By Elena Watts

The University of Texas at Austin faces state budget cuts that could mean the loss of 600 jobs over the next two years. Liberal Arts Career Center Director Katherine Brooks Ed.D. said it is important for employees to prepare psychologically in case it happens to them. No one should be 100 percent confident that they are immune to layoffs, she said. It is about money and money does not discriminate. Brooks suggested employees update their resumes and start looking for jobs even if they believe their positions are safe.

Preparation

Psychological

Everyone working for the state in this economy knows layoffs are coming and needs to assume that there is a chance that it could be them, Brooks said. She suggested employees psychologically prepare by finding a support group if they need one. The University’s Employee Assistance Program provides six free and confidential counseling sessions a year for employees.

Julien Carter, associate vice president for Human Resource Services, said employees who are laid off go through the stages of grief, which puts them at a disadvantage as they begin looking for a job.

“They’re angry, they’re scared,” Carter said. “EAP helps them get in a good frame of mind for their job search.”

Employees who fear being laid off can also utilize EAP to get to the root of why they feel they are at risk, Carter said.

“There might be a reason they feel they are targeted for layoffs and need to work on those issues that could lessen the reality or the perception that they could be laid off,” he said.

“Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway,” a book by Susan Jeffers, has an exercise called the “Nine Boxes of Life.” Brooks said many people have only two boxes— work and home— in their lives because they are so busy.

When a person’s life boils down to two boxes, as it does for many busy people, half of life is lost when a divorce or job loss happens.

“So she [Jeffers] says to divide your life into nine boxes…pick out nine things important to you and every week focus on three little goals for each of those boxes,” Brooks said.

Boxes might include friends, pets, a relationship, hobbies, spirituality and work. Brooks said to build these nine boxes so that when one falls out, life remains rich and there is a much stronger support system.

Financial

Brooks suggested employees start building up their savings accounts even though they are presumably eligible for unemployment, an initial monetary buffer, if they are laid off.

“This is the time to cut back on the lattes and some of the luxuries,” she said. “There was a time when they told you to have three months salary in the bank, now they’re saying more like six to eight months salary.”

While this might not be achievable for everyone, Brooks said employees should work toward it. It is important to have as much in the savings account as possible if and when the letter or announcement about a layoff comes.

Training/Continuing Education

This is a good time to look around at what the University offers in terms of expanding your skill set or learning a new one, Brooks said.

Continuing Education offers training and certificate programs. Brooks suggested that employees look into training funds available within their departments so they can benefit from additional training while they are working at the University.

“If you see your office is about to switch to a different type of computer, or new software, or is starting to take on extra duties that belonged at one time to another office, these are things to educate yourself about,” Brooks said. “So you can go to the boss the next day and say I’ve been reading all about this, and I’m interested in learning more.”

Brooks said the supervisor sees that the employee is standing up and helping out in tough times, which can only help.

“Keep skills up to date and show initiative if no one else does,” Carter said. “Reach out [to leadership] and ask, ‘What skills do you think I need to be working on?’, and then do what you can to find those skills.”

An employee should make sure the supervisor sees they are not just a one-trick pony, that there are other things they can do, Brooks said.

“You might have one title, but these days we’re all being asked to work in other areas,” she said. “So let your supervisor know that not only are you willing to do that, but you’re capable of doing that.”

Resumes

“It is a very tight job market, but even in a tight job market there are always jobs,” Brooks said. “Have your resume ready to go and start looking around.”

Gail Hurt, a local career and life mentor who founded Living Authentically in 2005, helps job seekers  with their resumes. She said they should pick four to eight capabilities and find accomplishments that point to times when they used those capabilities.

“This can be a lot of work for someone who has not been accustomed to thinking about what value they bring to their organization,” Hurt said.

Once the process is complete and the resume is done, Hurt said the applicant knows their accomplishments and goes confidently into interviews with stories to tell.

Brooks suggested daily searches on a website called Indeed.com—a job database. It is helpful and can be encouraging to see that there are positions available. Additionally, the Texas Workforce Commission employs career counselors and provides computers and job databases. The commission’s website features resume guides, cover letter tips and networking help, among other resources. Because Brooks said finding a job can take up to 40 hours a week, she recommended job seekers move quickly into the job search.

“Take a few days off, that’s understandable, but the thing to remember is that finding a job is a job itself,” she said. “You want to start actively, and you want to keep at it.”

Getting trapped on unemployment for an extended length of time should be avoided because Brooks said those people tend to lose their drive and initiative. They end up cutting back on their job search instead of moving forward.

Carter said Human Resource Services helps laid-off employees with their job searches. A representative is assigned to give feedback on applications and job search materials. He said his department advocates for the special consideration program, which restricts job applicants to employees already working at the University, but that there is not a mandate.

