Nobody likes to lose a job—it’s never a pleasant experience. But many of you, at some point in your careers, have been fired from a job you thought you’d keep until you left on your own for something better. One moment, you feel secure in your position, and the next, you’re shown the door—often without a good reason.
It doesn’t just hurt—it positively sucks.
The worst part of being fired isn’t the uncertainty over income. It’s the anger, bitterness and self-doubt that comes with it. The feeling of being singled out unfairly. You keep asking yourself: Why me?
While your reaction to losing a job is understandable, you don’t have to let it eat you to the point of thinking that you're a failure. Instead of focusing on the dismissal, you can look at it from a different, more positive angle: What if it’s the start of an exciting new challenge? When one door closes, at least a window—if not another door—always opens. And sometimes, that’s all you need to get back on your feet and build a door out of it.
As difficult as it may seem, here are five effective ways to bounce back.
Feel sorry for yourself, but not for long
Job-loss emotions have been compared to grieving, self-pity and betrayal. While it’s natural to feel hurt, you don’t have to let them overtake your sense of control. There is a path forward, not just the one you left behind. This means, as soon as you can, you stop feeling sorry for yourself and move on to the next chapter in your career. You accept the inevitable and focus all your energy on doing even better than you did up to that point. Just thinking of the possibilities can galvanise you into positive action.
Redirect your thoughts, then rewrite your story
Flip the narrative. Redirect your thoughts. Tell yourself with as much conviction as you can that while you did a good job before being asked to go, maybe it wasn’t the right one for you, maybe it didn’t align with your true potential, and just maybe it was holding you back from something greater. Reading your job loss as an opportunity rather than a setback will motivate you to rewrite your story.
Work to your strengths. Find your passion
While you’re looking for another job, ask yourself: What are some of the things I love doing but never had time for? Your answer may be just the push you need to explore a fresh career path, start a side hustle or turn a hobby into a lucrative venture. This is where you make a list of your strengths and skills and see if you can do something outside of a 9-to-5 job. In this, you can draw inspiration from the vast number of entrepreneurs on social media. You never know where an honest self-assessment can take you.
It’s never awkward to ask your network for help
One of the first things that out-of-work individuals usually do, aside from polishing their CVs, is seek job opportunities on professional platforms like LinkedIn. That’s a great first step. First, it lets your mentors, former colleagues and even friends know you’re looking for a job. Second, you never know what unexpected opportunities or unadvertised openings may come your way. There’s no shame or awkwardness in saying you lost your job (though that might be debatable) and that you’re exploring new opportunities. Networking isn’t just about job hunting; it’s also about building long-term relationships.
Learn a new skill while you wait for good news
This has been said before but bears repeating. While you wait for your phone or email to ping with good news, use the time to upskill or take an online course that interests you. Who knows, it might even spark a creative idea that opens exciting career doors. Even if upskilling doesn’t land you a job, you’ll have the satisfaction of investing in yourself, and as we know, learning never goes to waste.
Getting laid off from a job is tough, but it’s not the end of the road. Instead, see it as a detour—for the best is always yet to come.
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