Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Day -18

It's official, in 18 days I will be made redundant.  It is a mixture of relief and annoyance.  Relief that the past eight months of a gruelling environment is over, and annoyance that the end outcome meant that the good guys didn't win.  I always leave a job with a sense of unfinished business, the list of things to do never quite gets done.  Possibly a parallel to my private life, I hate to walk away from things that are not finished.

The thing about redundancy is the lack of control that you have over your own destiny.  Although I was looking to leave, I was really working on my own timeline.  I was also more picky about the next role given the security of my current role (security..LOL!)  When time is not of the essence, many rocks are not turned, as one is not completely invested in looking at all alternatives.

There is also the chore of informing others that you are being made redundant, and then wondering what others will think or say.  I am then reminded that in standing up for something I believed strongly in, it resulted in the outcome I now have.  So I sleep soundly at night knowing that I never sold my soul, and the outcome will force me to move on to the new chapter of my life.

Often with jobs, it is all about who you know.  So reaching out to your network of people is important, but I think it is about how you do that.  I am not in favour of placing a by line on my linked in profile which announces to some 500+ people that I am looking for new opportunities.  That may be the introversion in me, but I prefer a more subtle approach.  In touching base with an external company for an upcoming event cancellation, we got talking about lives, children and family.  Next thing, I have full access to a Managing Director at a Recruiting firm specialising in my field.  This then resulted in a conversation and her reaching across states to find a local C level executive to pass my resume along to. 

So today's activity is to have coffee and make a connection.  The catch up went for an hour, and we had many connection points in the conversation.  Although there may not be the roles I am looking for at this company, the executive offered to pass my resume along to some head hunters, along with a recommendation from our hour long chat.  Later that evening I reached out to thank him for the opportunity to meet, and referenced some of the points from our discussion earlier that day.  The following morning, he had left an email enquiring about availability for some short term contract roles.  One can never under estimate the value in truly connecting with people.  In a world that moves as a frenetic pace, people often miss the important aspect of life, the people!  By taking some time to truly show an interest in others, your are more likely to be able to leverage that 'who you know' network.
 

No comments:

Post a Comment