10 Hints that you are about to be Retrenched

1. Your line manager and upper management avoid eye contact with you
2. HR avoid you and ask you to check with management for even basic requests
3. Your manager approves your leave requests without challenging them
4. You seem to have more time on your hands with less important projects to do
5. You find out about projects that you are supposed to be in charge of but are being run by somebody else
6. Your manager seems to find fault in everything you do
7. The number of emails you get in your inbox seem less than before
8. Your requests for additional resources for the project you are running are turned down without any reason
9. Your manager gives you a verbal and/or written warning for some vague reason
10.And the biggest hint is when your manager calls you into his room and his manager and HR are present

Top 10 Tips for Retrenchees

1. Refuse to give up hope! Regardless of what you think there will always be a job out there with your name on it.
2. Rediscover what you love to do. Take a step back and reflect on your passions and srengths.
3. Reject the urge to mope and feel sorry about yourself or blame others. Keep moving forward with no regrets.
4. Remember your friends and family. Rest assured they are the best support group you will ever have, period.
5. Recall and learn from your mistakes. Remember you learn from failure, not success.
6. Recuperate and relax. Take a break and revitalise your mind and body before your next job.
7. Realign your career goals. Develop a clear career plan with help from a reliable coach.
8. Research your targeted job or industry. Nobody recruits candidates who haven't done their homework.
9. Revise and refine your resume and cover letter. Remember these are your tools to get your foot in the door.
10.Rehearse your pitch before the interview. Repeat your 2-min elevator speech to friends, family, headhunters, your pets.

To be retrenched or not to be retrenched?

That is the question...

Are you like me, Super Retrenched Man (SRM)? Have you been retrenched so many times that you can't remember when was the last job your quit on your own free will? Welcome to the club. I have been laid off for at least 5 times in my career and I feel that it is time to give back to the community, to all your retrenchees out there who have suffrered the same fate as I. I would like this blog to be the place where you can vent your frustrations, share tips, get help and generally take your mind off your last retrenchment and along the way if you have fun so much the better cos we need some of our spirits lifted. So stop reading and start posting already!