Try to sing Bon Jovi’s “Living on Prayer”, but replace the lyrics to “Leaving on a High” should you need motivation to follow through on the advice below.

For many of us one of the most stressful and traumatic things that can happen in our life is being made redundant. Particularly when you have been working for a company for a long time and quite frankly been a hardworking loyal employee. Shock, depression, anger and resentment set in. All understandable feelings and reactions....however I am going to suggest that one thinks before one lets these emotions explode. Maybe a controlled explosion is the way to go to release these feelings?

Very often I see great candidates with super experience destroy their relationship with a company when they are made redundant. This is a real shame and it is important to note that it may have taken you 5 years to build your reputation, but it can take less than a week to destroy it. When we leave a company we want to missed, we want our absence to be felt and we want people to remember us for our great work.  So make the conscious decision to leave on high and be missed when you leave your job.

Here are some tips for leaving on a high:

• Try keep your activity levels high....hold on scrap that - Try to work even harder than you have been, when working your notice period. This may even make your employer feel even more guilty about letting you go and therefore more motivated to help you.
• Start to consciously build a network at work. Don’t go into a shell; communicate with staff and management more than you ever have. Ask them to keep an eye out for job opportunities for you and if they know anyone that might be able to help you find your next opportunity.  Do the same with your clients, suppliers etc.
• Make sure you leave no loose ends and that you leave a comprehensive handover.
• Let your customers know you are leaving, don’t complain about the company or your redundancy, but if possible make them aware that you will be looking for a new opportunity. Hopefully they will keep you in mind should they hear of any opportunities.
• Try not to get caught up with “the negative crew”.  Usually found huddled around a canteen table ranting about how badly they have been treated, how bad the company is, how there are worse people in the organisation that should have been let go before them and how doomed their future now is due to redundancy.  Wow, nearly got  depressed writing those last two lines. Negativity breeds Negativity.
• Where possible team up with other “positive” redundant staff and support each other.  This can be very comforting.  Share suggestions, information and contacts with each other.
• We you leave.....stay in touch with key personnel. Keep them updated and tell them what you are up to and what you are looking for.

We must remember before we burn our bridges that we never know when our paths will cross with an ex-manager or co-worker in the future.  And I have not even mentioned the reference about you that your ex- employer is liable to give your future employer.

So why not leave your job on a High?

As a Career Coach I am always looking out for the latest and most creative material that will benefit my clients.  So I spend a lot of time reading books and blogs from around the world.  I was very excited last week when I finally received the much anticipated “Lemonade” movie in the post. Like many people I had seen the You Tube trailer and knew that the film had to be watched in full.  The film was created by Erik Proulx who now runs a very successful website (pleasefeedtheanimals.com) providing support and job information to advertising professionals in the US.

If I was handing out Oscars this film would be a shoe in. The film is a documentary about a number of US advertising professionals who were made redundant during this “Great Recession”.  The title “Lemonade” sums the movie up well. Lemons can taste sour, bitter, the can give a citrus sting and the citrus can really hurt! These are very similar words we use to describe the emotions we experience when being made redundant. Lemonade on the other hand is refreshing, sweet and satisfying. This is where the opportunity of redundancy can lead you to - a change, new enjoyable challenges and more job satisfaction than ever before.

Here are some points beautifully illustrated in the film:

• People react differently to being made redundant.  Here are some emotions conveyed in the film:  Shock (totally unexpected), ashamed  and embarrassed, feel worthless and unwanted, let down, think everyone else knows, sad, depressed, angry, complete denial, felt that their employers were cold, insincere and heartless, stressed over  money and breaking the news to their family and even joy and relief.
• After you start to come to terms with your situation the film suggests that your life is no longer traveling in the same direction as before. This is a great opportunity for you to stop, think and decide what direction you choose to go. Redundancy can be a clean slate, an opportunity to do something new and inspiring!
• Many important aspects in our life that have been neglected during our working years resurface. Spending “Quality” time with your family and being present at your children’s school plays etc.  One contributor describes the feelings he felt when he found out his daughter had Cystic Fibrosis and we are reminded that there are worse things that can happen to us than redundancy. It is important to look around us and appreciate that in the big scale of things we are in fact lucky for what we have. The Haiti earthquake for me has really touched my heart and made me feel very blessed to have all the wonderful things that I have.  Donations to Haiti can be made here - Donate now to support UNICEF's response to children in need.
• The film looks at the wonderful opportunities that many of these redundant advertising agency staff seized since their redundancy. We have a high energy Yoga Teacher and Nutritionist, A Painter, A Coffee Roaster and Distributor, A Website owner and even an individual that had the courage to change gender!  Yes, there are some truly uplifting stories here.

So many lessons can be learned from watching Lemonade.  Here are my main ones - Put your energy into the things you love and see what happens.  This is an opportunity to go back to where you were in the past and start a fresh.  As the film’s slogan states – when you get laid off “it’s not a pink slip” you receive “it’s a blank page”.

More details on this film and where it can be purchased available at – http://lemonademovie.com

I’ll leave you with a quote –

"Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life."- Confucius

Good luck with your job search, believe and try to do things you love to do often!