The Job Search Checklist

Job Loss Grieving

For me, the most difficult part of being downsized was the intense job loss flashbacks. I would be in the middle of applying for a job, on a follow-up phone call, or emailing; then (out of nowhere), I would flash back to the moment of my job loss. All of the intense emotions of losing my job would then follow—the shame and humiliation, the shock and denial, the fear and the panic, the bitterness and anger, and, on some days, the depression. I was ready to lash out, wanting to even the score with my old company in any way possible.

Resentment and anger drove me to build a small model boat that had plenty of room for all my “outstanding ...