| Sometimes you can see the layoff coming, and sometimes you can't (see Signs of a Pending Layoff for hints). But, one day you're invited into an unscheduled meeting with your boss and someone from HR. *BINGO* - you're out of a job. Welcome to the crowd!
People are usually laid off for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Don't expect logic in who gets laid off and who doesn't, which departments survive and which don't, etc. There is often no discernable logic involved. It's just the luck of the draw, and it is not a personal failure, so don't let it destroy your confidence
Do's:
- Prepare.
Try to cover as many of the points in the "Guide to Layoff Self-Defense," "Preparing for a Layoff -Office," and Preparing for a Layoff - Home articles as possible.
- Negotiate a benefit package.
Try to negotiate "outplacement" benefits – severance pay, career coaching and resume writing assistance, office with telephone and administrative support, etc. There may be a "standard" package offered to everyone, but you may be in a position to negotiate more. You won't know if you don't try, and, at this point, what do you have to lose? You've already lost your job.
- IMMEDIATELY - Ask for a laid-off (not fired) employee letter from HR
This is a short letter on company letterhead from someone in HR, hopefully the director, stating that you were laid off as part of a larger general layoff and not fired because of any personal performance problems. Bring this with you on interviews, and include it whenever you are asked for your references. If your employer's layoff is in the news, you may not need it for your first post-layoff job search, but keep it handy for the later ones. [Many thanks for Margaret Dikel of the RileyGuide.com - and her sister - for this one!]
- IMMEDIATELY - Find out about continuing your health insurance coverage.
Ask for the details on continuing your medical insurance coverage (assuming that you were covered by your employer's group health insurance at the time you were laid off). It's called COBRA - an acronym for the federal legislation that set it up. COBRA allows you to continue to participate in the medical plan, for a specified period of time, but you pay 100% of your own premiums. If your employer doesn't provide the information, be sure to ask your state's Employment Office about it.
- IMMEDIATELY - Register for unemployment compensation with your local state Employment Office
Even if you’ve received a severance pay package, be sure to register for unemployment compensation. If you wait too long to register, you may find that you no longer qualify, so don't wait! Don't try to hide your severance benefits, but don't wait to register.
[See Job-Hunt's list of Employment Offices by State or, to register online, choose your state's link from the RileyGuide's direct links to each state's online unemployment claims registration page. Don't pay a "service" to do this for you - waste of your money and time.]
- Have personal business cards made, or make your own on your computer.
You'll need them for networking, to hand to potential employers, etc. See the Preparing for a Layoff - Steps to Take at Home article for more details.
- Get support in your job search.
It's tough to do an effective job search on your own. Each state has several One-Stop Career Centers where you can find assistance and support. [Also, see job search support groups by state.]
- Catch your breath, and deal with your feelings.
You'll probably be angry, hurt, scared, discouraged, and depressed, at least for a while. It can be a grieving process - we often identify with our employer. Sometimes our job is our identity. Take a day (or a week) off to cry, if you feel like it, and rage at the unfairness of the situation. If it helps, and it does help many people, dump your anger out on paper. Write it down. Get rid of it so it doesn't sabotage your job search. Then, unless you can afford to be unemployed, move on with your life and career.
Don'ts:
- Don't feel like you've failed.
Most likely you haven't, except perhaps in your choice of employer or job. Usually, you've just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. It happens (too often). Be more selective with your next employer and career to minimize, but not - unfortunately - to eliminate, the possibility that you'll be laid off again.
- Don’t hide the fact that you’ve been laid off.
Millions of people have been laid off. If your employer was large and the layoff was very public, you won't be able to escape it. So don't try. It can be an advantage - you won't have to explain why you left your last job (or if you do, just say that you "left as part of a down-sizing that eliminated my job"). Many people (not all) will know that your effectiveness at your job had little to do with your job loss. That's just how layoffs work.
- Don’t consider yourself "fired."
That can be too demoralizing, and it's NOT appropriate, either. People are "fired" for a reason related to the employer's negative perception of their work performance, also known as "for cause." People are "laid off" because the employer has restructured the organization and eliminated that position.
- Don't trash your former employer.
In networking events and interviews, be as upbeat as you can be.
In discussing the last company that laid me off, my favorite phrases included "I learned a lot there, and worked with some great people." Of course, I learned some very valuable things I don't often discuss, like that I am responsible for my own career and future, that even good management teams can make strategic mistakes ending a company's market viability, and that some co-workers are just co-workers but others are life-long friends. I have always called myself a "graduate" of that company - not a "layoff victim"(!), because I really did learn quite a bit while I worked there. The layoff was my "graduation" as it was for thousands of others.
As they say, "
Fake it 'til you make it." After a while, you may not be faking.
Look ahead to your new future!
Strangely, being laid off can be a good thing. We often stay in jobs we don’t like out of inertia – too busy, or not quite unhappy enough to make the effort to find a new job. A layoff pushes us "out of the nest" into an involuntary job search -- which can lead to a better job, a promotion, a career change, and, even, more money and happiness!
Additional information: See Nancy Collamer's excellent LayoffSurvivalGuide.com Website for MORE tips and information.
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About the author...
Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff "graduate" who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then.
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