I’ve Been Laid Off, Now What? 9 Tips to Help Survive Unemployment

Reorganization, cost-cutting measures, consolidation, or whatever your company calls it, getting let go is not a pleasant experience. And whether you saw it coming or not, it’s a shock to your system when you’re told your position has been eliminated. So here are some tips to relieve the shock of getting laid off.

1. Don’t panic

Did your company offer you a severance package? Are you satisfied with it, or do you think you deserve more? You can negotiate a better parting package if you have solid support of the accomplishments you’ve made over your tenure. This should be easy to do if you’ve been keeping a file of project results, performance evaluations and other documents that tell the story of how you’ve made a difference.

2. It’s OK to have a pity party

Take a little bit of time — I recommend no more than 24 hours — to mourn your loss. Get the anger, sadness and why me feelings out of your system. Talk to your close circle of friends, tell them you lost your job and could really use an “oh man, that really sucks” statement instead of being peppered with questions of “what are you going to do now?”

3. File for unemployment

Get yourself to the closest unemployment office as soon as possible because it can take a few weeks for benefits to kick in.

4. Make a plan

It can be overwhelming if you’re not sure what direction you want to go in your career. To help you get started, I have a template of a personal marketing plan that I recently posted. Once you have your plan, work the plan and share it with others. Make sure it includes some goals, and hold yourself accountable to them.

5. Update your resume

Once you have your plan completed, update your resume to reflect your target position. Send your resume to a professional writer for free feedback. Lots of resume writing services offer this, including Brand Your Career.

6. Get your financials in order

An average job search takes 4.5 months, but you can’t predict how long yours will actually take, so prepare a budget. Even if you have an emergency fund and a decent severance package, don’t neglect this. Take some easy cost-cutting measures like coupon clipping and cutting out non-necessities like your daily trip to Starbucks.

7. Tell everyone

Work your network, ask for referrals, change your LinkedIn profile. It’s OK to have an end date for your most recent position. You can even add a new position that states you’re pursuing opportunities for a marketing manager position with a software company (or whatever your target is that you established in your personal marketing plan).

8. Take time for yourself

Just because you are unemployed doesn’t mean you should skip out on doing things you enjoy. Unemployment is a stressful time so you need to take care of yourself. Go for a run, take up yoga. Studies have shown that regular exercise reduces stress levels and actually increases happiness.

9. Don’t give up

It’s easy to feel bad if your job search takes longer than expected. Keep your spirits up by thinking tomorrow could be the day where you land a new job.

The positive side

Everyone I know that has gotten laid off, has ended up in a better position than they were before. Some of the most successful people have gotten let go from their jobs:

• Steve Jobs was fired from Apple, the company he founded
• Walt Disney was told he wasn’t creative enough
• Oprah Winfrey was told she was “unfit for television news”

They all ended up better from it, and so will you!