Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

THE WORKPLACE

So you got downsized. It’s happening a lot this year – almost 600,000 job cuts have been reported so far, according to “outplacement consultants” Challenger Gray & Christmas Inc., who help ease executives out of a company by helping them find new jobs. But experts say you shouldn’t see it as career death. In fact, it can be a rebirth.

“A majority of people end up telling you it’s the best thing that ever happened to them,” said Marc Cenedella, CEO of jobs site TheLadders.com.

How to get beyond the trauma:

Get rid of the negativity. Write an angry letter to your boss, then rip it up. Take a week of vacation. Get relaxed and refreshed so you can be positive in interviews later.

Make a plan. Interested in a new field? Here’s your chance. Investigate retraining programs, take classes. “Reassess what you want to do with your career,” said Tony Santora, senior executive at Right Management, an employment consultancy. Take note of your strengths.

Update your resume. Cenedella advises seeking out a professional resume writer. Work on talking up your achievements in the past.

Network, network, network. “Over 50 percent of the jobs out there are found through networking,” Santora said. Reach out to friends, family, former colleagues. Use online sites such as LinkedIn.com. Call trusted recruiters.

Sell yourself. An interview is not a chat with friends, Cenedella said. Remember to sell yourself hard and be aggressively positive about work experiences and achievements.

Career networking: As more people get fired, switch careers or worry about losing their jobs in today’s struggling economy, networking sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook are becoming more than places to post photos and connect with college buddies. They have become vital tools in a job search.

Unlike Facebook, which launched in 2004 as a networking site for college students, LinkedIn has always billed itself as a business-networking site. But as both have grown in popularity they’ve started to resemble each other. LinkedIn now allows users to post pictures of themselves and write short status updates, while Facebook offers job listings and lets users create profiles with work e-mail addresses.

From wire reports