Ask HN: How did you cope with being laid-off? There are rumblings that several of my team members and I may be facing a grim future at September's end. I have enough savings to get me through 6 months, and feel like I will be able to find something else, but the uncertainty is still nerve wracking. Have you ever been laid-off and how did you bounce back from it? |
One especially hard one, I found, to deal with is unemployment insurance. You pay into unemployment insurance while employed, it's an insurance product designed to soften the blow in precisely these sorts of situations. Some state governments (in my case I especially throw shade on Indiana) force you to read brochures (and sign and fill out forms) designed to make you feel as guilty as possible to deign to take money out of the insurance pool you contributed to. It's hard to stay emotionally afloat when even the systems designed to help support you in a tumultuous time were designed to also harass you for needing them.
It can be a full time job to interview and look for your next job. Don't forget to take some emotional breaks and see friends and family you love and remind yourself you aren't alone, and are worth more to the world than just the job that laid you off or the next job that you will eventually find.
I made sure to keep a routine during my time off. I set my alarm and got up on time each morning. After dropping my kid off at day care I came home and did an hour or so of applying to jobs.
The first week or so I only applied to dream jobs, and slowly started to expand my search. My search criteria expanded as follows:
Exclusive work from home, iOS Developer, making $$$+
Willing to go to an office 3 days a week, iOS Developer, making $$$+
Willing to go to an office 3 days a week, iOS/Web Developer, $$+
One day remote, iOS/Web Developer, $$+
Pays me money
I ended up landing a job that offers one day a week remote and a $10k pay raise. I'm not doing iOS work though. Persistence is key, start to expand your network now, and honestly, might not hurt to try to beat HR to their own game.
No one (visibly) gave pause when I explained that I was laid off, it may have helped that I would follow up my reason for looking with mention that former supervisors and owners are willing references if we get to that point.
One company I worked for I literally had about an hour's notice before they shuttered. I was working from home on the Friday and got a call late afternoon and while my manager was on the phone the sys admins shut down the networks and an hour or so later everyone had gone home and the company never opened its doors again!
Being laid off can work out. The last time I got laid off I took the plunge, went contracting, and never looked back.
My advice. Stay cool. You have savings (many don't). This could be a good opportunity for you.
I was pretty shocked, so I took a few days of "vacation" to not think about anything work related. Then I started looking around for a new job, secured by the knowledge that I had money for living expenses for the near future. I started out selectively: looking for fun jobs that interested me. I took a part time job at a startup, partnered up on a business idea with some friends from the local Linux Users Group. Eventually I found a new full-time job overseas through a friend.
If the job search takes longer than you anticipated you may have left a few thousand on the table.
You never know what might hit. The group pricing is cheaper than you will find, individually.
And, with the uncertainty in U.S. health care (if we are talking about the U.S. context), it is worthwhile right now to maintain continuous coverage. You don't want one or another variation of the ACA "repeal" push to suddenly make a gap in coverage much more significant and negatively impactful.
Not only will you be further along if it does happen. You'll feel more in control and less stressed.