in the ethos we championed. Yet, when it came to me, that ethos didn't apply," she states.

They both chose to use the term "fired" and believe that being transparent about what happened can help you deal with the experience.

"People rely on countless alternative phrases for job loss. However, the quicker you acknowledge it, the quicker you're candid about it, the sooner you can move on.

"It's the direct path to anything you desire to pursue next," she notes.

Now, they are excelling in different roles, where one owning her own firm and the other holding the position of top editor for a high-end journal.

For those who have lost your job or are considering a shift, consider these four strategies to assist you.

1. Contemplate The Previous Year

It's natural to feel some apprehension concerning your career following time off.

A career expert highlights the value of introspection before embarking on a fresh job hunt.

She suggests people to consider what they desire to do more of, what to reduce, and which factors energizes or exhausts their drive.

Reviewing your achievements to find underlying threads can also help. "Avoid considering only the most recent period, because we all suffer from for recent-event bias that can obstruct clear thinking," she adds.

Another professional says it is vital to determine where your work plays in your life.

This involves being truthful about how much time you spend working and its impact on your social life.

Following her job loss, she advises preventing your identity be dictated by your work.

2. Make Incremental Actions

She notes that professionals can make gradual progress towards changing careers without diving in headfirst.

She took several years to move from her corporate career to managing her own business completely, working on the venture alongside her job, which enabled self-funding from the start.

"It required a bit longer, but that was my approach without risk," she comments.

She advocates for an experimental method.

This could be volunteer work, participating in an initiative you find appealing, or saying yes to a different task within your current team.

"Worst case scenario, you find out you don't like, but it's preferable to know now rather than after you've switched careers," she adds.

Additionally, she suggests considering interim roles. They are perhaps not the dream position, but they act as a step in the right direction, such as a role with parallels to your target field, yet not in the same industry or sector.

"It involves allowing yourself the permission to say this works for now, however, that is not for all time.

"That can be an intelligent tactic for getting closer to that career change."

3. Recall Your Achievements

Should you have just left your role, you are not the only one – job cuts have increased significantly in recent times.

She was editor-in-chief at a style magazine, previously she and her team were made redundant when the firm discontinued the physical magazine.

Understanding that this situation was not a reflection of her skills helped her process the change.

"The skills you've gained doesn't disappear just because you lost your job.

"Don't relinquish your self-worth, it's crucial for everybody to remember their intrinsic value."

The other editor was fired after ten years with a finance publication following a regime change in senior ranks and the appointment of a different editor.

She stresses that so much of the stigma associated with being fired is internal.

"Considering the vast numbers of people being laid off, it's usually not about you. It's probably very much not you, so avoid carrying that ball of shame around with you."

4. Build a Professional Checklist

For those who are urgently looking for work or are profoundly unhappy with your present job, you might be tempted to dive straight into applying at any opportunity – overlooking your own happiness.

But this is a major error.

Rather, she recommends a technique known as "browsing" – filtering opportunities to only position summaries that seem appealing.

She suggests searching job platforms and collecting a selection of that you like.

"What are {the words|the