5 Critical Success Factors to Getting a Job By Anthony RanieriIn 2000, I accepted a job as
Human Resources Manager for a large auto-components manufacturer. I had undistinguished task of laying off 250 workers due to an imminent plant closure. If you speak to any person in human resources profession they will tell you how mentally difficult it is to let people go and see their disappointment in process.
Redundant employees express a wide range of emotion, ranging from family responsibility and financial insecurity to just losing a work life they had grown to rely on and become accustomed to. It was my job to counsel employees about how they could better cope with their personal circumstances and I hired professional workplace counselors to assist. What was to happen two weeks later was unprecedented.
After a job well done and a smooth redundancy process my managing director walked onto my office, thanked me for my efforts and made me redundant! "I needed you to complete process first before I could let you go" he said. I felt as though I had hit a brick wall and was momentarily stunned. How was I to break news to my wife? I had two young children; a mortgage like most of working population and my wife did not work outside home. This book is about how I coped with this stressful moment in my life.
I had to draw upon all my previous job-hunting experience and survival skills to get through. I can break it down into 5 key critical success factors:
1. Successful job search skills knowledge
2. Strong financial management initiatives
3. Flexible and open career re-assessment
4. Mental toughness and a strong belief system
5. Managing your current job.
Successful Job Search Skills Knowledge
Key Success Factor Number 1 Your very first objective when you have lost your job is to get another job. Now that may sound a bit straightforward but it isn't. To get another job today requires special knowledge and skill. This is because in most situations, redundancy falls during times of economic slowdown, rising unemployment resulting in fewer jobs and greater competition. Labour economists call this an "oversupply of labour" and this will cause an imbalance in labour market favouring employers.
