Keeping termination a secret? "Our informational interview last week opened up new interesting approaches for me" said Werner Walpert, project manager for technical reorganizations in a high-tech company in southern Lower Saxony. "After all, I haven't applied for a job in 20 years, so I'm looking forward to our cooperation. But one statement you made really irritated me. "Surely you don't expect me to address my friends and acquaintances about my professional misery?" "I'm glad you jumped right in with such commitment and candor" I replied. "You feel that your dismissal is a personal stain. I know this phenomenon from many other cases. It also occurs - as it does in your case - when companies lay off a lot of executives as part of a 'slimming diet'. At 54, you are certainly one of the hardest hit. But I can't see any personal flaw in you. You've done nothing wrong. So there is nothing you would have to keep secret from friends and acquaintances. This is just the objective side of your dismissal. You, and of course we, have to accept your subjective experience and work together to regain your "normal self-esteem". However, please keep this point in mind for the time being. We will come back to it as part of your preparation for exploratory interviews and job interviews.

Setting Up for the Job Application Market First, we should be very thorough in identifying your professional and personal strengths, from which we will then design your unique offering in your specific job market."

New job and update Werner Walpert found a new position as a plant manager after 4 months through personal contacts, but he had to give it up again after 9 months when his new company was sold. Despite the expiration of our "guarantee period" of 6 months, we continued to support Mr. Walpert in his new search.

Inthe meantime practiced in job-hunting, he found a position as managing director of a medium-sized company in the electrical engineering industry within a few weeks, again in the environment of his place of residence and his circle of acquaintances, which he successfully filled for 7 years before he retired. His closing statement at the end of our cooperation was something like: "Mr. Löffler, I have received a number of useful tips and aids during my consultation with you. The most important thing, however, was that you helped me to overcome the hurdle of looking for a job on my own initiative and openly, especially among my personal contacts. By the way: Mr. Walpert had learned a trade after school and never acquired another degree. However, he has developed "learning-by-doing" into a mastery.