In Search of the Upside After Being Downsized
Downsized. What a perfect word. It describes not only the firms that are trying to shrink expenses, but also the employees who have been “shrunk.”
A downsized person looks in the mirror and sees someone smaller, less competent, more psychologically shriveled than he or she used to be. A downsized person feels depressed, guilty and afraid.
“Did I bring this on myself? How will I survive? Will anyone hire me ever again?”
But wait.
That’s all true for those who see a glass half empty. Karen Okulicz is the kind who sees it half full.
A twice-downsized person herself--she lost two good jobs in 15 months--Okulicz experienced all the ugly symptoms described above. She watched friends go through it too. And from these lemons, she has made the proverbial lemonade.
Her 70-page, self-published inspirational book, “Try! A Survival Guide to Unemployment” (K-Slaw Inc.), does not teach how to go on interviews or how to get a job. There’s enough of that out there. Instead, it boosts morale, offers soothing ideas and an upbeat approach to the job-hunting life.
“Be kind to yourself,” she counsels, and let friends be kind to you. Don’t be ashamed of tears and fears. She sees it as an opportunity, a time to rethink how you really want to live and work.
She also sees it as a time to chase career dreams you’ve never before had the time or guts to pursue. Her own dream of being a travel agent, for example, was axed after she volunteered in an agency and found the job totally unfulfilling. And after 20 hours of ice cream scooping, she nixed her longtime fantasy of opening a beach-side ice cream shop. All the while, she was going on job interviews.
Her most embarrassing moment came when she was interviewed by the president and officers of a major company in an elegant New York hotel: “I was on, I was exact, I knew my stuff. I was negotiating supremely. It was a breakfast meeting, and the restaurant was full. We were getting up to shake hands.”
At that point, Okulicz slid along the couch toward the president, preparing to rise. She forgot the couch was very short. And so she slipped off the end, fell on her rear, her legs flailing at thin air.
She did not get the job.
But after reading the book, it’s safe to assume she wouldn’t have been happy there. She’s found her niche--as an inspirational lecturer, author and East Coast radio talk show host. In an ironic twist, her book is distributed by large corporations such as AT&T; to employees who are being laid off. It’s $10 in bookstores, or write to K-Slaw Inc., P.O. Box 375, Belmar, NJ 07719, or order from her Web site, https://www.okulicz.com.