“If we see other jobs open in a unit, we might upfront ask them to place a person in that position because it’s in the same job family,” Carter said.

Employees who think they might be laid off should go ahead and apply for other opportunities within the University, he said, because sometimes they take a while to work out. If there is time, Carter suggested calling the unit before applying.

“Give that unit a call, find out the person or search committee responsible for hiring, and ask for an informational phone call or visit to find out more about what they are looking for,” he said. “Then go back and make sure your materials strongly reflect what you learn from that conversation.”

New Beginnings

Honest Assessment

Hurt said that many professionals do not know what they want to do at the beginning of their careers and might get into situations in which they stay for many years simply because it is difficult to make a change.

“Maybe you were in a tough spot back then and you grabbed what you could grab and inertia took over,” Brooks said of people unhappy in the work they do. “And if that’s the case, then it’s time to move past that.”

“Even for folks who didn’t give 100 percent all the time [at work], there were days when they did and they need to think about that,” Brooks said. “When did I help someone out? When did I show kindness or compassion to a coworker, a client or someone who needed my help? When did I go the extra mile?”

Brooks said to make an honest assessment: “How would I do it differently? What would I change? What would that choice be now?”

Talking to EAP might also be helpful in addressing an underlying issue—anger, depression or fear—that could hold an employee back, Carter said. When an employee has not seen eye to eye with a supervisor, Brooks suggested they have an honest conversation to find out what the supervisor would be comfortable telling a future supervisor.

Network

“So often we look at our network and ask what can they do for me, but it’s a reciprocal thing,” Hurt said. “So…I can provide support and help for someone in my network and hopefully when I need help and support they know that I was there for them.”

Brooks suggested joining Launch Pad Job Club, which meets every Friday afternoon. She hosted a career class for the club and said individuals range in age from their mid-20s to their 60s. An average of 120 people attended each of her presentations and divided into smaller groups based on their industries, such as tech, engineering, sales and marketing, and education. “I was most impressed with what a positive group of people they were,” Brooks said.  “They were energetic and very helpful to each other.”

This is a time to reassess: “Do I still want to be doing what I’m doing? Or is it time to do something new?” Brooks said that could mean a move to another part of the country, a completely new career field or a chance to assess what the employee has enjoyed.

Social Media

Brooks said the Internet is another place to look. Social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook are places where people can start promoting their skills and expertise.

“Watch the negative [on social media sites],” Brooks said. “Clean up digital dirt.”

She suggested a job seeker Google their name in quotation marks to see what is out there. Eighty percent of employers do a credit check, and they also do a Google search, she said.

“What you want to watch out for is the friend that posted that crazy picture of you that you didn’t mean to have posted,” Brooks said. “So you want to also Google images.”

She said to ask the person who posted something negative to take it down, because even though things are always in cyberspace, they go into an archive and will not show up as much if they are not active.

Brooks also advised that job seekers create a LinkedIn account, a professional networking source. She said it is one of the best ways to promote a professional profile.

“It’s very professional, not like Facebook,” she said. “You’re not putting cute comments out there. Don’t put a picture of your cat. Just business.”

She said job seekers should ask colleagues and supervisors to write recommendations for them on LinkedIn. Even professionals who do not think they are moving on should be involved.

“Texas Exes has an alumni group on LinkedIn and they’re pretty flexible about allowing some University staff into that group even if they’re not graduates of UT,” Brooks said. “You can ask permission to join it and they’ve got at least 18,000 Texas alumni in that group.”

Leave on a Good Note

If laid off, employees definitely want to leave on a positive note, Brooks said.

“You want to retain your references. It’s very important that you have good references,” she said. “So leaving is not the time to air your grievances or to say here are the things I’ve always wanted you to know, or this office has always been a problem.”

Brooks suggested employees put themselves in their supervisors’ shoes.

“I can pretty much guarantee they’re not happy about it and it probably wasn’t their choice,” Brooks said. “Work off the assumption that this is something they never would have done if they didn’t have to do it.”

This is the time to offer extra help in the office, take on new duties, or take on that task that no one likes doing because it might actually be the thing that keeps an employee from being laid off, she said. Sometimes supervisors have discretion about whom they lay off and sometimes they do not, which is out of an employee’s control.

“But what is under your control at all times is your behavior,” Brooks said. “Show that you are still connected, that you are still interested in working and doing a great job, and can stay out of the gossip.”

Employees should keep it professional and utilize EAP when they need to vent, not their supervisors’ offices. She suggested they express how much they enjoyed working in the office, with the supervisor and with the staff.

“You can say you’re sorry, that this is certainly not how you wanted things to work out, that you hope if the economy improves they’ll consider bringing you back, that you would like to keep in touch,” Brooks said. “But that’s all you should say.”