What To Do When You Get Laid Off

I wanted to post this article again due to all the recent job losses.

We will likely all be in a spot within our professional careers where we will be terminated. No, I am not talking about a robot coming from the future to kill you. I am referring to being laid off or let go from a position. You do not have to be doing anything wrong to be laid off, as it can be as simple as expense cutbacks. Unfortunately, we will not always have notice to be looking for a new job. Thus, comes the struggle of having to deal with the impending loss of income. So what do you do?

1) Evaluate your financial stability

When you are losing your job or about to lose your job out of nowhere, it is time to double check your finances. Have you saved 5-7 months of expenses for situations like this? Have you been working to pay off debt as a part of your financial success? Are you being mindful of your expenses? If you haven’t been doing any of these, it would be best to start thinking about these things now. Although not an ideal thing to think about, it is not a matter of if, but when it is going to happen. Unfortunately, I had the unpleasant issue of dealing with this in my first job. You never know when it will happen, so start thinking about this now.

2) Update your job profiles

Whether now or in the future, you will need to have some type of job profiles. LinkedIn is a highly sought after profile viewer to use. When I interview people, one of the first things I look at is their LinkedIn. In every case of reviewing candidates, we have never hired anyone without this background. Other profiles can be found on ZipRecuiter and Indeed as examples. Recruiters who are actively looking for potential clients are always scanning these sites. Thus, it is crucial to have these sites updated with your stuff.

3) Update your resume

Having an updated resume at all times is another crucial element to have. In the event you have an unexpected layoff, you don’t want to be wasting time trying to update it. Rather, you want to be able to use the time to be applying to other jobs or networking with. Keeping your resume up to date is good practice as you are able to tweak it constantly to make it look great. Make sure it is clear and concise for recruiters and hiring managers to be able to evaluate.

Losing your job is going to be tough, but it doesn’t have to be the end of the world.