A look at how to approach the sudden crisis of job loss and how to start navigating through it.
Losing a job can be overwhelming and scary. Frantic thoughts start running through your head - how am I going to pay my bills? How am I going to feed myself and my family? What am I going to do? This post will help you deal with this unfortunate situation calmly and hopefully help you get on your way again. At the very least, some of these things have certainly proven helpful to me when I've been in this situation.
What To Do Step By Step
1. Breathe!
Running around like a chicken with its head cut off isn't going to help. Stop and take some time for yourself. This is a very emotional process and it's important not to get overwhelmed. If you need a day to just chill out and process all of the stuff going on around you, take it.
2. Apply for EI
If you qualify, apply for EI (employment insurance). This is a government-run program that workers pay into every paycheque. It's designed to help you pay your basic necessities while you look for a new job. There are a lot of drawbacks to EI so don't expect to continue living the same lifestyle you did while you were employed. You'll likely get around 55% of your average earnings on EI, to a maximum of $501 a week. There is also a 2 week waiting period before you can get your payments. These are important things to know for the next couple of steps.
3. Count your money
Look at your bank account(s) and figure out exactly how much money you have and currently owe. Hopefully you have an emergency fund that you can rely on if you need to. Remember there is a 2 week waiting period on EI where you can't earn any money. This is where your savings will come in handy. Figure out your new income from EI or other sources as you'll need that number to make a new budget work.
4. Readjust your budget
Look at your budget and separate your fixed expenses from the variable ones. Fixed expenses cannot be reduced and will include things like rent, car payments, and insurance. Variable expenses can be reduced or eliminated, and include things like cable, phones, groceries, and entertainment. Some of those things might seem like they should be fixed expenses, but they aren't. That's because you have some control over them. You decide what level of phone coverage or internet service you have. You decide whether you're eating salmon or chicken.
It's important to keep your budget realistic; while it may seem like a good idea to get rid of entertainment completely, you should keep some money around to relieve your stress; you don't cease requiring leisure activities just because you're unemployed. Once you have a budget you can work with, day to day living should be a bit easier. If you know you have say $100 to spend on gas and you've spent only $90, you don't have to worry that you're spending too much on gas because you're under budget. So don't start acting like I did, making my husband turn off all the lights because I was convinced we were burning up our hydro bill even though we weren't doing anything different than normal.
5. Update your resume
Look at your current resume and update it where possible. Do you have your most recent employment experience on it? You'll be sending out a lot these in the near future so make sure its a good one.
6. Update your online profile
These days having a professional online profile is important for job searching. LinkedIn is the most popular, so having an account there is a good idea. Make sure your Facebook, Twitter, and whatever other social media sites you use have professional-looking profiles as well. Employers do detailed searches of potential employees, so look great online.
7. Look and apply for jobs
You've got your resume and online profile in tip-top shape so its time to start looking and applying for jobs. Use websites like Job Bank, Monster, and Workopolis to start, but don't limit your search there. Word of mouth is a great way to look for jobs because not all job openings are listed. So ask your friends, family members, hair dresser, anyone you know if they know of any job openings.
8. Seek professional help
There are lots of free services out there to help you in your job search. Most cities have an employment center, so find the one nearest to you. If you went to a post-secondary institution your alma mater might also have a career center you can use as an alumni. Granted, you'll probably have to live in the same city as the school to take advantage of this, but if you do why not check it out?
Do Not Do This:
- Do not panic. You're going to get through this.
- Do not feel ashamed. Jobs come and go. Gone are the days where you work at the same company from ages 18 to 60. Its expected that you will work for several companies during your working career. There are many reasons for losing a job that are outside of your control.
- Do not rely on credit cards. Cut back your spending where you can, but do not use credit to fill in the gap; this habit will haunt you down the road. Better to eliminate unnecessary expenses and use your own money first. Ask for help from family if you absolutely need to, but pay them back, as no one wants a mooch for a relative.
Conclusion
You're going to be ok. Reading this post is a great start and now you know what to do next. I was unemployed for a couple of months last year and that's what got really got me started in budgeting and learning to manage my money. When I was back to working full time I had a new appreciation for living with less. I was able to do more with my money than before I was unemployed. For me being unemployed worked out really well. I hope you can turn this negative experience into a positive one as well and get started at a new job soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment