Laid Off - What next?

[tvguy]

I resigned from my nursing job 2yrs ago after being there for 19 years. I took that summer off and really thought long and hard what I should do. I have my resume professionaly done and the lady that did that was amazing. I have used Career Link for all my jobs. Good luck.

You need to ask around among your friends and neighbors who have recently gotten jobs for tips. What worked for them, what didn't, what was a waste of time.

I would specifically ask about the resume. I have 2 kids just out of college and who have been in the job market and they looked at me like was I crazy when I mentioned even having a resume. All the places they have applied don't accept resumes. They want you to fill out their online application, and that is all they want from applicants. My DD was particularly upset that none of the online forms she filled out were Mac friendly.

 

[crisi]

You need to ask around among your friends and neighbors who have recently gotten jobs for tips. What worked for them, what didn't, what was a waste of time.

I would specifically ask about the resume. I have 2 kids just out of college and who have been in the job market and they looked at me like was I crazy when I mentioned even having a resume. All the places they have applied don't accept resumes. They want you to fill out their online application, and that is all they want from applicants. My DD was particularly upset that none of the online forms she filled out were Mac friendly.

I wonder about your kids. I just got employed after getting laid off (on purpose), and all the jobs I applied for wanted you to copy your resume out in their application, but they also wanted a word or pdf resume attached. AND a cover letter. And before I was laid off, I had a consulting job to hire an IT manager for a small company that didn't feel they had qualified staff to evaluate an IT manager. We got resumes. And cover letters. Well formatted ones. The guy we ended up hiring also had ten pages worth of portfolio projects, and when I went hunting, I took his example and had half a dozen case studies.

 

[tvguy]

I wonder about your kids. I just got employed after getting laid off (on purpose), and all the jobs I applied for wanted you to copy your resume out in their application, but they also wanted a word or pdf resume attached. AND a cover letter. And before I was laid off, I had a consulting job to hire an IT manager for a small company that didn't feel they had qualified staff to evaluate an IT manager. We got resumes. And cover letters. Well formatted ones. The guy we ended up hiring also had ten pages worth of portfolio projects, and when I went hunting, I took his example and had half a dozen case studies.

The most important thing is to ask those in OPs area who have just gone through this.

Don't wonder about my kids, DW and I work for major corporations, neither of which will accept a resume. Only the approved online application form. So it may not be universal, but it isn't unheard of.

 

[crisi]

The most important thing is to ask those in OPs area who have just gone through this.

Don't wonder about my kids, DW and I work for major corporations, neither of which will accept a resume. Only the approved online application form. So it may not be universal, but it isn't unheard of.

Yeah, I was applying at major corporations. Target. Best Buy. United Health Group. Heathpartners. 3M. Ecolab. Thomson Reuters. Also the Fed and the City of Minneapolis and the City of St. Paul. About half a dozen others in the Twin Cities. I never saw one that didn't want a resume attached. Wanting a resume may not be universal, but not wanting one is, in my very recent experience and in working with headhunters and employment professionals, very rare.

(I saw some where it was optional, but if you followed up with HR, they threw out anything where they couldn't send the resume to the hiring manager).

 

[EglantineSF]

OP, very sorry to hear your news and I echo much of what has been said. This has happened to my DH twice. The first time I was very worried about losing the house, etc., and it took about a year before he was back working full time. In that year he took contract work in order to make some money, even if only temporary. Perhaps something you could look at as a possibility. The other suggestion I'd make is to consider something in a different role if that's an option. DH ended up moving to another job with a lot more opportunities available and found he was well suited for it.

The second time DH was let go due to his company losing a major client. When it happened I was a lot less worried as I knew we had been through it before and would be okay. Folks here are right, things will get better and you will find something. Sending good thoughts your way.

 

[Rantybaby]

A small point that bites too many people: Unemployment benefits are taxable, but many states won't withhold taxes unless you tell them to. So take a look at your tax situation, and if necessary, make sure they withhold taxes.

AMEN AMEN AMEN ON THE TAXES!!

 

[crisi]

AMEN AMEN AMEN ON THE TAXES!!

Or choose not to, and make sure to set aside money to pay for them. Since I also have a small S Corp, I pay quarterly estimated. I didn't bother to pull taxes out of my unemployment because I'll send them in as part of the quarterly estimate - cash flow decision.

(Deciding to tax unemployment benefits was one of the worst things Congress decided to do to the working class. They used to not be taxed).

 

[Bete]

If you have been using credit you have to stop; live within your means. Stop buying non essentials. Keep it simple. Get down to a simple and inexpensive cell phone, for example. Drop your landline if you still have one. Take a hard look at cable, Internet and so forth.

Conserve on energy. Change even your light bulbs to lower wattage to save some. Be in the same room with one another; so, you don't use extra lighting. Lower your heating and raise your cooling thermostat. Wear more or less clothes depending on the time of the year. Consolidate car trips. Spend less time in the shower; learn to clean yourself faster.

