Providing outplacement benefits to departing employees is the right thing to do for a number of reasons. Unfortunately, there seems to be a segment of the candidate population that selects not to use this benefit.
The following blog provides a perspective from an outplacement provider on why former employees should take advantage of a program that can help them in so many ways.
Being in involuntary transition between jobs is one of the worst times that anyone can face in their career. Many organizations will offer outplacement or career transition services to employees who are involuntarily leaving their organization.
These services are free to the former employee and offer them broad access to professional advice on how to make their upcoming job search more successful.
Free access to professional career service professionals - sound like a great deal. That is why it is interesting to note that there are employees who chose not to use the free professional resources made available to them.
The reasons vary - remaining anger with their former company, their belief that they can do it by themselves, and potential aversion to reaching out to others for help are some of the more common.
My advice to any future candidate is to take full advantage of the outplacement services that are provided.
Here are the reasons why:
Take Advantage Of The Latest Tools Available In Job Search
Outplacement firm consultants are knowledge leaders in both the strategic (career planning, entrepreneurship, and onboarding) and tactical (resume, LinkedIn profile, interviewing training, database research, correspondence, and networking) elements necessary to conduct an effective career marketing campaign.
Pick their brains and learn from the best.
Gain Perspective From An Objective Outside Opinion
The job search campaign can be a lonely, individualistic exercise in which you intuitively approach it using all the tools that you believe will help you (LinkedIn and job boards). The problem that many people face, even in today's improving economy, is that these tools may not produce the type of results that you need.
The candidate is then left to their own devices and has to figure how to improve their search results without having any prior knowledge of what works. This is where an outplacement consultant can help. They can objectively assess your situation and provide direction that is based on the historical success of past candidates.
Use The Time For Reflection and Assessment On Where You Would Like To Take Your Career
Working with an outplacement consultant also provide you access to executive coaching expertise that will allow you to explore a variety of career options that may be the best fit for you: Entrepreneurship, New Industry, New Profession and Retirement. Being assigned an outplacement consultant gives you access to a sounding board where you can thoroughly review all of the career path options of interest to you.
You also can take advantage of the assessment tools and coaching insights that the consultant can provide. Outplacement is not counseling or therapy but it does provide a great sounding board and analysis for the candidate. It helps the candidate delve into what lessons can be learned from the experience, what workplace cultures best suit them and what steps they need to take to move into the career that best suits them.
My advice is to take advantage of outplacement services if offered. There are a number of very compelling reasons why it will be to your advantage.
