You have found yourself looking for a new job, where do you go? What do you do? What happens now?
STAY CALM
If you find yourself in this situation, it is always important to keep a level head. Sure, the situation is not ideal, and may feel that things are completely out of your control. Take on a few, or all, of the following tips, and try and turn a negative into a positive.
Take some time
Although panic and upset will be the first thing on your mind, you need to take a step back. Take a few days to get your head around the situation, to calm down, and to relax.
Take an organised approach
The worst thing you can do would be to go and apply for everything and anything, including roles that you would not enjoy, and be in for a short space of time. Although the idea of having something to do whilst you look for your perfect role is great, it could be detrimental to your overall success, as you will not be able to put your all into finding that role, and you have to think of the amount of work that goes in to taking on a new employee for a company. This would create bad blood and cause questions to be asked by future employers.
Get yourself online, and create lists of the people you want to reach out too, and remember the positions and companies you have applied too (if you are applying for the same position more than once, it shows a lack of attention to detail)
Apply for the jobs you are qualified for/have experience in
At a time like this, you may feel that anything will do. Although you think that you can go into anything, and that you have a multitude of transferable skills that can be taken to any role, you are already putting yourself on the back foot, as there will be other candidates who have done the same/similar job their entire working career.
Unless you really want to break out of the field you are in, and this will be a much more difficult task, stick to the same/similar roles that you have done before. This way, your CV will be relevant to the person reading it, and when you get to the interview/placement stage, you will know what to do, rather than becoming overwhelmed by new knowledge.
Be prepared to take a pay cut
The market is not in the best shape, and with companies looking to cut costs, you may have to prepare yourself to take a bit of a decrease in what you were receiving before hand. This will not be a reflection of what you can do, but just the market as a whole. Take this as an opportunity to grow, and to prove what you can do, and what you are worth.
Stay positive
You will get rejections and you will get turned down, but you have to remember to stay positive. It will be hard, but you will get there, and you must remember that you are not alone. A lot of the other candidates applying for a specific role, especially at a time like this, will be in the same position that you are.
It is a difficult position to be in, and we all know how it feels, but please keep your head up, and know that you will make it through, and maybe this is all a good thing, and you will find yourself in a position that you love more than what you have done before!