What to Do When You Are Suddenly Unemployed

Your company just merged or downsized. Perhaps you quit because the work conditions were not what you wanted. Whatever the reason, you are now unemployed. You worry about how long it will take for you to find another job and about how to handle your usual expenses.

Worrying is natural, but instead of spending so much time thinking about the fact you don’t have a job, you need to get moving and do these things that will definitely help you through this time.

âÂ?¢ Make finding a job your new full time job. Now that you are not working anymore, treat looking for a job like a job. Set realistic goals for yourself and keep records of everyone you’ve called, where you’ve sent your resume among other details just as if you were working on a project.

âÂ?¢ Practice your interview skills. You probably haven’t been through an interview in years and you are extremely nervous about going through that again. You need to get someone to help you to practice your interview skills. Write down questions you think your prospective employer might ask and prepare your best answers. Researching the company you want to work for will help you very much with this.

� Put the word out there. Tell everyone you know you are looking for a new job. You never know who might know someone who knows someone who is looking for an employee.

� Economize. Cutting down on your expenses for now will help you with the stress of paying for the bills. Downsize your cell phone minutes, your cable plan, and your internet service among other non-essentials. It will be an inconvenience but hopefully a temporary one

â�¢ Use the Internet. There are many web pages like http://www.careerbuilder.com, http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/, http://www.monster.com/ among others. Post your r�©sum�© on all these sites and you have a bigger chance of finding a job!

âÂ?¢ Get busy. Between interviews, research and other job searching activities, find time to things you enjoy. Take advantage of the fact you don’t have a set schedule to do a couple of things you wouldn’t normally have the time to do. It will refresh your batteries so you can continue to look for that new job.

� Find a temporary job. If you are really tight on the budget, consider finding a temporary job to fill in the blanks until you find your next great job. This will bring you some cash and you can do some networking this way too.

Losing your job for whatever reason is never easy but if you follow these steps, you will make it easier on yourself.