Maybe you just got laid off. What’s next? Here’s what to do when you lose your job.
Job losses are across the board and piling up weekly. I’ve got a friend who called me up yesterday telling me how she’s been jobless for 2 months now, and as a breadwinner, she’s somewhat concerned. In her words “this is the first time I’ve ever been without a job.”
Unless it’s happened to you, it’s hard to explain the anxiety one feels upon getting laid off. But it’s not time to panic just yet, if you’re able to channel that anxiety towards doing things that are more productive.
Lots of “layoff survival guides” are cropping up these days, but being a layoff survivor myself (from the 2000 tech sector collapse), I’d like to chime in on the subject:
10 Things To Do When You Lose Your Job
1. Negotiate for that severance package!
Even if your company doesn’t necessarily offer severance, you may be able to negotiate a parting package with them especially if you’re one of their valuable employees with a long track record. You think it can’t be done? In my case, even with my former startup in the dumps, I was able to receive a bigger package than 99% of employees. You know how? I was 3 months pregnant. Apparently, there are laws protecting employees when certain special conditions are met. The lesson here is that anything is possible, and you’ll only know if you qualify if you rattle the cage a little bit. What have you got to lose?
2. Figure in your unemployment benefits.
Most people have unemployment benefits they can count on for only a short bit of time after they’ve lost their jobs. When a recession is particularly long and nasty, those benefits are usually extended for longer periods of time. It may tide you over for a bit, but don’t let this lull you into complacency about finding your next job.
3. Polish your resume.
Keep these few tips in mind when you update that killer resume:
- Only include relevant and significant achievements.
- Don’t ramble
, keep things concise. - Use numbers and statistics to help describe your job better.
- Describe those things that make you stand out.
- Don’t lie!
4. Work your network.
If you’ve got great relationships with your colleagues and ex-colleagues, you may have a leg up with your job search. Get in touch with them through social sites like Facebook or LinkedIn.com. This is one more reason why it’s important to stay in good terms with your work chums.
5. Leverage online job resources.
This one is pretty obvious…. I’ve found many jobs online — either by contacting recruiters in my area or by making inquiries at particular job boards and job sites. Depending on the type of work you do, certain sites may work out better for you than others, as far as generating job leads. Some well rated sites include:
- Monster.com: ranks in the top 20 of most visited web sites in existence. It’s recognized as one of the most popular job search engines in the world. It’s also the largest, as it houses job postings and resumes numbering in the millions.
- Job.com: a resource for local jobs, career advice and other services to manage your job and career.
- Executive Search Online: a leading nationwide job matching service for more experienced executives. Pay levels for these executive jobs are typically higher.
- Beyond.com: an extensive career network that’s set up as a community of niche sites in various industries.
- EssayEdge: an essay editing resource for those who need a little help with their college, graduate or other academic admission essays. They help out students seeking to gain admission to the colleges and universities of their choice.
- ResumeEdge: a resume editing resource for those who need a little help writing a high quality resume and / or cover letter. They are the leading provider of resume writing services online and the chosen resume partner of well-known job sites such as Yahoo! Hot Jobs, CareerJournal and Dice.com.
- Resume Rabbit: a resume distribution service that submits your resume to top online job banks such as Monster, HotJobs, Career Builder, Dice, etc, as well as job search engines.
- Snag A Job: a tool to help you find hourly jobs. This job site specializes in finding part-time and full-time hourly jobs.
- Yahoo Hot Jobs: a popular online job board.
The best way to use job sites is to use them to give you leads on potential jobs. You may have to do some filtering and research to sidestep the bogus jobs that may be listed on these places.
6. Conserve your emergency fund?
Hopefully you’ve been able to stash enough cash in your emergency fund to last you through a downturn. Typically it’s been recommended that you have at least 6 months’ worth of expenses to tide you over. But these days, liquidity is king! If you want to be absolutely certain that your expenses are fully covered if you DO get laid off, then you’ll have to rethink how much cash you should hold. Where to put this money? Somewhere ultra safe, such as a high yield savings account.
7. Diversify.
Diversification is not just for investments. It also pertains to income generation and wherever else you may be spending your time. If you’ve got other ways of making money other than through your job, you’ll be in much better shape when a recession hits. So if you’ve got talents and skills, or that perfect hobby you can parlay into a business, you may think about leveraging these things into money making ventures and alternative income streams.
8. Seek support.
Some people may feel uncomfortable sharing their job loss with their families. Ever hear of those laid off folks who continue the charade of getting up to “go to work”, hiding the fact that they’ve lost their jobs to their families? Well, if instead you decide to seek out support and share your predicament with others, the better your chances of finding a replacement job (see #4), as others may pitch in to help you with your search. Plus, it usually feels better (at least it is for me) when people are commiserating with you over your situation.
9. Don’t give up.
Don’t feel discouraged! It’s easy to feel out of sorts when the job search takes longer than you expect. But these days, a lot of people are in the same boat. It’s important to stay persistent though and to keep your spirits up when you’re on your hunt. Tomorrow may just be the day you land something.
10. Think outside the box.
I’ve known some people who feel that because they’ve fulfilled a certain job or role for many years, or because it’s always been their ambition to pursue a particular career, that they must, at all costs, continue down a particular path. But tough times require flexibility, resourcefulness and practical thinking. I believe that we shouldn’t pigeonhole ourselves into specific roles or types of work — go where the demand is (if your skills are a fit), in order to increase your chances of finding work.
