If the ax has to fall, you could do worse than losing a job at JPMorgan. The company has an "amazing outplacement program," according to a former JPMorgan relationship manager who contributes to WSJ.com's Laid Off and Looking blog.
"I have been lucky," wrote Henry Chalian, a 41-year-old Brooklynite. He described his program in some detail. The highlights:
-- A downtown Manhattan career center, open on a "full-time basis, making it just like going to the office"
-- A personal career counselor
-- A variety of classes on networking, interviewing and other related subjects
-- Job fairs, including events solely for JPMorgan openings
-- The inside scoop from outplacement pros on career-development programs
Another perk: a visit to the center from representatives of the New York Department of Labor who talked about National Emergency Grants, discretionary awards from the U.S. Secretary of Labor for funding assistance.
Chalian applied for one to use toward a Certificate of Business Excellence from the Columbia Business School, which he describes as a sort of a mini-M.B.A. He said he secured it despite already having a master's degree from the London School of Economics.
He also is applying to JumpStart NYC, a program at SUNY's Levin Institute for helping displaced employees of large financial-services firms considering work at smaller firms, start-ups or nonprofits. A weeklong business boot camp is followed by a 10-week consulting stint at a firm.
Notwithstanding the white-shoe assistance, Chalian is having difficulty in his search, particularly when it comes to describing himself when networking and meeting prospective employers. He thinks his best bet might be a sales, marketing or investor-relations role with a hedge-fund, private-equity, venture-capital, prime-brokerage or other alternative-investment management firm. But he's open to other options.
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