Dealing with Job Loss

By Joey Trebif
Founder, CareerAlley

There are many ways to lose your job – companies go out of business, “reorganize” or scale back. Very few things are more stressful than losing your job and, while every industry is different, all have felt the pain at some point. Everyone of us have, at some point in our career, been directly impacted or have a friend or family member that has been impacted by job loss. The most significant impact is, of course, on your finances. Losing your main source of income can have a devastating impact on your credit and debt. One of the first things you should look into is unemployment loans.

Our job partly defines who we are and the means by which we live. The stages of emotional change caused by job loss are very similar to the stages of grief when losing a loved one:

• Denial and Shock
• Anger
• Bargaining
• Guilt
• Depression
• Resolution and reorganization

Just about everyone experiences these stages. How long they last is different for everyone, but the sooner you get to resolution the sooner you can move forward with your career search.

What to do first:

• Apply for Unemployment – Not a pleasant first task, but it is important. You’ve paid your taxes and others have benefited by unemployment benefits, now it’s your turn. You may feel that the amount is so small it doesn’t matter, but even $50 dollars per week is more than $0. Additionally, most unemployment offices provide career advice and leads.
  • How to File for Unemployment Compensation

• Get Your Finances in Order – If you are lucky you will find a job quickly, but better to be cautious and try to minimize what every costs you can.

• Resume – Stating the obvious, but if you don’t already have an updated resume, now is the time.

• Cover Letters – Don’t underestimate the importance of cover letters. This is your “foot in the door”.

• Companies you want to work for – Make a list of the companies you want to work for and start applying to their websites.

• Business Social Networks – You know the deal, LinkedIn in first, then look at industry specific networks. Once you’ve joined, you should leverage contacts who work for the companies where you may want to work. These sites will help find people you know or someone who works at one of your target companies (or someone who knows someone).

• College alumni Associations – Check out your college alumni association as well as your colleges job recruiting center. These can be great resources.

• Plan Your Job Search – Different things work for different people, but everyone should have a plan. Don’t focus too much time on any one method of job search. It is best to spread your time (every day) across:
  • Job Search Sites
  • Headhunters/Recruiters
  • Company Websites
  • Network/Contacts

Remember, your full time job is looking for a job. Stay motivated and leverage all of the resources available on and off the Internet.

This article was written by Joey Trebif at CareerAlley and was republished with permission.