Re-writing Your Career Moves: A writing workshop for people who have been laid off

If you’ve been laid off recently, this workshop is designed for you. Backed by science and based on first-hand experience, this workshop provides you with the tools to move past what’s happened and focus on creating what’s next.

How does this workshop work?

Prompt workshop: 30 days of prompts
If you choose the prompt workshop option, you will receive a prompt every morning in your inbox for 30 days. During the first week, the prompts will center on processing the layoff event. For the second week we’ll move on to communication and crafting a new message, the third week will focus on envisioning what we want to create, and and the fourth week will be about moving forward in community.

Prompts + classes: 30 days of prompts + a class each week for a month
If you choose the prompts plus classes option, you will receive a prompt every morning in your inbox for 30 days and an invite to a meeting over Zoom every Wednesday for a month. The topics we’ll cover include:
1. Envision: Take the Designing Your Life approach to building your career path.
2. Community: Make sure that you Never Search Alone and move forward with your network.
3. Communication: Clarify and focus your message.
4. Values: For meaningful work, ground your purpose in your beliefs.

What will the prompts be like?

The prompts are designed using the expressive writing framework, providing an opportunity to process the past and most importantly to craft your path forward. Social psychologists have conducted decades of research on the expressive writing approach to processing and overcoming challenges as a step to moving on and embracing new opportunities. This is your chance to write your own story and own the narrative of your career path.

I recommend spending a minimum of 10 minutes writing a response to the prompt. When, where, and how you write is, of course, entirely up to you. Some will turn to paper journals, while others will choose to bang something out on a computer or phone. I do recommend keeping track of your prompts, as you’ll likely want to refer to them later. No one else will see your responses (unless you decide to share), so let it flow - honestly.

What’s the point of all this?

I am a very strong believer in the power of writing, and in the prompt-based writing method specifically. There is a lot of evidence out there to support the wide-ranging benefits that a daily writing practice can provide, and I can add my direct experience to the mix. Years ago, I read a fascinating study about the positive benefits of “expressive writing” for people who experienced job loss. In a nutshell, folks who wrote every day found their next gig more quickly than those who didn’t. I’m also deeply interested in people finding work opportunities that are highly satisfying, and I believe that writing is a key component to understanding and designing for that satisfaction.

So if you’re looking for work, I want to support you on your journey. And I’ll be honest, I have a bigger agenda: I hope this leads to a life-long journaling practice for you.

What is next?

Register for one of the workshop options: just the prompts or prompts + classes. Starting on the date you pick, you’ll get a prompt a day for the next 30 days. Write on.

P.S. A word about prompts

“Prompts” carries a lot of meaning at the moment. It merits clarifying that when I refer to the use of “prompts” in this writing workshop, I am referring to questions or statements that I personally have crafted. These are organic, free range, entirely natural prompts. Nothing artificial was used in the process of creating these prompts.