Stepping gently into unfamiliar territory

One thing I quickly learned is that searching for a job is nothing like what it was the last time I did it, in 1989. When colleagues and friends found I was leaving my newspaper job, the first question inevitably was, “What are you gonna do?” I hated to give the answer “I have no idea,” although that would probably have been the most accurate. I did actually have some ideas, but nothing concrete, and I looked forward with some trepidation to the new chapter.

I accepted the newspaper’s buyout because I considered it the best option for myself personally and professionally, and for my family. The buyout was a generous offer, but I felt as if I was at a buffet full of food choices that I really didn’t like (hard to imagine, for anyone who’s seen me). I had to eat something, but nothing had my tastebuds panting.

I went to a career counseling workshop shortly after I left my job, and our class learned that people who experience job loss go through stages similar to the grief cycle as outlined by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. They were proposed in roller-coaster form, which I quickly discovered is accurate. A job seeker’s mood and outlook can change with just a morsel of hope, perhaps something as simple as an e-mail response that isn’t automated.