Absolutely no outside restaurants, even carry out. Buy non brand foods. Buy only what is on sale. Stretch your meals by doing casseroles. Noodles or rice can stretch many a meal. As others have stated prepare meals from scratch.

Stay away from spending money on entertainment. Find ways to enjoy free parks and such. Go to museums during free days. Take a bike ride. Take walks. You get the idea.

Try to get side jobs while looking for a permanent position. This can be babysitting or housekeeping jobs, for example. You may have to settle for a lesser job. Be humble. You may have to travel farther to get a good, full time position. Think about taking temporary work, too. See if you can get into your husband's company. Having a referral will never hurt. Do the same with other family members and friends. Having an insider can't hurt trying to get a full time job.

Hubby may have have to take a second job and work part time someplace.

You have to think outside the box. There's no easy answer, here. You have to get tough.

 

[GaryDis]

Or choose not to, and make sure to set aside money to pay for them. Since I also have a small S Corp, I pay quarterly estimated. I didn't bother to pull taxes out of my unemployment because I'll send them in as part of the quarterly estimate - cash flow decision.

That's why I said "if necessary". I don't know enough (and don't want to know enough) about the OP's finances to be any more specific.

My key point is that state unemployment agencies have a reputation for being really bad on this issue. I've seen people who were never told about the option, after learning of the option couldn't figure out how to get the state to do it, and even after telling the state to take withholding out, none was actually taken. Largely it's people in the first group (not knowing about it) who suffer the most. And one of the most depressing things as a tax preparer is having to help people who are already struggling due to being laid off, and then get hit with a tax bill.

 

[Jess_S]

I spent my entire post-graduation career at a firm that went out of business last year. My situation is a bit different than yours because I elected to voluntarily leave because I wanted to move to another state -- but the end result was still a period of unemployment. From start to finish, my job search took about 8 months. These are a few things I learned:

• Most people are incredibly generous and willing to help you. This was important for me because I greatly resisted the idea of networking to find a job because I subscribed to the idea that asking for help would mean I wasn't "good enough" on my own. I was fortunate that I learned early on that I was wrong and adopted a job-hunt approach that focused about 75% on networking and 25% on applying to posted jobs. My networking efforts were two-pronged. First, I reached out to alums of the schools I went to and requested their advice. I got a wonderful response on this and wound up with a group of people who were contacting me when they heard of job opportunities that fit my interests. Second, when I saw a posted job, I checked LinkedIn for connections at the company. I then reached out to those connections and asked for their thoughts on working for the company and advice on whether I should apply. In most cases, this resulted in: 1) an offer to submit my application for me; or 2) finding out that the company wasn't somewhere I wanted to work. (It's worth mentioning that the job I ultimately got was because of a referral from someone I interviewed with who decided not to hire me. I was her number two choice and she thought of me when she learned of another similar position opening. She thought of me because I sent her a Christmas card).
  
• Make a job hunting schedule. Use the schedule to make sure the tasks you are doing actually advance your job search. I found that it only took me about 25 hours per week to do all the job hunting tasks I could reasonably accomplish in a week. There are only so many job postings to apply to and so many times you can follow-up with your contacts without becoming annoying. That leads to my next point.
  
• Take time to do things you enjoy. This period of unemployment may be the only big block of time you have off before retirement. I used the time to visit with friends and family, spend time with my son, read books and get back in shape.

 

[Planogirl]

This happened to my DH a few months ago. They just suddenly let him go after many years.

Luckily we had some savings to carry us forward. He has a job now but it pays way less than the old job so he has taken a second job and I work OT when I can. The main thing is to realize that it's not your fault as was so eloquently stated earlier and to know that something else is out there that is way better.

 

[LinderInWonderland]

I am really sorry to hear about your job loss. I was laid off from my arts administration job in 2010. When I filed for unemployment, my state has mandatory orientations to teach you about the job search requirements. The orientation was so helpful and I admired the employees so much. I thought, "I could do this job. I could totally do this job." I never thought about applying for government work, but I did and was hired to work for...Unemployment! I worked there for 2 peak seasons until I found a permanent state job in early 2012.

I learned many tips about job searching while I worked for unemployment. For example, even though it is totally illegal to age discriminate, it absolutely happens. I noticed when I changed things like 'over 20 years experience' to 'over 10 years experience', I got more calls for interviews. I cut bangs in my hair and dyed my grays away. It feels terrible to give this advice, but it really did help. With unemployment plus temporary gigs, my husband and I were able to make it through 2 years of either one or both of us being unemployed. We were also newlyweds (together since I was 34, married at 38) having just completed our first year of marriage. We feel like surviving that so early in married life made us stronger as a couple.

You are making all the right moves so far. I understand the shell shock of being laid off through no fault of your own. One other bit of advice: Read your claims booklet cover to cover when they send it to you. There are some programs that you could potentially be eligible for that are time sensitive. Best of everything to you!