Finding opportunity in loss

So you’ve lost your job. If you are nodding in acquiescence, you are probably taking pills to get over insomnia and stress, panicking over how to pay the next EMI, wringing your hands at the mass of bills piled high and checking your inbox every minute for good news. It doesn’t help that everyone treats you as if ‘handle with care’ is emblazoned all over you.

Nishun Sharma, 33
Last profile	Manager, support, in an IT company
Lost job	In October 2008
Rebound strategy	Started an education consultancy
"I looked for a job for some time, but realised that I could be in this situation again after 10-15 years. Then the idea to start a business hit me and I roped in one of my friends to launch this venture."

What you need to do is snap out of it. Despite the gloom, there are opportunities for those who refuse to mope over one closed door. All you have to do is grab them.

Easier said than done, you may counter. What are the possibilities for those laid off unceremoniously? Quite a few, actually. Even finding a job is not difficult if you need the money desperately. According to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook, about 25% of the companies are still hiring.

But that’s not the point. This is probably the best time to try something new. Or to give in to those locked-up desires that the monotony of a job had nearly buried. We have listed out a few options that are being successfully tried out by people who have been retrenched. The list is only inspirational. You can do something entirely different— as long as you do it.

Bring out the entrepreneur
Nothing showcases your entrepreneurial ability better than a start-up. If the slowdown is holding you back, take inspiration from what Saurabh Srivastava, chairman of the Indian Venture Capitalist Association, has to say: “Starting a venture is not easy during recession, but there is an upside. There are fewer start-ups, so competition for money, clients and people is limited. You can rope in talent at a lower cost and negotiate cheaper deals with advertisers and infrastructure providers.”

Nishun Sharma proves this. In October 2008, he lost his job as a manager in an IT company. “I was unwilling to compromise on my salary or designation. So the job hunt was tedious,” he says. Sharma roped in a friend and launched a consultancy firm that helps students aspiring to study abroad and people who plan to settle overseas. “I reached the break-even point within the first two months and am looking to expand my business,” says Sharma, whose initial investment was Rs 50,000.

In fact, entrepreneurship is a time-tested back-up during a crisis. Take Paramjeet Chauhan, 32, who was asked to quit a few weeks ago. In fact, he has suffered this fate twice. In 2003, he got his first pink slip. Chauhan hunted for a job, then decided to set up a business that dealt with land acquisition for telecom firms. Later, he let his younger brother manage the business and took a job with an SEZ. After he was fired the second time, he joined the firm that he had launched.

If you have the entrepreneurial spirit, Mohit Goyal and Alok Mittal, co-founders of the Indian Angel Network, suggest that the time is ripe to start businesses that reduce the cost of products and services, address local markets, or are linked to areas such as legal outsourcing, security, mobile value-added services, education and healthcare.

Gear up for a choppy ride Slowdown is a good time for startups, but brings a unique set of problems. Here are some tips to overcome the hiccups:

Watch your capital like a hawk: External funding is hard to come by. So, streamline cash flows and get the maximum out of every rupee. Hunt for talent: The best brains can be hired at a significantly low price when bigger companies fire people. MAKE YOUR BUSINESS MODEL Flexible: Be open to change, from the nature of your clients to the kind of projects you want to handle to get work during the slowdown. Have a micro focus: Find out about the impact of the slowdown on the industry that you are working in. Check how bigger companies are faring and how they are innovating to keep afloat.

Join a cause
Volunteering to work for an NGO not only satisfies your humanitarian instincts, but also exposes you to a unique experience for enhancing your leadership qualities and risk-taking abilities. Says Shaheen Mistri, CEO of Mumbaibased Teach for India: “In a nonprofit organisation, you have to think out of the box, take risks and show initiative. The experience of working on large-scale social issues with resource constraints develops leadership skills.” Several MNCs seek such experience in managers whom they can groom as future CEOs. Some of the global B-schools, which develop future leaders, look for similar stints in their applicants.

