If you've been downsized and find you are far from enthusiastic about looking for another job, you're probably suffering from the fallout of such a traumatizing event. Downsizing can leave you feeling discouraged, disillusioned and defeated before you even start looking for a new position. How do you deal with these emotions and get on with the work of finding work? How do you answer the question, "Why did you leave your last job?" And what about considering a change in work environment, like opting for a smaller company when you've lost faith in corporate America? Here are three R's to help you bounce back and get moving again: recognize, reevaluate and recover.

Recognize.
It's important to recognize that there are three factors at work here:

• First, no matter how bad you feel, downsizing is a business decision that has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with the company's bottom line.
• Second, the decision was not about your skills, ability to do the job or personal worth.
• Third, you are not alone. By some estimates, more than 10 million Americans have fallen victim to downsizing.

Reevaluate.
If you reevaluate your situation, you can look at the shock of losing your job differently. Naturally, this is easier if you know it's coming, if you have lots of options or if you've been planning a change anyway, like returning to school. The transition will also be less painful if your company provides financial packages and support services. If none of these scenarios apply to you, you should:

• Reevaluate the way you feel. Just because you feel bad doesn't mean you're not coping or getting back on track. Even looking for a job indicates you have begun to deal with your situation.

• Identify resources to help you, like those offered through:
  
  
  1. Your state-supported one-stop career service centers.
  2. Online job-seeker services such as job openings, sample resumes, interview questions, and chats and message boards.
  3. Qualified career counselors who will work with you in-person, coaching you through the job search process to help you reach your goals.

Recover.
People recover differently and at different rates. This is one time in your life to allow yourself whatever time it takes to get back on track. Generally, these steps help:

• Find the new companies. Recently, CBS's "Eye on Business" reported that, "Small and emerging companies are adding millions of new jobs that people are not familiar with. These companies have achieved much and are not unlike Microsoft, Intel and MCI were just a decade ago. Yet they get very little of the attention they deserve."

• Learn all you can about yourself. Identify your strengths, achievements, interests and values, and write them down. This information will not only help you set new goals, it will help you see where you best fit in. It will also help you prepare for job interviews and regain your confidence.

• Research all you can about work options and strategies, such as interviewing. Remember, how you say something is as important as what you say. When the dreaded questions about why you left your last job come up, you'll answer confidently that you were looking for new opportunities. This is where a strong network and career counselor can help you most.

Finally, take risks and go for your dreams. By working on these three R's you will have earned it!

Center for Career/Life Planning © 1999