Marge Watters - Its Your Move: A Guide to Career Transition and Job Search for Canadian Managers, Professionals and Executives

Nothing is more important than your reputation with yourself.

Getting your head in the game requires that a decision be made about managing your career. If your employment is terminated, the decision is made for you. You probably wont be consulted, and the news can be quite a shock. The quick hit can be devastating at first, but there are advantages; for example, you dont have to suffer the turmoil of indecision or the disappointment of slow rejection by your organization. The decision is made, and youre at the starting line.

Working notice is a common practice, and it isnt always easy to handle. In this situation, your current responsibilities end, often as the result of project completion or restructuring, and you are given the opportunity to conduct an internal job search. Organizations vary in the degree of clarity they provide regarding their processes and the level of assurance they give regarding job availability. Some offer excellent internal support; others, none at all. If you are given working notice, get your head in the game right away and start managing your career.

Early retirement can be good news or bad news. Youre off to a great start if youve been waiting for the opportunity and you already have ideas about what you want to do next. However, if youll be in bad shape financially, or youre unprepared emotionally and psychologically for this news, the phrase early retirement can seem like a euphemism for being fired. Regardless of your initial reaction, there are benefits. You will be able to position your leaving as an early retirement, and having some pension income, you probably wont have to replace all your income to stay even.

If the decision to make a career change is entirely yours, being decisive and making time to do it right will be the challenge. Deciding to leave on your own can be the most difficult starting point. It isnt easy to be proactive about making a move when you are spending all your energy keeping up with the demands of your day-to-day responsibilities. Not devoting the time needed to pay attention to your future, however, is one of the greatest errors in good career management. Doing so requires commitment, organization and discipline. Dedicating yourself to this task is something that only you can do.

In any of these circumstances, you can take control and be determined to make the moves that are right for you. Too many people make mistakes with the closing steps of leaving a job because it is such an emotionally loaded decision, regardless of who makes it. Be very careful about what you say and do. How you handle your departure from a job will affect your reputation, your references and consequently your future.