Episode 126

How to Bounce Back from Being Let Go

Published on: 4th January, 2023

According to experts, losing a job ranks in the top 5 most stressful life events, and 40% of people will be fired at some point in their career. 

Being fired can be embarrassing and can take some time to recover from. There are a lot of emotions that stir inside of you when you get let go including anger, guilt, fear or maybe even relief. With all of these emotions tumbling inside of you it can be easy to make bad decisions.


Listen in on how to navigate being let go and how to bounce back from it.  



Drink of the week:Keiths Termination Cocktail

 

If you liked what you heard today, please leave a review and subscribe to the podcast. Also, please remember to share the podcast to help it reach a larger audience.


Click to BUY MY BOOK!


Julie Brown:

Website

Instagram

LinkedIn

Youtube


Transcript
Julie:

Have you ever been fired?

Julie:

You know, gotten ax terminated?

Julie:

Shit canned, released from your position?

Julie:

Well, if you have, then you're not alone.

Julie:

40% of people will be fired at some point in their career.

Julie:

Welcome to episode 1 26 of This Shit Works, a podcast dedicated to

Julie:

all things networking, relationship building, and business development.

Julie:

I'm your host, Julie Brown, speaker, author, and networking coach,

Julie:

and today I'm discussing how to bounce back from being let go.

Julie:

I've been fired a couple times in my life.

Julie:

, I.

Julie:

Shocker, but one particular time I was let go felt like an absolute calamity

Julie:

and made me question my sense of self.

Julie:

According to experts losing a job ranks in the top five most stressful life events.

Julie:

The four others being losing a loved one, divorce, moving

Julie:

or serious illness or injury.

Julie:

So, . Losing your job for any reason completely punches your ego.

Julie:

In the tits it hurts.

Julie:

It can be embarrassing and it can take some time to recover from.

Julie:

There are a lot of emotions that stir inside of you when

Julie:

you are let go, including anger.

Julie:

Guilt, fear, maybe even relief.

Julie:

With all of these emotions tumbling inside of you, it can

Julie:

be easy to make bad decisions.

Julie:

In general, we never make good decisions when anger, guilt,

Julie:

and fear are driving the bus.

Julie:

So if you do get let go, don't do anything rash like sending half-cocked

Julie:

emails to people in the company ranting on LinkedIn or anything

Julie:

else that might make you look un.

Julie:

With that said, here are some tips for navigating and

Julie:

bouncing back from being let go.

Julie:

The first thing to do is to just breathe.

Julie:

Take a few days to catch your breath, to process what has happened

Julie:

and think rationally about what you want your next steps to be.

Julie:

A lot of people just jump right into go mode, looking for a new job that same day.

Julie:

You shouldn't do that.

Julie:

You should give yourself a couple of days to settle and think long and hard

Julie:

about what you want your next step to be, what you want your next job to.

Julie:

During these days, also go online and file for unemployment benefits.

Julie:

You may not need them.

Julie:

Hopefully you were given a severance package or you were able to negotiate

Julie:

one, but get the ball rolling.

Julie:

In any case, if you were given a severance package, please do not

Julie:

sign it until you have a lawyer.

Julie:

Look at it.

Julie:

And hopefully you've networked enough that you have a lawyer in your network who you

Julie:

can call on and they'll do you a solid.

Julie:

This is what I did when I was let go.

Julie:

I asked if I could have a lawyer look at the package and the company said yes,

Julie:

and I ended up doubling my severance package and also my continued healthcare

Julie:

package with the guidance of my lawyer after he read the severance package.

Julie:

That, I won't lie, it felt awesome to, to more than double my severance

Julie:

package, but it also allowed me to not have to rush into another job because

Julie:

I was, I, I wasn't worried about the fact that I wasn't collecting a

Julie:

paycheck or didn't have healthcare.

Julie:

I had it for enough time that I could take my time and think

Julie:

about what I wanted to do next.

Julie:

of course, I'm gonna tell you to start reaching out to your network.

Julie:

But before you do that, you need to have the narrative around

Julie:

you being let go, figured out.

Julie:

Meaning what are you going to tell people?

Julie:

Were the circumstances of you being let go?

Julie:

Was it company restructuring?

