Unemployment: Losing Your Job Without Losing Your Mind

To weather this tough economy, your employer is downsizing. They have decided to eliminate your position and now you feel like a small fish in a great pool of unemployed workers. The U.S. Bureau of Labor reports an unemployment rate in March of 2009 at 8.5%! How will you stand out amongst a crowd of applicants who are all wanting to fill the same shoes? But wait, do you even want an offer from this company? Don't panic and accept just any job. Remember your value and sell it! It matters that you make a good decision for yourself and not let the stress of unemployment force you into a 9-5 nightmare. Believe in yourself and find out all you can about the new employer without being pushy and offsetting.

Be in the "know"
Educate yourself by brushing up on the employers history before the interview; and pose appropriate questions at the hiring table. Pay attention because you don't want to ask a question that the interviewer has already covered in their introduction. Depending on the employer and whether or not you found good online information about them; you might ask any of these questions:

How long have you been in business?
Who are your top customers?
In what territories do you do business and why?
What products and/or services do you offer and how do you differentiate yourself from your competitors?
Who are your toughest competitors and why?
Is this a new position or a replacement position? (It's perfectly fine to ask why the former employee is no longer with their company).
What do you like the most about the company? This question often gets the interviewer talking about themselves, which most people enjoy!
Describe the level of experience in your department. (Beware a department filled with inexperienced employees may indicate a manager with control issues).
Describe the personalities and teamwork in the department.

Smile from the inside out
Thats right, most employers love genuinely happy employees; but a few will not warm up to your sunny disposition. It is good to find out early in the process if you will be working with moody people. If you are happy and you get a cold reception, maybe this isn't the right place for you.

Reflect on the past to guide your future
Reflect on your past position and the things that frustrated you about the company or management. Do you want the opportunity to give more input into workflows and processes in the future? Did management seek input from their staff on important changes; or were they more like little dictators wielding their brilliant power over you? Were there unnecessary redundancies that could have been easily streamlined? Just how does this new "prospective" employer administer change? If a change is implemented and found to be clumsy by the people who do the actual work, are they open to feedback and revisions?

Think forward
Will the new company provide education and mentoring to help you achieve your professional goals? What kind of training programs or educational assistance are they offering? What is the career path and the tenure of the current staff?

These are just a few things to think upon as you prepare to step back into the hiring arena. Certainly there are plenty of helpful tips on how to prepare for the interview itself. However, it's equally important you get to know your future employer and what you want out of your next career, as they get to know the real you. Chemistry is very important in your working environment. If you land a second interview you should ask to meet some of the people you would be working with closely. Remember, don't let desperation make you settle for an unacceptable employer. You won't find perfection, but maybe you will find an employer better than the last one.