22 Mar Five things to do if you lose your IT job
As the financial crisis plays itself out across global markets, pink slips are flowing like Mountain Dew at a WOW tournament. And while it’s only natural to feel apprehension about IT job security, some are discovering opportunity in the wake of unemployment.
When Robert Fleming was laid off from his job as an IT administrator for an Ottawa software firm two months ago, he went through a period of three weeks doing nothing but trying to cope emotionally tot his situation. Then he followed the time-honored advice of experts. “I made looking for a job my job,” he said. Even so, he found he had plenty of time left over to spend with friends and family.
Good thing, too. In the end, he got his current job — working the help desk at a government agency — from his mother’s hairdresser’s son. “I was visiting my mother, and she came home from the salon and said, ‘I think I have something for you,'” he said. “It’s six degrees of separation out there, and your opportunities can come from unlikely places.”
Laid off. Downsized. Words that are heard often these days. That you would devote a significant amount of your time to finding another job — as Fleming did — is a given. But even the most aggressive job hunt won’t take all your waking hours. There are only so many jobs ads to answer on Monster.com and Craigslist. Only so many recruiters who will take your calls. So to ward off what Fleming calls “the utter crazies,” most unemployed IT workers are finding other outlets for their physical, intellectual, and emotional energy.
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