WorkToLiveNetwork.Net

What to Do When You Lose Your Job

Written on April 17, 2009 by Will Irvin

Filed Under: Job Hunting

Losing your job is a big deal.  I know, because I’ve been there, more than once.  If you’re like most people, you live paycheck-to-paycheck, so losing that regular income is a very stressful event, to say the least.  It doesn’t matter if you were fired, laid off, offered early retirement, etc.  It is a very stressful situation.  I’m going to give you a few tips that can help you retain your sanity, and also help you turn this bad situation into an opportunity for something better.  I’ll walk you through what you should do in the days (and God forbid, weeks) after losing your job.  When I refer to “days”, I’m referring to business days.  You shouldn’t be doing anything regarding your employment on the weekends anyway.

Your First Week of Unemployment

Days 1 and 2

Do nothing, literally.  Especially the day you lose your job, whether you get to work, only to be sent home, or they let you go at the end of the day.  No matter how tight your finances are, you are not going to make any real progress in finding a new job in the first day or two after you find yourself unemployed.  Go home, grab yourself a beer, glass of wine, cup of tea, whatever suits your tastes and habits, and relax.  Put on comfortable clothes, and sit down with a good book, watch a movie, or do something outside, like work in the yard or take a walk.  The point is to relax, and clear your mind.  You’ll have plenty to do in the coming days and weeks, and you need your mind to be clear and focused.

Day 3

Contact your local Department of Labor or State Employment Agency and find out if you are eligible for Unemployment Benefits (also known as Unemployment Insurance, Unemployment Compensation, among others, heretofore referred to simply as “Unemployment”).  You don’t know how long you will be out of work, so you need this to fall back on while you search for work, or figure out which path your career will take from here.  Not only do these agencies help you claim unemployment benefits, but they also will help you find a new job, or help you get the training you need to start on a new career path.

Day 3 is also a good time to give your future some real thought.  You need to make the decision on whether you are going to continue to seek work in your previous career field, or if you going to make a change, and try something completely different.  If you are going to continue in your current field, use this day to update and refine your resume, and bring it up to date.

Day 4

Make phone calls.  There are many people you need to contact on this day, and you will likely be on the phone most of the day.  Many of the phone calls may be unpleasant, but they are all a necessary part of moving forward.

First, call your family and friends to let them know your situation.  One of them may have a potential job lead, or may know someone who does.  They may also be able to lend some temporary financial help, if necessary, while you try to find a new job.

Next, break out your Contacts List (or your Rolodex, for you old-school folks), and start calling people you have had business relationships with in the past.  One of these connections could very well turn into a promising job lead, particularly if it’s someone with whom you’ve worked that was consistently pleased with the work you did with them.

You’re also going to have to call all the people to whom you owe money, such as your mortgage company, your bank, credit card companies, etc.  I wouldn’t bet on it, but you may be able to make arrangements with some of them regarding upcoming payments, based on your current financial situation.  Many such companies do offer deferments, forbearances, and other ways to get some temporary relief on payments until you find another source of income.

Calling all these people can be very stressful, and will likely absorb the majority of your day, but it’s important to contact them rather than ignoring them, which will cause you much larger problems in the long run.

Day 5

Begin your job search and send out resumes.  Assemble the list of job prospects that you have from the Department of Labor, or search one of the many online job resources, such as Monster.com, Yahoo! Hot Jobs, Dice.com, and many others.  I recommend starting with the jobs that are the best fit for you, and work your way down the list to the ones that are not.  On Day 5, however, focus only on the jobs you really want, and work on the other jobs on another day.  You will quickly discover that applying to just a handful of jobs can quickly eat up the majority of a day, so don’t get too discouraged if you don’t manage to apply to a hundred jobs the first day.

This will take care of your first week of unemployment.  The following weeks should follow a similar pattern.  Each day of the week, focus on a major task involving your job search. Below is only a guideline, so feel free to modify it to fit your needs.

The Following Weeks of Unemployment

Mondays

Search through job listings.  Especially if you are looking at newspaper listings, most newspapers have the largest collection of job postings in the Sunday paper, and those are usually reflected on the paper’s website (if they have one) on Monday.  Also, most companies prefer to do firings on a Friday (it’s true, not just a myth), so new jobs will likely appear first on a Monday.  Make notes on jobs you would like to apply to, and get any relevant information together, such as contact information, job details, a list of references, etc.

Tuesdays

Apply to jobs, send out resumes, and follow up on resumes you have already sent out.  In the morning, take your list of jobs that you assembled on Monday and apply to those jobs or send them a resume, whichever process it is that they require.  Remember to spend the majority of your time on the jobs that are at the top of your list, and spend any additional time on the jobs that are not.

In the afternoon, follow up on the resumes you sent out the previous week, either via phone or email, whichever method is preferred by the prospective employer.  Many companies will simply forget about a resume they have received if you do not call them and place yourself at the front of their minds again.   In fact, many companies have an unofficial policy that they will move your resume to the top of the stack when they receive a follow-up phone call from you.

Wednesdays and Thursdays

Do your best to schedule interviews for these days.  Particularly if you have to travel any distance at all for the interview, you can do that traveling during the week, when the rates are generally cheaper, and when it doesn’t keep you away from your family on the weekend.  If you don’t have interviews scheduled, use this time to get in touch with your contacts, or brush up on skills, or learn new skills, as necessary.

Fridays

Make a list of all the tasks you completed during the week, and make out your plan for the following week.  Make travel arrangements for any interviews scheduled in the coming weeks, and make your “attack plan” for your job search on Monday.  Also use this time to answer any correspondence that you haven’t answered, especially if it’s from an employer to whom you sent a resume earlier in the week.

This should just about cover the major tasks you should be doing each week regarding your search for a new job.  There are other tasks that you should do every day, such as returning any emails or phone calls within 24 hours of receiving them (potential employers like prompt responses), and checking the job boards for any jobs that would go on your “preferred list”.  You don’t need to apply to them every day,  unless they have a deadline that will pass before the day when you usually send out resumes or apply for jobs.

Losing your job is a big deal, but it’s not the end of the world.  If you remain focused and proactive, you can use the time wisely and find a new job more quickly if you just stick with it, and keep doing something every day.