One of the most painful moments we coach our clients through is an unexpected job loss.  There are no classes on what to do when you’ve just lost your job or how to recover from it.  Feeling angry, unprepared and lost is perfectly normal.  Don’t panic!  Here are key strategies you can implement today to maintain your sanity, keep your career on track and find your next great role.

Strategy 1 – Unleash the fury

You are probably feeling a range of emotions that could distract you from finding new employment.  Neither bottling up emotions nor burning down the building are recommended strategies.  Instead, find a private place to handle the experience and let them out full force.  Unleash your anger and any other distracting emotions on a treadmill, punching bag, pillow, even just screaming in the car, so you can get your eye on the prize. You have every right to be angry but it won’t change your employment status.

Find a stress management technique you enjoy and use it. You’ll want a clear head for the important planning you need to do. If you are having trouble getting past the emotions and mapping out your next career move, it’s a great time to employ a career coach.  They specialize in these situations and have techniques to get you on track quickly.

Strategy 2 – Define your fears to overcome them

Now that your frustrations are under control for the moment, you may feel some panic around losing your income.  Realize that the fear comes from not knowing what resources you have and your mind imagining the worst case scenario.  The only way to get your imagination under control and move forward is to take an immediate inventory of your finances. 

Key financial resources to consider:

1. Severance – Its common in layoff situations that the company sends you off with extra income to help bridge the gap to your next employment opportunity.  Front line positions usually get 1-3 months of income, Mid management 3-6 months, and Executives can get 12 months or more.
2. Time Off Payout – Most companies will pay you for time off you haven’t used.  Check with your HR professional or employee handbook for details.
3. Personal Savings/Investments – How many months of income do you have saved that you could live on?
4. Unemployment – If you aren’t at fault for your job loss, you can apply for unemployment and replace part of your income temporarily.  It takes time to process, so do this immediately.
5. Retirement Savings– Worst case scenario, you could withdraw from retirement savings early to help with finances.  Avoid this if you can.  There are usually financial penalties and it can damage your ability to retire in the future.  Be sure to consult a qualified financial advisor to understand this option.
6. Healthcare – Usually your insurance stays active until the last day of the month your employment ended.  Be sure to check with your HR professional to be sure.
   1. Does your spouse or domestic partner have a health insurance policy you can join?
   2. If not, you can buy insurance at www.healthcare.gov (job loss has special rules that benefit you)
   3. You can also extend your workplace insurance through COBRA, but this is usually very expensive

Once you have a clear picture of your resources, compare them against your essential expenses and determine how long they will last.  Then figure out what expenses you can cut back on (i.e. coffee shops and eating out).  Most likely your situation is not as bad as you initially imagined. 

Strategy 3 – Low Hanging Fruit

Now that your anger and fear are in check, it’s time to identify the “low hanging fruit” in your job search.  Begin by making a list of the people you can reach out to for assistance.  Brainstorm as many as you can in one session (more will come to you over time).

Questions to jump start the job search:

• Are there any recruiters I need to respond to from Linked In?
• What competitors I could do the same job for?
• Do I have any friends or family who work in similar industries?
• Do my friends and family have other friends and family that could help?
• Who can I reach out to through social media?
• Who else do I know that was laid off or left the company?  Where did they go?
• Would my old boss write a recommendation?

Documentation to have ready:

• Dig out your resume and make sure its updated.  If you have a little extra time and funds, consider a professional resume writer to spruce it up and optimize your keywords.
• Review your Linked In profile and make sure its updated. (Here’s a great article from Forbes on specific changes you should make.)
• Organize your portfolio, work statistics, prior reviews, recommendations, and any other work samples for interviews.
• Get your story straight.  Be prepared to tell people what happened and practice it a few times so you don’t trip over your words when talking to recruiters and business contacts.

Call, text and email the list you created.  Tell them what you did for your former employer and see if they can help.  Be prepared to send them your resume and the top 3 things about you that a potential employer would be most interested in.  Boom!  Your short-term job-hunting strategy is created and implemented. 

Strategy 4 – Consistency

Working through your anger, fear, and finances to implement a short-term strategy is a big accomplishment.  Take the rest of the day off to celebrate your productivity. The rest of your job search will be much easier (and shorter) thanks to your initial efforts. Once you have engaged your contacts to help you find opportunities, your new career is job hunting (temporarily).  You won’t spend 8 hours a day looking for a job, but you should set some reasonable goals for each day and week to ensure consistent effort. 

Set a target for sending out resumes / applications

• If you send just 2 resumes per day, you will have applied to 50 jobs in a month. 
• Take the extra time to customize your resume to the job description and your call back rate will greatly improve.
• If you are a senior leader (VPs, C suite), you’ll spend less time sending resumes and more time on other strategies such as networking and making yourself visible to recruiters.

Set a target for talking to people about your situation

• Talk to a friend, family member, colleague, your lawyer, doctor, hairdresser, recruiter, someone from your chess club, book club, PTA, anyone you get in front of as often as possible (3 times per week minimum). 
• Attend networking events and job fairs to meet new recruiters, staffing agencies and other businesses that may be in need of your services.
• The people you talk to may not have the answer themselves, but they may know someone who does.

What to expect

Setting daily goals and applying consistent effort will allow you to maintain the initial momentum you have created with just a few hours of job hunting per day.  It leaves valuable time to heal, work on yourself, and maybe even enjoy some of the time away from work.  To take your preliminary strategy to the next level, check out the article below. You’ll learn about techniques the pros use to ensure they are making a strategic career move instead of just finding a new paycheck.  For professional assistance with your job hunt, be sure to check out our career coaching program.

Related Article: Use Time Off During Unemployment to Your Advantage