Do you know how much of our life is spent in your job? Research shows that the average person will spend around 90,000 hours (~40 years) at work over a lifetime - not to mention how that number may likely be higher for big-city workers like Hong Kong, London, New York, and so on. By spending probably half of your lifetime at work, what’s your approach in career planning? Do you believe you can influence the type of job you are going to land when you are conducting job searche

5 days after Jenny’s layoff, we had our followup call. “Thank you for the initial call. I felt better now and would like to kick-start my job search. What shall I do next?” Jenny asked me. After giving herself and her family some time to digest the news, Jenny is now ready to get back in the game. When it comes to the job search game, The common approach is: You sit at your computer and start applying to every job you see. The more effective approach is: You strategize it and

“I don’t want to go home, what am I going to tell my family?” 1.5 hours into my chat with Jenny, after we talked through the shock, the denial, the initial transition plan. “What am I going to say to them?” Dealing with a layoff is tough, but the hardest part is imagining the worry, sorrow, and maybe even fear in your loved ones. So, the million dollar question - one that matters the most but is talked about the least - how do you break the news to your spouse, family, and ev

“Why dread over emotions? What's done is done. I’d rather get productive and start job searching,” says Jenny, my coaching client who recently got laid off due to Covid-19. Well, in fact, it is important for us to acknowledge and process the emotional impact from a layoff as it can be detrimental to the actions you are trying to take. In the previous blog, we explored how you could head start a transition in the case of a layoff. What’s next? Like Jenny, you might immediately

“I got laid off, what should I do?” Jenny, my coaching client called me one day crying. She just got the news from her manager that due to Covid-19, they are cutting 15% headcount and she’s one of them. No matter how experienced, mature, confident, and employable you are, layoffs can still be a highly stressful and scary situation. It’s not just a loss in income, but the self-doubt, confusion, fear of future security that can be very overwhelming; not to mention the challenge