Hi Norm!

Many people do feel embarrassed or ashamed to have lost a job, and are afraid to share that. However, you would miss out on a great opportunity to enlist a champion in your job search. Let’s look at the four possible ways you could approach such an answer:

1. Disguise it – You could claim to be “self employed” or a “consultant” even if you are not doing any such work. That would be a lie, motivated primarily by a sense of shame about losing your job. In reality, there is no need to feel ashamed. Statistically, over half the workforce has lost a job at some point in their careers. Even those who have not still know MANY talented, hard-working people who have lost a job, especially in this year’s economy.
2. Vent – Out of natural and justifiable anger, you might want to vent your frustrations about how bad your last job was, what an idiot your manager was, and how stupid the company was to let YOU go when they kept so many incompetent morons. Now, imagine that the person you are venting to knows of a good job opening at their place of employment. How eager will they be refer an angry, bitter person to their co-workers? Save the venting for your best friend, a good therapist, or your journal instead.
3. Get sympathy – It might also be tempting to talk about how depressing it is to lose a job, how bad the economy is, how few jobs are out there, and how hard the job search is. That might get you a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and perhaps a sincere “I’ll let you know if I hear anything.” But not much else.
4. Enlist a champion – By far, the best strategy is to speak briefly and matter-of-factly about your job loss, but more importantly, to turn that person into an aide in your search campaign. “Where do you work?” can become an opportunity to use a 30-Second Commercial about your skills and your search campaign.

Here is the best way to structure such a 30-Second Commercial:

1. Start with your most recent job and employer.
   
2. Mention one or two things that you are proud of accomplishing there.
   
3. Talk about the business conditions that impacted your company, and how that affected your department, your team, or your project. It is important to use a phrase like “They decided to eliminate my position.” NEVER say “They laid me off”, or “They let me go.” Eliminating a position is a business decision. Saying “They let me go” makes people wonder what was wrong with your performance.
   
4. Quickly and optimistically switch to describing the type of job you are looking for, the strengths you would bring to such a role, and the companies you might be interested in.
   
5. Ask an open-ended question that will kickstart their brainstorming. “Do you know of any jobs?” is too limited. “What other companies might I look at?” or “Who do you know in that field?” can generate more useful results.

As an example, such a 30-Second Commercial might sound like:

“Most recently, I was Manager of Staffing for Breakthrough Software, where I established their college recruiting program and recruited over 50 new engineers in under a year. Unfortunately, the recession meant that they froze all their hiring and eliminated all their staffing positions. I am now looking for new roles that will use my experience in staffing, training, and organizational development, preferably for a mid-sized, rapidly growing software company. I’m looking at such companies as Wildware, BizStuff, Massive Dynamics, and JavaMasters, but am open to others as well. What companies do you think I should consider?”

Armed with information about your strengths, your experience, and your target companies, that person now becomes a champion in your job search, a roving listening post who can keep an ear out for the RIGHT jobs for you, and can tell potential employers about your strengths. Instead of avoiding the question of “What do you do?”, you can now look forward to opportunities to enlist more soldiers in your job search army.

Good luck in your campaign, Norm!

Job Coach Jeff