- Stock trades: Free stock trades from Zecco, Cheap stock trades from TradeKing, Stock news and Investment info at INO TV Free, No cost Trend Analysis for stocks
- Earn top returns: FNBO Direct [1.90%], HSBC Direct [1.65%], WTDirect [1.76%], E*Trade Bank [0.95%], ING Direct [.25% to 1.65%]
- Cash bonus: Discover More [$50], American Express [$25], Lending Club [$25]
If you enjoyed this post, you can get free regular updates through our RSS Feed, or you can have our latest posts delivered to your email inbox by supplying your address here. Your address will only be used for this purpose, and you can unsubscribe anytime.
{ 26 trackbacks }
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Good advice. I’ll probably add, honing a skill too. Like studying for some certification or something like that.
About.com just reported that employers and recruiters use these 3 job sites most to find quality candidates.
http://www.linkedin.com (professional networking)
http://www.careerbuilder.com (keyword job search)
http://www.realmatch.com (matches you to jobs)
Whole Top 10 list here:
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/joblistings/tp/jobbanks.htm
@Richard,
Thanks a lot for the info Richard! Very helpful. I appreciate the extra resources.
@Manshu,
I do think that getting new certifications, getting additional education or maybe even considering starting a new business may be worth trying out when people take a break between jobs. It’s definitely one way to stay productive when the economy is slow.
If you’ve got enough savings to tide you over such a period, then this is a great idea; but depending on your circumstances, it may be imperative to prioritize on finding a job first (to replace your missing income stream) to keep you and your family afloat.
But yes, if you have the means and can afford to take the time to have productive pursuits beyond a job search, then go for it!
A word of warning about studying or enrolling in courses while on unemployment, you’ll lose your benefits. Even if you’re taking a course in basketweaving for fun, it could disqualify you. I know a few people who learned that one the hard way.
I’ve been unemployed and I used the time for personal fulfillment as well. Read all the books I had put off reading, got exercise every day, took the time to cook nice meals etc.
Miss M: That’s good advice, i didn’t know that…
As for the tips, they’re good and people should be doing them even if they haven’t lost their job. It’s always good to keep your resume up to date and your network contacts fresh.
This is more on the psychological side, but once your in a position to reflect on what just happened it’s ideal to view the moment as an opportunity to start new and do exactly what you want to be doing with your career. So, I would add
11. Re-energize, re-focus, and go get a new job (life is not work, work to live)
This may sound a little negative. But there might be a few steps for pre layoff planning. I know some companies that are planning 20% layoffs. In that situation I would probably start working like crazy to cut expenses to build up my nest egg to last through a period of unemployment.
It might also be a good idea to snag a few interviews before the layoff. I heard that after a large round of layoffs jobs at other companies in the city are alot more difficult to get because of a flood of applicants. So it might be a good idea to send over a resume before the flood of other applicants.
These all all important tasks that everyone should try to do if they happened to have gotten laid off. I believe everyone should have an additional source of income coming in outside of their full time job.
My housemate just got laid off on Friday. Sucks. Across the board cut of 20% of his company. He started looking and it looks like there might be some jobs in tech for him, but I wonder how many of those jobs are “frozen”. I know many companies must be totally overloaded with applicants, but others will likely have their recs locked if things continue like this. Thanks for the post. I’ll shoot it over to my buddy.
Joe
I am currently working on my resume. I have found that Atomkeep helps a lot with updating your resume across the various job search networks. You just fill out your resume there, add your accounts from other sites and then update them all through AtomKeep. It is not perfect. I have noticed a few bugs. But it saves a lot of time.
I am not afraid of losing my job but it is a good idea to always have your resume polished and up to date. That way even if something horrible happens you can start right back up again. Plus a nice resume could either make or break your chances at a certain job.
Polishing your resume can also help you rethink how you want to tackle your current job in more specific ways as well. If you’re updating your resume, you might realize some skills you want to work on or some projects you want to become a greater part of. It can help you motivate yourself at your current job and maybe you won’t have to use your resume for a while.
We’ve got a “5 Recession-Proof Ways to Get Hired” article on our blog, for some extra tips: http://blog.justthrive.com/2008/11/5-proven-ways-to-find-a-job-in-a-recession/
The main factor I would say is confidence. If you know your stuff and have enough confidence in yourself, then you are ready to go!
People always hate to talk about when they are laid off. But as it has become every day’s news headline since Yahoo started it with cutting 1500 of its task force last year, now a need of platform has been in demand where people can express their selves in words how they are feeling about their company, whey the got laid off was that justified or not.
And every thing they want to tell anonymously.
I think #10 says it all: be ready to do something slightly different in your next job, especially if you want to differentiate yourself from other candidates. Things like knowing an extra language of having certain specific computer skills can make all the different. Heck, even having an interest in something random like wine or music can come into play.
Excellent and timely advice. Tip #9 is always. Having the right attitude is always a must especially in difficult situations.
Great tips! I especially love #s 8 and 9.
I would suggest preparing for the eventuality of getting laid off. For instance if you think your qualifications are limited then perhaps you should be working to expand them. You could focus on more Education related to your chosen field and branch out into an alternative field thus expanding your potential job market. In today’s economy and all the cost cutting going on, this would simply be smart planning.
One addition I’d add to the list of networking sites:
FreeAgents (http://www.freeagentnet.com) is a great spot to keep your finger on the “pulse” of the unemployment community. Its a social network for people out of work, and its designed more from a “meet people in the same situation, network with them, and figure out what you want to do from here” standpoint, so its a more informal network. However, it is a very powerful place to swap tips and meet interesting and qualified people.
Great article! Very useful tips — I just hope I don’t have too much time to use them!
-A
you are lucky to have the unemployment benefits and insurance. We, who live in developing country, do not have those benefits..