Julie:

Downsizing, whatever it was.

Julie:

Make sure you have that story ready to tell so everyone is

Julie:

getting the same story from you.

Julie:

And if you work in a rumor mill kind of industry, this can help you mitigate

Julie:

some of the chatter, uh, that might go around about why you were let go.

Julie:

Then it's time to get clarity on what you want.

Julie:

It's hard for your network to go to work for you if they don't

Julie:

know what you're looking for.

Julie:

So be clear on the kind of job you are looking for and the kind

Julie:

of introductions that are most beneficial to you so that you can

Julie:

be really strategic with your time.

Julie:

Remember, 85% of jobs are filled through networking, so this is the

Julie:

time to make networking your job while you are looking for your next.

Julie:

At the same time, you know, clean up and update your resume,

Julie:

including your LinkedIn profile.

Julie:

Take the time to ask people in your network who are close to you or

Julie:

who have worked with you to write positive recommendations for you

Julie:

on LinkedIn so that you have a ton of social proof when companies and

Julie:

recruiters are looking at you online.

Julie:

Speaking of recruiters, now would be a good time to connect with them so that

Julie:

they can help you look for your next.

Julie:

Now remember, like I said, at the top of this episode, 40% of people will be let go

Julie:

from a job at some point in their career.

Julie:

You may feel isolated when this happens.

Julie:

You may think it doesn't happen to anybody else, but the truth is it happens to

Julie:

almost half of the population at some.

Julie:

Also remember that losing a job, it does rank up there as one of the top five most

Julie:

stressful events to happen in your life.

Julie:

So give yourself some grace.

Julie:

This is hard.

Julie:

It can be heartbreaking.

Julie:

It can bruise your ego, but you will get past it.

Julie:

Make sure you are taking care of yourself physically and mentally during this.

Julie:

I know from experience that being let go can be one of the most devastating

Julie:

things to happen in your career, but it can also be the catalyst for you to

Julie:

make big moves to change everything and being let go might just end up being the

Julie:

best thing that ever happened to you.

Julie:

That's what happened to me, and that's what I will be talking about

Julie:

in my next solo episode in two.

Julie:

now onto the drink of the week, which continues the theme that there is

Julie:

always a drink for every episode.

Julie:

This week's drink is aptly named Keith's termination cocktail.

Julie:

Here's what you're gonna need.

Julie:

A third ounce of Jose Cuervo gold tequila, you know, or any, um, gold

Julie:

tequila, a third ounce of Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey or any whiskey, um,

Julie:

and a half an ounce of Jagermeister.

Julie:

Combine the tequila and the whiskey in a shot glass using a small funnel.

Julie:

Carefully layer the Jagermeister on the bottom of the glass.

Julie:

They say if layered properly, the shot should have a dark bottom

Julie:

layer and then a gold layer on top.

Julie:

I'm not exactly sure , that this has anything to do with being terminated

Julie:

other than maybe people like, or like, I just got chicken canned.

Julie:

I'm gonna drink some yay rams.

Julie:

I don't know.

Julie:

Anyways, that's all for this week.

Julie:

Friends, if you like what you heard today, please leave a review

Julie:

and subscribe to the podcast.

Julie:

Also, please remember to share this podcast to help

Julie:

it reach a larger audience.

Julie:

If you want more, Julie Brown, you can find my book.

Julie:

This shit works on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Julie:

You can find me on LinkedIn at Julie Brown bd.

Julie:

Just let me know where you found me when you reach out.

Julie:

I'm Julie Brown, underscore BD on the Instagram, or you can just pop on over

Julie:

to my website, Julie Brown bd.com.

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode
Show artwork for This Shit Works

About the Podcast

This Shit Works
The people you meet can 100% Change Your Life! Networking is how you meet those people. Which sucks because you hate networking, you think you're bad at networking, and you certainly don’t have time to network. Bullshit! Welcome to This Shit Works, a weekly podcast hosted by entrepreneur, CEO, public speaker, author, business development strategist and networking coach Julie Brown. Just don’t call her Downtown Julie Brown - she doesn’t like that.

Each week Julie will bring to you her no nonsense tips, tricks and conversations around networking your way to more friends, more adventures and way more success!
Support This Show