Recreating Ourselves

This morning I want to talk about what happens when we leave a job we held for so long whether it be we retire, are laid off or are fired. I am not sure I have any answers, but I would love to hear others points of views.

As a human resources student (Masters in HR, with no job experience), I remember being told in today's litigious society, all a company can do is say yes, they are eligible for rehire or no, they are not. But what happens when a company says more than that? What happens when they blackball you or lie about you? Unless you can prove it or have the money to take them to court, all you can do is try to recreate yourself.

It isn't easy, but it can be done. First, change the telephone number you are listing for your company. I used to use by managers line, now I give out the number to human resources. Ensure the references you know, are still willing to say good things about you. If they aren't, find the co-workers that will, those that have left on good terms and ask them to be your reference. Use pastoral references, volunteer references and any other references that are not family.

If you are like me, for years, I kept my old evaluations and while I do not have all of them, I do have my final two years. They are great evals and very positive. If you have to, take in a copy and say, you may want to see these before talking to my last supervisor. If your supervisor tells them negative information, they have written proof in front of them that they should be digging further.

Don't bad mouth the company you worked for. No matter if they fired you, always talk them up. In my case, I was able to early retire and left on my terms and left them a great written exit interview discussing my 12 years of employment.

Try to remember that you are not the job, the job title or anything else, but you are a unique and wonderfully made individual who did perform a job as I did for whatever length of time and that you were good at it.

I can still type over 50 words a minute, I am great in a crisis, I do work well with others (I have letters from trainees to prove it), I have terrific customer service skills, I am great at being able to get others to volunteer for a cause, I can file, I can talk on the phone, answer a radio, type what I am being told all at the same time.

I am a quilter and have made many quilts for others. I am a trainer of adults and am very good at the job I do (did). I am very observant, I can write policy and procedures, I have taken classes on everything from hostage negotiations to communicating with the hearing impaired.

I am nota job title, I am me! Who are you? I am so many people...grandmother, Ranny, best friend, mom, wife, quilter, volunteer, student of learning, homemaker and each one of these requires I be compassionate, caring, determined, well spoken, listener, communicator, etc.

Who am I? I am me, wonderfully and uniquely made and I will survive the arrows that are sent my way, because I can!