How proactive should you be when you face job loss?

The Central Wisconsin area, which is my home base, is reeling from not one but two massive layoffs. Last week Wednesday, Wausau Paper announced it was shutting down the Brokaw mill which employs 450 people. The planned date is March 31, 2012. Then right on the heels of this announcement came the announcement that 556 employees would lose their jobs in February 2012 as SNE Enterprises planned to shut the doors on its Mosinee plant.

This begs the question, when should those workers start taking action in their job search. Conventional wisdom used to be that you waited until you were laid off or your job was ended. In past years, some workers even took advantage of unemployment to spend some time with family, enjoy their hobbies, take the winter or summer off, and then start looking after 3 to 6 months had passed. Those who were granted severance plans in addition to unemployment even took longer to begin their job search.

You cannot wait to begin a job search in 2011

But this is 2011. Want my advice? — Start the minute you know you are going to face job loss, termination, or lay off. Many of “the 99rs” as they are called would not have been in this situation if they had used strategic job search from the beginning. Job search is work and you are best to tackle job search the same way that you would tackle your own job. If you have been a motivated worker, it is time for you to become a motivated job seeker.

How? Obviously as a professional resume writer, I am going to suggest that you start with your resume.  Emily Neubauer of WAOW-TV recently contacted me to help them find tips to set your resume apart from the others.

Focus on your accomplishments

One of the key things that was highlighted in the video, real estate professionals tell you that what counts most is “Location, location, location.” Resume and career marketing professionals will tell you that key to your job search is the phrase: “Accomplishment, accomplishment, accomplishment.” You need to be able to capture those accomplishments before any time passes and you start forgetting what the highlights of your career entails.

I teach my clients how to find their accomplishment, how to make sure that they are qualified and quantified, and how to position them in the resume to get attention.

Many of the jobs lost were blue collar jobs. Yet in today’s market, the resume for the blue collar worker is as critical as for the executive. No matter what role you play in a company, a well-written resume will showcase your accomplishments.

Seek out your network

At the same time, you need to examine your network to determine who can best help you with your job search. If you think online applications are the only thing you need to do in the job search process, you will most likely struggle. There are people who do get jobs through just applying online but usually they have very specific skills in high demand. You need to make sure you are using your network. You don’t think you have one? Check out this networking story and see if it helps you find your networking story.