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You’re finally home from work on a Friday night only, this time, you aren’t thrilled for the weekend. Instead, you can’t stop thinking about the repercussions of just getting fired.
Your first inclination may be to kick off your designer heels, raid the fridge for your favorite Ben & Jerry’s and throw the greatest pity party your friends have ever seen. Before you reach for that ice cream, though, remember the independent, self-driven woman you are.
Not sure how to turn being fired into fuel to kick life’s booty? Here are ENTITY’s top four tips to elegantly bounce back after getting cut from your job.
Whether you loved your previous workplace or think that your boss was straight out of “The Devil Wears Prada” (minus Miranda Priestly’s glam), keep your opinions to yourself and away from social media. The last thing you want to do is burn bridges, especially if you want to use your ex-boss as a future business reference.
Also, watch how you talk with your ex-coworkers. Denene Brox from Monster suggests that instead of loudly alerting the whole office that you’ve been let go, call your work friends on the phone that night. Not only will your boss appreciate your mature reaction, but you’ll also prevent friends still working at the company from feeling awkward.
After you’ve let the initial shock and anger pass, take a few days to reflect on your work performance. Did you slack off? Disrespect your boss? Show up late twice a week? Be honest with yourself about why you could’ve been fired; in fact, try to see the situation from your boss’s perspective. This will help foster a great amount of growth and understanding in your work life.
But what’s even more important than recognizing your mistakes is learning from them! Ask yourself what you can do next time make sure something like this doesn’t happen again. As Winston Churchill once said, “All [wo]men make mistakes, but only wise [wo]men learn from their mistakes.”
Remember when you went through your first breakup and stayed in your apartment doing nothing but crying, eating pizza and growing obsessed with sappy romance movies? Losing your job, especially for the first time, can come with a similar amount of grief, but that doesn’t mean you should embrace the same sulking route. You can take a day to grieve, but remember that the world doesn’t revolve around you and that there is more to life than your occupation. What should you do instead of sulking or actively searching for a new job? According to the Australian National Review, you have plenty of choices, like:
Bottom line? There are plenty of ways to keep yourself busy and productive after being fired; sulking isn’t one of them!
So maybe it’s been awhile since you started your hunt for a new job. Maybe you’re starting to wonder if all the effort – the applications, interviews and countless hours spent researching possible jobs and business – is worth it. The biggest piece of advice to remember? Hearing “no” is normal; after all, depending on the job, most openings receive at least 200 applications. Your difficultues getting hired are not likely because of you – it’s the statistic probabilities. Just focus on controlling what you can by refining your resume, doing outside research and applying to as many jobs as possible.
Whether you were fired after 20 years or two days of work, losing a job isn’t easy. However, being fired isn’t a death sentence – to your career or your life. So put the ice cream back in the freezer and start hunting for the job worthy of the kick-ass woman you are!
