First Four Steps to Take After Unemployment

Summary: When finding yourself unemployed it may seem easy to run around lost and confused, but there are four simple steps that will make the transition to a new job easier.

Losing a job is never an exciting moment. It can be downright traumatic even when you know it is coming. The shock to your professional self-esteem and financial security is hard to overcome and will leave you feeling lost for a while. You are not alone in these feelings. Between 2009 and 2014, around 20 percent or thirty million Americans lost their job.

So what is the best way to react when you lose your job? Here are some tips to start with:

– The first thing you should do after losing your job is do nothing for at least two days. Don’t take to Twitter to talk badly about your former employer or start immediately on the job hunt. Take a little break to absorb everything and clear your head.

Read What You Should Do While Unemployed.

– Start taking care of your financial situation by filing for unemployment benefits if eligible. It may take some time for the benefits to kick in so start the process so that you don’t have to freak out when your cash runs out. Next make a spreadsheet of all your expenses for the next several months. You need to know what bills are coming up so that you are prepared.

Read Unemployed? Start Blogging!

– Consider this change in employment as a chance to explore other options. You can now properly look at that new career you had been thinking about. Think of being laid off as a push in another direction that you may not have had the courage to take otherwise.

Read How to Find Work if You’ve Been Unemployed for a While.

– Get your story straight and start the job hunt. Fashion an explanation about what happened to leave you unemployed. Keep a daily schedule similar to if you had a job such as only job searching during 9 am and 5 pm with special lunches such as networking events, potential clients, or informational interviews. Try to keep your days as normal as possible so that the adjustment back to employment is easier.

Photo: simonstapleton.com