So Many (including maybe you) Losing Their Jobs - How a Tarot Reading Figures In

 It melts our hearts. That is this new cause. And that cause is all over social networks such as LinkedIn.

Those laid off, especially by tech-related corporations such as Robinhood and Oracle, are promoting their need to find work. What is so heart-warming is that others are paying attention and providing encouragement, advice, and leads. 

For example, in the LinkedIn newsfeed about Robinhood's most recent Reduction-in-Force former employees present themselves for work. Essentially they are pitching themselves to recruiters. Also, they frequently praise the talents of their former colleagues who also got the boot. 

Obviously the traditional shame associated with being out of work is so over. Also over is the tendency for others to distance themselves from those, as the saying goes, are "between jobs."

Among the newly jobless broadcasting their plight is Abbie Lan. She had been a security site manager at Robinhood. About three months ago she agreed to relocate to a new city in order to set up a new site for Robinhood. She admits, yes, it had been a risk. She accepts the responsibility for taking the risk. Now, poof. So far, 186 responses have come in. Just as with any other worthy cause, there is authentic caring expressed. 

Part of that caring could be coming from our raw recognition that we could be next. Tidy career paths seem such anachronisms. Even at the top. And the upheaval extends beyond layoffs. It is seeping right into iconoclastic decision-making about the willingness to continue holding on to powerhouse leadership positions.

On Insider, legend in the law-firm sector Paul Weiss Chairperson Brad Karp disclosed this: He is weighing whether to accept another several years in that position when his contract is up in Many 2023. Traditionally an icon such as himself would be in there until official retirement age. Or even beyond. At law firm Jones Day the mandatory retirement age had been waived for Stephen Brogan.

In a kind of unthinkable Karp is assessing if he is willing to keep at it with the evolving demands of leading an elite law firm. The business of law firms has changed. As he ages – now age 63 – he has changed. Clients have changed. New generations of lawyers have changed.

In addition, the volatility is not only about jobs per se. It also involves the self-employed like me. When I hung out a shingle at the end of the 1980s a client relationship lasted about five years. Now, the norm is project work. As Don Draper observed the phenomenon in "Mad Men," clients come and clients go. Marketing is built into the day's routine tasks. 

Beyond the urgent demand to bring in income to pay the bills is this challenge: letting go of the past, including the recent past. That is one of the major obstacles to identifying fresh professional opportunities.

That's why my use of Tarot readings with career coaching clients is unusually effective. In an April 2021 feature, The New York Times saluted the Tarot as a kind of unique tool for self-awareness. There is also the book “Tarot for Change” by Jessica Dore.

The force field of the Tarot essentially is optimistic about the future. For instance, the Five of Cups focuses on migrating away from fantasies of what could have been if only you had done this or that.

When I had lectured at the New York State Bar Association to over-50 lawyers in transition the preoccupation among them, was on what they “should have” done differently.  I hammered that the Ah-Ha Moment is the resolution to scan the horizon for current possibilities.

That job was yesterday. The expected career path was yesterday. Stability in the client list was yesterday.

Today is about putting together new kinds of professional fits. 

Your just-right professional fit. You can bypass the usual pain points such as being locked down in the past. Yes, Tarot readings avaialable. One-card pull a special area of expertise.

Complimentary consultation for coaching, job-search materials, and interviewing.