Thread regarding Verizon Communications Inc. layoffs

Tips to take control of your life before someone else does - avoid being a victim

READ THIS ARTICLE, STOP BLAMING, AND TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR CAREER.

"5 Career Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make in 2016" -INC magazine

http://www.inc.com/jt-odonnell/5-career-mistakes-you-cant-afford-to-make-in-2016.html

I have been RIF'd twice in the past 3 years, and managed to find another position within the company both times. It was a painful and miserable experience, but each new position offers the opportunity to build new career skills to take away in the event it happens again (which I fully anticipate may be the case).

Of course, my first reaction was anger and betrayal, as most of us have felt. "Why me?", etc, but workforce reductions are just business decisions. Sometimes it is to offset previous bad leadership policy, other times, it is to adapt to a changing business model. It is not personal, nor the master plan of a greedy megalomaniac commanding an an evil empire, as some of the posts seem to think it is.

We can't always recover quickly when adversity strikes, but you can prepare yourself. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. You are in charge of your life, and prior planning will enable you to recover more quickly. Remember, it is just a job, not cancer.

If you cannot get to the link, a brief summary of the 5 top mistakes we can make is below:

  1. Assuming your job is secure.

  2. Not having your career tools ready.

  3. Not building an interview bucket list.

  4. Failing to know your workplace persona.

  5. Not investing in serving your network.

"If you really want a better career, you have to stop acting like a helpless employee held hostage by the golden handcuffs of employers. Instead, you need to take full ownership of your career and become a business-of-one who wants to partner with employers to serve them. Building a win-win situation between you and an employer is your job, not theirs. Why? You're the service provider and they're the customer. If you want their business, you need to build a brand that is in-demand. Something they will pay good money for. The sooner you realize this, the sooner you can get the professional respect you want and deserve. If you're ready to be in control, you can start by mastering these career moves."

by Anonymous
| 963 views | | 6 replies (last January 4, 2016) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+FgPzWku
Comment! It's anonymous!

6 replies (most recent on top)

I'm what TV calls a prepper. I Have been laid off twice before from IT jobs.

1 I work hard at vz, but focusing on me, not the company

2 My interview bucket list would definitely include Cisco.

3 Career tools: I take classes and passed several vendor certifications to enhance my career skills and knowledge, in case I get laid off for the third time. iTunes has a nice collection of free career tool podcasts, check it out?

4 My workplace persona, from my now ex colleagues, is that of someone who knows the job but is way too nervous about being laid off.

5 I do not serve the network, I serve me, first, foremost and always. VZ came into being in 2000 and the riffs were brutal, and quietly went on for years. Hundreds lost their jobs. Decades of service meant nothing to vz. 20 year, 25 year, 30 year and 30+ years.......gone. Just gone. Today, 5 of us remain.

6 Scared of also being riff'd, In the last year I have gone for job interviews to improve interview performance. I read blogs like these to learn how to cope with the emotions people go through, and hopefully protect myself from : hurt, anger, depression. All the negative feelings that stop people bouncing back from a demoralizing job loss.

I wish I could lay claim to being wise, even smart would be ok. But in reality I'm just simply gun shy, having had my life ripped to pieces and thrown on the ground twice before due to being laid off. I fear many of my now ex colleagues had become complacent and believed, they were like Elliot Ness, i.e. untouchable. They were wrong.

May The Force be with me.

by Anonymous
| | Reply
Post ID: @1vir+FgPzWku

Wow thanks. I agree, these mega corporations are as innocent as angels! NOT...

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @1vtd+FgPzWku

@ jpe Idiots? Well I guess since you are posting on here too that makes you an idiot as well.

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @vom+FgPzWku

Way to go yvc i couldnt of said it any better myself. People are always looking for someone to place blame on. The idiots on here actually blame their bad luck on themselves instead of these rich pigs they work for.

by china
| | Reply
Post ID: @jpe+FgPzWku

I appreciate your "can do" attitude, but please stop being such a brain-washed brown-noser!

Of course he is a "greedy megalomaniac"; for who but a greedy megalomaniac would continue working after 1 year at his salary? A salary paid to renege on commitments, defraud the public, bribe the press, fire and remove the pensions of loyal workers. To rule the workplace by fear.. the favored method of totalitarian fascism.

What do you think he is if not a greedy megalomaniac? An altruist who just wants to share the awesomeness of "go90" with the world?

(It's the app that lets you watch commercials!)

The amount of money these people are paid is obscene, it is morally wrong, and the govt should institute a maximum wage just as they have a minimum wage.

Just Like FDR, our most popular president wanted to do.

Happy New Year my Brainwashed Friend. Make sure your interview bucket list is built, and know your workplace persona. Don't drink too much red kool aid.

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @yvc+FgPzWku

Really great article. This is just how business is.

by Anonymous
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Post ID: @ugt+FgPzWku

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