Being terminated from a position can be traumatic for a number of reasons. While you may take some time to cope with the sudden change in situation, you will soon need to take action to rejoin the job market, especially if your staying in the U.S. depends upon valid work authorization (see below for a tool to help you find employers who will sponsor nondomestic workers).
Here are some steps you can take to bounce back and find another job:
- Assess the Situation: Take some time to reflect on why you were fired. Understand what went wrong and what you could have done differently. Given how litigious corporate culture can be, your termination was likely the result of many errors along the way and should have been addressed by your supervisor along the way—they would not have fired you without some evidence of poor performance. What are actions you can take to prevent such issues from coming up in the future, and how might you need to change your own behaviors?
- Update Your Resume: Make sure your resume is up-to-date with your most recent job experience, skills, and accomplishments. Download the FrogHire.aiextension, which includes a personal dashboard and will allow you to not only upload your resume, but compare your resume against each job posting to give you a “skill match”, thus showing you how qualified you are (based on your resume) for the position’s requirements.
- Network: Reach out to your professional contacts, including former colleagues, mentors, and friends, to let them know you’re looking for a new opportunity. Networking can often lead to job leads or referrals.
- Job Search: Start actively looking for job openings that match your skills and experience. The FrogHire.aiextension will help you efficiently search across the five most popular online job boards as well as allow you to sort through employers who will sponsor your work authorization and filter by job title, location, while providing information about the employers.
- Customize Your Applications: Tailor your resume and cover letter for each job application to highlight why you are a good fit for the role. Using the FrogHire.aiextension can help you tailor your resume via its skill match function.
- Prepare for Interviews: Practice answering common interview questions and be ready to discuss your previous job and why you left. Focus on framing your departure in a positive light and emphasize what you learned from the experience.
- Stay Positive and Persistent: Job searching can be challenging, but it is important to stay positive and keep pushing forward. With the FrogHire.aiextension, you will be able to keep track of your applications and make notes about the progress of each application via your personal dashboard.
TLDR: Remember that everyone faces setbacks in their career, and how you handle them can make a significant difference in your job search and future opportunities.
