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From the Archives -- Originally published March 23, 2001

The Southern California winter may not bring much snow, except in the mountains, but it is our rainy season, with large storms rolling in out of the west. This year we are also experiencing a similar Winter in the high-tech world. Storms of company failures and associated layoffs are rolling in. You cannot control when you might suffer a layoff any more than you can control the weather, but you can control your reaction to a layoff to insure that you keep your career headed in the right direction.

Slow down

A common occurrence here in Los Angeles during our rainy season is the major increase in traffic accidents. It seems that from one Winter to the next, most Angelenos forget how to drive in the rain. Despite admonitions to "slow down" most drivers plow on blindly as if it were a brilliant summer day. This is why I would admonish you to "slow down" if you are laid off. Your initial reaction might be to jump into the next job that someone offers you. Don't. Unless you are under severe economic constraints you should take a few days or a week to put your former job behind you.

In some cases you may need to grieve about the lost possibilities of a failed company. Some of you may simply need a breather to recover from endless 18 hour days and a high-stress workplace. Still others may need to investigate their career choices and whether they need to adjust their career goals to find a more fulfilling job.

Fixing a hole

Just as the rainy season can point out flaws in homes and offices, the current round of layoffs can point out areas of your career that you may have ignored or, at the very least, left uncultivated.

For example, it can be very difficult to get letters of recommendation from people once layoffs have dispersed staff members. You should be cultivating connections with your co-workers like gathering email addresses that will still be valid after a layoff, asking for, receiving and offering to write recommendation letters, and outlining possible partnerships that might be beneficial in the future.

Too often we ignore these necessary tasks when the career weather is good, only to race to catch-up when the rains come. Even worse, as we all know, the costs to correct problems are exaggerated when you are in the middle of a crisis. Imagine trying to have your roof repaired during the height of a major rainstorm.

Even if you feel secure in your current job and company, now is the time to "check your roof for leaks." Take a few minutes to think about what might happen if your company were to suddenly fail or undergo layoffs. Have you made the preparations mentioned above? Have you re-evaluated your happiness with your current career choice? Making these preparations now will allow you to think clearly instead of merely reacting to the crisis when it occurs.

It's only rain

Too often a layoff can cause you to fall into a depression. You take the layoff as a personal affront showing that you are somehow unworthy or flawed. You must remember, though, that it is just like the rain. You have as little control over the weather as you have over your own layoff. Unless you are a principal in the company i.e. a CEO, President, etc. , you can only do the best work possible and help the principals achieve their stated goals. You should not, under any circumstances, take a layoff personally. You did your best, but were felled by insurmountable odds in the marketplace, lack of funding or poor management, items which you simply could not control.

The rains return to Southern California every year and layoffs will always fall into their own cycle. Think about the possibility of the coming Winter and what you will do insure that the "roof" of your career doesn't spring a leak -- at the worst possible moment.

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