Why Should I Help You? Part 1

Reaching out to others
by Linda Franklin, guest blogger

Last year I became another statistic filing for unemployment. My story was not unlike many others: With a company for 7 years, I thought I would be there for my career. When my notice came, I went through the usual shock and disappointment (“WHAT?!?!?”).

And then came the “What do I do now?” I began reaching out to everyone I knew and began meeting new business contacts at professional networking functions. LinkedIn became my new best friend.

While networking I quickly realized an important lesson: those who had themselves been laid off or experienced similar job ups and downs were the ones most likely to lend a helping hand. They understood the pain and frustration of the job search, and they regularly went that extra step to get my resume in front of the right person.

It was easy then for me to decide that, once I was employed again, I would make sure to reach out to help others in my network going through a layoff/job search. Not just by getting their business cards, but learning more about their background, experiences and their goals so that I could refer them to others or job postings that would be a good match.

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Linda Franklin, who has survived the bruises of 2 layoffs, is happy to be working again as Marketing Manager of WiseChoice.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/lfranklin99
http://www.twitter.com/LindaFrank123
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