“You’re fired!”
Those are two words that you never want to hear at your job. You especially don’t want to receive a pink slip saying that you can no longer work with a company that you’ve spent much time at. But if that happens, then you’re not alone.
It’s true that getting fired can feel like you’ve been betrayed by your employer. However, there’s a reason for everything, and getting fired from a job isn’t a stranger to this fact.
In this essential guide, we will explore why overcoming this big change in your career is important, and then we will show you a list of things that you can do to overcome and find your next job.
Why You Must Overcome Getting Fired
While getting fired can feel crushing and hurtful, it’s important to adapt to the sudden change and overcome. In fact, knowing how to get over being fired can actually help you to move forward. Otherwise, you’ll feel terrible, and that’ll make finding another job more difficult for you. Instead, learn to overcome, so that you can grow both individually and professionally.
So, now that you know why overcoming is essential, here’s how you can overcome getting fired:
1. Take Time To Grieve
- Observe how you’re feeling. Are you feeling sad, angry, or depressed?
- Observe what has changed since you got fired.
- Observe what you’re doing now to try and overcome this sudden change.
2. Practice Self-Care
Now that you have more time at home, you can take some time to yourself. Eat your favorite foods. Watch your favorite movies and shows. Hang out with friends and family. Go for a walk. Buy yourself something nice. Or, curl up with a book that you’ve been wanting to read in forever.
Practicing self-care can help you to refocus on yourself, which might have been something that you’d probably didn’t have time to do when you were working. But don’t forget: Looking for another job is key so that you can continue to take care of yourself.
3. Know Your Wants And Needs
Once you pamper yourself for a while, think about what your next ideal job will look like. To do this, make a list of all the things that you want and need from whatever job you take on next. When listing your wants and needs, keep the following questions in mind:
- Would you rather work in casual dress, or in uniform?
- Do you want your next job to be laid-back or fast-paced?
- Do you want your work schedule to be fixed or flexible?
- Do you want to work at home, or be an in-house employee?
- What types of perks do you want to see in your next job? (Full health insurance, maternity leave, etc.)
4. Look For Positives
Now, just because getting fired is a negative in itself, doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s nothing positive about it. Perhaps the long hours of that job were making you tired every time you came home? Perhaps you didn’t like the working conditions of that job? Or perhaps you felt overlooked by management several times during your employment?
In hindsight, this job loss might have opened doors to different (and better) opportunities. Remember: There’s always a reason for everything, even if you don’t see it at first. This would be a great time to reflect on what has happened so far.
5. Don’t Look For Comparisons
- A little anxiety, before it goes away
- Short-term loneliness, before you start to feel better
- Better mental health
- Better sleep
- More productivity
- Reduced stress
- Boosted confidence
- Better posture
- Reduced eye strains, AND
- More understanding of your emotions
6. Talk About It With Others
While it might be hard to talk about your job loss to others (including friends and family), it’s important to open up about your trouble at some point. It’s okay to take your time before talking about it, but don’t let the negative feelings eat away at you for too long.
You can even ask for feedback on what you can do as your next step towards other employment. Ask people you know about both your strengths and weaknesses. If there’s a recurring theme in the discussions, then it’s time to delve deeper (which we will talk about in a latter section).
7. Exercise
8. Set SMART Goals
When it comes time to get back on your feet, be sure to set some goals. All any goal will do, it’s important to set some SMART goals, which go as follows:
- Specific – Where you narrow the focus on the goals that you jot down
- Measurable – Where you figure out how you’ll measure the progress of said goals
- Attainable – Where you create realistic goals for you to accomplish.
- Relevant – Where you ensure that your goals make sense in what you want in your life and career; AND
- Time-bound – Where you set doable deadlines for your goals
9. Look For Ways To Improve
Don’t ever assume that your formal boss is to blame for you being fired. Chances are, you might not have performed in a way that would’ve been okay with him or her. Understand why your boss had made the decision to fire you. Were you coming into work late? Were you missing deadlines? Were you having issues with coworkers? What made your boss fire you?
You can even ask your former boss to elaborate on why you got fired. In this way, you can improve the areas that had gotten you fired in the first place. Improve, so that you won’t make that same mistake in your next job.
10. Thank Your Former Boss
No, really!
Once you come to terms with the job loss, it’s important to get closure from your former employer, so that you don’t stay mad at him or her. By getting closure, you’ll feel better about the job change, and even grow to respect your former boss’s decision to let you know from the company.
One of the best ways to have closure is by writing a simple letter or email to your former employer. Keep it short and sweet, and don’t bring up anything negative. In essence, your note should look something like this:
Dear [Name of your boss],
I would like to take the time to thank you for the experience and opportunities that I was given while I worked with you at [Name of Company]. The role gave me many learning opportunities, and I am confident that the skills learned from this job would help me in the next step in my career.
I wish you well in the future and much success at [Name of Company].
Best regards,
[Your Name]
Conclusion
As you can see, it can take time to get over a firing. However, by taking care of yourself, and getting back into the job market, you’ll feel better about that change in your life. We hope that this guide will help you to get back on your feet, and help you find another job with confidence.
Good luck!
About the author:
Christina Lee is a writer and editor at Big Assignments and Custom essay. She is also a contributing writer for Best essay writing services. As a project manager, she oversees many writing projects in various companies nationwide. As a content writer, she writes articles about marketing trends, job search, employee etiquette, and lifestyle trends.