failing at your horse job
Sooner or later you may find yourself unexpectedly out of a job. You may get fired, get laid off, or decide to leave on short notice. To avoid “jumping out of the frying pan and in to the fire”, follow these steps.
1. Take a deep breath and remind yourself that you have good things to offer employers, and you will find another opportunity.
2. Don’t feel guilty. These things happen. Tell your family and friends, don’t be shy about it. They might have some good feedback or suggestions.
3. Give yourself some time to recover. Don’t make important decisions in the first few days.
4. Assess your financial situation. Consider short term employment, even outside the horse industry, to give you the time to make a good transition to the next job. Conserve your money.
5. If you got laid off, you may qualify for unemployment benefits. Contact the local office of your state employment commission to see if you qualify. Find them in the yellow pages.
6. Do your best to understand how or why you lost your job. The obvious reason may not give you the total picture. Consider these possibilities; a bad choice of jobs, inadequate skills, inadequate training, not enough communication with your employer, conflict with other employees, unrealistic expectations (either yours or the employer’s), lack of clarity in your job description, changes to your job description without warning, insufficient compensation, insufficient time off, poor equipment, unsafe working conditions, etc.
7. Consider the need to contact your creditors and arrange to miss a payment or two.
8. Revise your resume.
9. Be prepared to establish one on one relationships with potential new employers.
10. Pay attention to your intuition and don’t get sucked in by your emotions.
11. Spend some time with The Career Game to refresh your career building skills. It’s free.
