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This Is What You Need To Do After Losing Your Job
Whether you were laid off, fired or decided to leave a position on your own, losing your job is a stressful time and you need to know the next steps to take.
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Aside from finding a new job, you need to understand unemployment laws in your state and the real reasons behind why you were terminated, if that is the case.
Furthermore, you need to be fully aware of severance or health benefits that you're eligible for.
To help ease you through this process, we compiled some tips from Wendi Lazar, an employment lawyer, and Allison Doyle, employment expert at About.com, to quickly get you back in the workforce.
"If they are telling you that you’re being fired for a reduction in force and there are 300 other people being fired, it’s very different than if it’s an individual for either performance reasons, or, even worse than that, if you’re fired for cause," Lazar told us. "The ramifications are very different.”
You should never sign anything your employers ask you to when you're leaving a job.
Lazar said you need to speak to a lawyer first even if they appear to be simple severance forms.
Furthermore, ask HR to review your compensation forms so that you can carefully review any obligations or benefits you're entitled to.
If you're being fired, it may be difficult to look at the situation in an objective light, so a lawyer can really help you do this.
You need to know if you were fired for a legitimate reason or if it was wrongful termination and "make sure there are no discrimination issues," Lazar said.
When you lose a job, you have the option of applying for COBRA, a federal law entitling you to health benefits while unemployed.
You can confirm if you qualify for the benefits here.
You should also visit your state's labor website to see if you're eligible for collecting severance and unemployment benefits at the same time from your employer.
According to health provider Aetna, you can also look into purchasing your own coverage in a similar price range — or sometimes lower — than what you were paying for through your employer by visiting eHealthInsurance.com for an online quote.
You should also consider free or low-cost health insurance if you're eligible, such as Medicaid or SCHIP, which provides health insurance for children in the case that you have a family.
Each state has its own Medicaid and SCHIP program.
Either way, you should make sure that you're insured until you land a new job.
"The unemployment insurance rules are available to most states online," Lazar says. "Go online to your state department of unemployment benefits or unemployment insurance and read all about what the requirements are and what you need to file. ... The days of waiting in long lines are, thank goodness, behind us.”
Now is the time to polish your resume and include your most recent position and responsibilities. No matter how long you were at your previous job, there is always something you can update on your resume.
This is also a good time to ask for LinkedIn recommendations from your former co-workers and managers if you left your previous company on good terms.
At this time, you should reach out to people in your professional network and let them know that you're looking for a job, Doyle told us.
Tell people what you're looking for and ask them to keep an eye out for you.
When networking, keep in mind that the relationships you form are just like any other — they require give and take, so think about what you can offer the other party as well.
If you have a strong social media presence, use it to your advantage.
Follow companies and individuals you are interested in working for and keep an eye out for positions that are tweeted out or posted on other platforms.
You need to make applying for jobs your new full-time job and make sure you cover every online platform or job site.
Since you have some time in between jobs, you should consider attending seminars or taking classes to update your skills. For example, take a social media marketing or branding class to build a stronger online presence.
Furthermore, you should continue working by volunteering for a board or a non-profit organization, or offer consulting services in your field.
"There's this discrimination against people who aren't working," Tracey Wilen-Daugenti, vice-president and managing director of Apollo Research Institute, told us. "There's lots of opportunities to volunteer and offer your time while you're looking for a job so that you can keep your skills fresh. People like to hire people who are working."
"Hopefully you have built up credibility in something where you can go out and build a service business around it."
Diane Cadrain, a Connecticut-based attorney, told us that there are still no explicit statutory protections against the practice of excluding the long-term unemployed from consideration as job applicants, except in New Jersey, the District of Columbia, and Oregon.
However, if you're applying and you don't hear back from any employers, Cadrain said you should examine the job posting to see if there is any language that appears to discriminate against job applicants because they're unemployed.
If the employer's discriminatory policy is described in an on-line job posting, file a complaint with the employment website that posted the ad, or consider filing a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
This may not always be the case, but it's a good idea to keep your bases covered and be fully involved in the application process.
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