What’s the Opposite of a Pink Slip?

Oct. 5, 2009
Kathleen P. King, Ed. D., M.Ed., professor of Education at Fordham University’s Graduate School of Education in New York City, says the opposite of a pink slip is a paycheck.

According to King, there are insider secrets to repositioning yourself in the career market to take advantage of new and expanding opportunities.

With the unemployment rate recently rising to 9.7 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, King offers options for the unemployed that they may not have thought of, such as "Don’t wait to be hired back for your old job when the real secret to landing your new job is to take risks, walk away from the familiar and step into the unknown.”

Here are King’s five tips to find your next job:

Do something different. Think new career. Check out the growth projections for various industries so you don't waste valuable re-careering time. There are new job categories in demand such as medical technology, health information technology and electronics and computer technology that probably never existed when you first started your career. Your initial career choice is not an irreversible decision set in stone.

Don’t wait for a call back from your old job. Go where the jobs are now. Your old job may not even exist when the economy turns around. Train for new positions likely to be in demand like health care, Internet careers and graphic design. You also can pursue on-line degrees to advance your career and increase your knowledge without any travel.

Why not use your knowledge and talent from your old job to start a new business of your own? For example, if you were in safety in your old job, you certainly can start a safety training consulting business to keep your skill set high and your knowledge base on the cutting edge. This way, you create the possibility of opportunity in your own business, plus stay competitive while seeking a job within your industry. Sounds like the perfect combination!

Talk to others about your options. Get your “team” onboard with your job search. The most successful people consult other people and surround themselves with a crackerjack support team such as a financial advisor, career coach/advisor, proofreader (for cover letters and correspondence) and a lawyer (to review employment contracts, agreements).

Just do it! If nothing changes, nothing changes. Take action, get going and discover a whole new world for yourself. It may look like luck but successful people often love what they do and scan the environment for trends, look for opportunities and seek ways to move ahead. Unexpected opportunities often open up whole new chapters and directions you may have missed when trapped in your prior career.

About the Author

Sandy Smith

Sandy Smith is the former content director of EHS Today, and is currently the EHSQ content & community lead at Intelex Technologies Inc. She has written about occupational safety and health and environmental issues since 1990.

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