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 We wrote this book to give high-tech workers hope, inspiration and encouragement because we saw so many excellent and highly-qualified workers unemployed and frustrated by their inability to land work in a reasonable period of time, during the high-tech bust. When they could not find work, they were upset, disheartened and downcast. They felt dejected and they had difficulty seeing a time when they would once again be gainfully employed. In the midst of this industry downturn, in a job market that was so frustrating and discouraging, some people did find work - not just any job, but work that fit them well. We wanted to tell people about the success stories. We wanted to help them to believe in themselves again. We wanted them to know that they too would find their perfect work. It was just a matter of time, belief in themselves, and strategic action on their part.
If you are in this situation now, you don’t like being unemployed. Getting laid off or, worse, being laid off for longer than you expected, makes you feel like there is something wrong with you. When you meet other people and you tell them you are looking for work or you are in transition or whatever else you may say, you feel guilty, as if you did something wrong to deserve these consequences. You believe friends and family really don’t understand, and maybe you are right. Your ex-colleagues, your friends, family, etc. don’t understand what it is really like:
- to not have money coming in
- to feel the pressure of financial hardship
- to get up and get motivated everyday
- to feel like your skills are getting rusty
- to not have challenging work
- to be unable to make a contribution
- to lose the social network, the collaboration and the collegiality of your workplace
- to have to do the awful job of searching for work everyday
- to think (on some days) that you will never find a job
- to face what you really do not want to do – relocate - because you think you will never find a job that is suited to you in your community
- to get so close that you think you are going to get a particular job, but someone else gets it
You think that others think (and maybe they do!) that:
- it must be nice to have all of this free time on your hands
- you are not trying hard enough to find another job
- you are spending too much time alone
- you are spending too much time at the computer and not out meeting people
- you should have got another job by now
- you should just take any job to earn money
all you need to do is just suck it up and do what you need to do
You are frustrated by:
- continual rejection
- employers who don’t even have the courtesy of at least acknowledging and/or replying to a job application
- employers who say they want to hire you, but they are unwilling to invest in you
- employers who cannot see how you can help them improve their business
- employers who see the value in hiring you, but they don’t have the money in their budget
- the coldness of applying for jobs over the internet
- not being able to get past the human resources department
- employers who are not willing to accept anyone who does not have the exact qualifications they are requesting
- employers who do not value experience, but would rather hire younger, “cheaper” people
You want a job! You just want to be working again, to earn money again. And if you have been out for too long, you are beginning to think that you will have to take any job. You need to pay the bills. You need to feel like you are contributing again. You need to satisfy all of those desires that work fulfills.
You long for all of those things that a job gives you:
- challenge and excitement
- purpose in your life
- recognition for the value of your work
- the sense of achievement when you are contributing to a worthwhile cause
- financial stability
- feelings of self worth
- a place where you belong
- energy and structure in your day-to-day life
- a sense of responsibility for yourself and those that you love
Unfortunately, our book can’t give you a job. J
We promise/guarantee that Learn to Bounce will inspire and encourage you. It will resurrect your creative juices. It will revive your innovative thinking. It will lead you to take the actions that will better serve you; actions that will enable you to get you your next job.
Learn to Bounce will help you realize that you are not alone. Everything you are feeling and experiencing is normal. You know you will work again. Luck can be on your side and things will eventually go your way. Learn to Bounce will restore your belief in yourself and your belief in your ability to land the job you want. It will give you the drive to persevere. Learn to Bounce will give you the courage to do what you have to do to land your next job. You will be inspired to believe in what is possible. You will be inspired to believe that you can make a difference in the outcome of your job search. Learn to Bounce will encourage you and motivate you to accelerate your success in landing the work you are seeking.
If you are feeling like a deflated basketball, you aren’t going to bounce anywhere. This book will pump you up again so you can. The title of the book comes from a statement by one of the successful job seekers we interviewed. What people who are unemployed need to do, she said, is “learn to bounce.” She’s right. It’s about resilience and you can learn how to do it for yourself.
Other books talk about the nuts and bolts of finding work that you really want. So do we. There is nothing wrong with what other books do. They will all give you tips, as we do, about the best ways to conduct a job search. What other books do is good, but it’s not enough. You may already know what you are supposed to do, but are you doing it? What’s getting in your way? What saps your energy and confidence and makes it difficult to get unstuck? The experience of and tips from the people we portray, real people just like you, will help you get past the obstacles that they, too, encountered and move forward to the work you want. If they could do it, in a terrible job market, you can do it now!
Learn to Bounce is different because:
 It is tailored to your needs. We understand that you, the high-tech worker, are different. You are highly educated. Your work is unique. It is specialized.
It tells the powerful stories of real high-tech workers like you. Learn from the best, people like you – other high-tech workers who have been in your shoes, who know what it is really like, other high-tech workers who have “been there and done that”. Learn how they overcame their adversity and how they have successfully transitioned their career.
It addresses the emotional issues of unemployment. You will realize that although you are unique, your feelings and experiences are a normal part of the transition process.
It is full of practical tips, strategies and ideas that can be easily implemented
Who are we that we can speak with some authority about helping high-tech workers move forward in their job search? Anita is one of you. Both she and her husband, Kevin, were laid off by high-tech companies during the downturn. They have lived the roller coaster of trying to find work they wanted and both have succeeded. She has worked, as both a coach and a volunteer, to help laid-off tech workers find work. Lee has been a career counselor for over 30 years. He currently works, both as a Senior Associate with a major career transition firm and in his private practice, with many tech workers to help them succeed in their job search.
More important, we are not the main voices you will hear in Learn to Bounce. Those voices belong to 32 North American tech workers who lived through what you are living through and who succeeded despite long odds. You will hear their stories and you will benefit from what they learned – how to survive when the going is really tough, and how to find or create work that you love to do. What they have to tell you, and what we have to add, really works. It has been tested in the fire and proven.
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