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Friday, July 22, 2011

Being Laid-off feels like....

I have been writing about how to bolster your job search, how to use social media to build your personal brand, how to go to job fairs to look for a new job, and just about everything else related to job search.

Now I want to talk about how it feels on the other side of the coin - when you get laid-off.

Due to a $1.1million budget cut and the elimination of ARRA stimulus monies, our agency KCDEE just released 5 employees and will be experiencing a reorganization to do more with less.  I happen to be one of those who will be leaving on July 29, 2011.

I want to spend a paragraph about the feelings, then I want to share some profile information with you.

The first feeling I felt was disbelief.  I couldn't quite hear what was being said to me.  I felt tears welling up in my eyes and the thought that went through my brain was how am I going to pay my bills.  Right after that I decided that my faith would take me through this and that with any door that closes, another one opens.  I heard my supervisor say to me that she would support me with a recommendation and we brainstormed about people to contact.  Not until today did I realize some of the grief of losing my job - the people that I work with everyday, the camaraderie that you feel when you are in a cubefarm.  I sort of skipped that step of the process of loss until now.  I didn't every really get angry, what good would it do anyway. I sort of settled into the acceptance relatively rapidly and decided I needed to take action to find myself the next "open door".

So, following are the profiles and connections to the talented people who have been released in the lay-off:

Dee Reinhardt - Marketing and Social Media Specialist - find me at www.linkedin.com/in/deereinhardt
Key talents include: marketing, social media, community relations, photography, graphic design, web design, public speaking, event planning, teaching, writing and project management.

Lillie Glover - Executive Assistant - find her at www.linkedin.com/in/lillieglover
Key talents include: administrative support, organization, editing, planning, coordinating, Microsoft Office 2007, customer service, customer relations, schedule management and more

Maria Galvan - Program Assistant - find her at www.linkedin.com/in/mariagalvan
Key talents include: administrative support, graphic design, Microsoft Office 2007, bilingual Spanish

Arlene Hibbard - Program Assistant - find her at www.linkedin.com/in/arlenehibbard
Key talents include: administrative support, Microsoft Office 2007, typing, organization

Lugenia Thomas - EEO/Human Resources - find her at www.linkedin.com/in/lugeniathomas
Key talents included: customer service, human resources, Equal Opportunity compliance, customer relations, adminstrative support

If you know of any positions for any of these fine people, contact them through their LinkedIn profiles.

What sort of feelings have you experienced with a lay-off?