In December 2008, Delhi-based Ankush Gupta, 23, lost his job as an IT professional. He immediately floated his resume on various job search Websites. Luckily, he found a job after a month. “My Plan B was to join an NGO that gave technical assistance to local shops like jewellers. In such a case, my salary would have been funelled into various causes,” he says.

Volunteering can be Plan A if you can make do with lesser pay in the short term, believe in the cause, and are open to developing skills that will help you in the future. The first step is to identify the area you wish to work in. “It’s only when you believe in the cause that you can sustain the hard work and perseverance needed to make an impact,” says Mistri.

Do not restrict yourself to field work. Malhotra insists that you consider providing assistance where skills from your domain of expertise are utilised. For instance, if you are an IT professional, you can help in the computerisation and analysis of data. If you have a degree in finance, you can contribute to the accounts department of an NGO. In addition to showcasing your social consciousness, this adds to the list of challenging work environments in your resume.

However, if you plan to study or do a temporary job simultaneously, then it is best to sign up for a charitable outfit in your neighbourhood that gives you some free time.

How the Cause Helps you
Joining an NGO satisfies your urge to serve the community and also adds immense value to your resume.

Accelerates your leadership
Skills: Because you are responsible for the welfare of people. The nature of problems is unpredictable, which requires you to think on your toes.
Strengthens your network: Because you meet people from various backgrounds: volunteers, government officials, representatives of corporates, activists, etc.
Builds your risk-taking capacity: Because by nature, this is an off-beat career. In addition, you may have to take unprecedented steps to overcome unique challenges.
Tests your perseverance: Because a project may take much longer to be completed than planned and obstacles can be re-appear.

Life after the Pink Slip

Losing your job is not the end of the world. If you look around, you will see many opportunities. These were my first thoughts on the day I was fired. It was five o’ clock in the evening when I was told not to come to office from the next day. I was working with the India division of a US-based finance conglomerate, which was facing a tough time back home and wanted to concentrate on salvaging the situation. About one-and-a-half years ago, when I wanted to leave the company, the management convinced me that they had great prospects in India. Looking back, I rue my decision to stay on. Informing my wife about the lay-off was tough. Then I had to spread the word among friends. But the toughest call was what to do next. Frankly, I was confused. So I decided to wait for fate to show the way. I tried focusing on the brighter side. The severance package was good—the golden handshake included my salary for three months. Three months of breathing space. Three months to decide. The first decision was to go on a long over-due holiday. Pressure-cooker careers meant that my wife and I rarely took a break. So we took off for coastal Karnataka to meet relatives, friends and visit my school and college. Our financial condition was fragile, so instead of jetsetting in airplanes, we travelled by train. For two weeks, it was a life of bliss—no e-mails, no office calls, nothing to disturb us. I realised, belatedly, that I had sacrificed too many interests in the pursuit of my career. A career that had anyway ended in a flash. In the past two months, I have tracked down old friends, seen the films that I had missed and read the books that I had bought but never found the time to go through. I became involved with physical activities to improve my health. It is now a part of my daily routine and I have become much fitter. My wife has other reasons to be happy—I have become the perfect house husband, whipping up delicious meals for her. But the best thing is that I have found the calm that escaped me. I now sleep like a baby. It shows. People ask me how I am so cool. The reason is that I am finally at peace with myself. I realise that the lay-off is not an indictment on my competence. Some folks in Manhattan decided to close shop, so here I am. The incident has made me wiser, I am now looking for opportunities that do not tie me down to one employer. Till then, I plan to have fun. God save all sincere, honest workers. - An investment banker, who was working for one of the troubled global giants, says that he is happy that he lost his job

Go back to school

Who’s Hiring? The Manpower Employment Outlook for April-June 2009 reveals that corporates have not stopped hiring, but the pace is definitely slower.
Finance, Insurance & Real Estate	+21%
Manufacturing	+22%
Mining & Construction	+20%
Mining & Construction	+22%
Services	+29%
Transportation & Utilities	+23%
Wholesale & Retail Trade	+18%
Figures are net employment outlook.

Dhruv Mahajan (name changed), 27, lost his job as an investment banker with HSBC this January. He promptly enrolled himself for a CFA degree. “It is a terrific add-on to my work profile as I was managing the portfolio of high net worth individuals. I had wanted to pursue CFA for more than a year, but due to time constraints, I couldn’t do it,” he says.

It is important that you choose a course that is aligned to your longterm career plan. “Do a SWOT analysis to find out your weaknesses. If there are any gaping holes in your resume, look for courses that fill them up,” says Pervin Malhotra, director, Career Guidance India (CARING).

Like Mahajan, aim to specialise in a field that makes it difficult to replace your contribution to an organisation. Improve your job mobility by taking up courses that are an extension of your current profile. This will help you to negotiate with a future employer in a better way as you can perform functions spanning more than one profile or supervise more aspects of a project.

It took a pink slip for 24-yearold Aditya Kumar (name changed), to realise this. A Web designer, he was among the first to be ousted from an e-card company in November 2007. “There is no meat in my CV. To remedy this flaw, I am pursuing a PG diploma in instructional designing,” he says.

Similarly, Shreshtha (name changed) decided that the crisis offered her an opportunity to hone her skills in stock charting, in addition to those she had in financial research. After she was transferred from the research job to an administrative one, she realised that she was wasting her time. She quit the job to join the charting course so that she has a better chance to join a global investment banking firm in the future. Rahul (name changed), an engineer and MBA who works for a Birla Group firm, has decided to pursue an executive course with a premier B-school. “My current MBA degree is from a low-rung institute. The course will enable me to either get a better-paying job or one with an MNC,” he explains.

Sometimes, you may not find a course that addresses the issues you want to study. In such a case, it is a good idea to take up research work in the field. Malhotra says this not only expands your knowledge, but also shows up well in your CV as an indomitable drive to reach your goal.

Explore other careers
When Kumar lost his job as a Web designer, he did not insist on another one in the same field. “I was open to offers related to a technical post,” he says. This flexibility paid off and he is now employed as a trouble-shooter for networking towers. This is not Kumar’s area of interest. He was motivated by the need to stay “in circulation” till he finishes his diploma. However, you can use a lay-off as an opportunity to switch careers voluntarily.

“Before finding another job, rethink your career strategy,” says Malhotra. Having spent some time in a particular work environment, you may recognise the shortcomings that you had ignored earlier. It may not be creatively satisfying or paying enough. You could also have developed an interest in another field during the course of work.

If you are interested in an alternative career, conduct a research about the industry. Try a temporary job in the field to get a feel of the same. Even if there are no advertised vacancies, volunteer to do something in a particular firm simply for the experience. Malhotra says that this is a sure way to convince employers that you are interested. You can also pursue a course related to the subject on the side. The combination of experience and a degree will help you overcome the disadvantage of not having worked in the field before.

However, you must be sure of your choice if the new career is completely unrelated to the first. A switch from sales to marketing may not be irreversible, but if you decide to get into horticulture, for instance, shifting back to your original career could be at a huge cost.

Do something, anything
Experts say that the first thing to do when you are laid off is to catch up on sleep. Sleep long hours as it helps you relax and renew your energy. Gradually, push yourself to pursue hobbies while you think about your next move.

What they don’t tell you is that if nothing else works, the hobby can metamorphose into the ‘next move’. For instance, you may want to write and end up penning a book. Or if you nursed a secret aspiration to be applauded on stage, participating in a theatre workshop may get you the chance to perform on stage. Even if these options don’t work in the long run, they will add value to your resume as you will come across as a well-rounded personality with varied interests.

— With inputs from Priya Kapoor