Comments on: The Just-Laid-Off Checklist

By: Understated

Understated — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:12:30 +0000

What happens when you’ve been unemployed for MONTHS, though? What do you do to feel better then?

By: Laidoffguy

Laidoffguy — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:27:23 +0000

Thanks. I just lost my job and this really helped me to feel like it’s not so hopeless.

By: Import

Import — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:24:54 +0000

I like this list.

I love being busy, challenged, interracting with people, and to me, that is the part that sucks about not having a job. I wake up with nothing to do, nowhere to go and no people to talk to.

To fill my days, I go to the gym, then try to focus on job searching. After that, I do something else productive until 5pm. I stop at that time as I would at work.

After 5pm and on weekends, I am in a better state of mind. I have the hardest time during times when I know that most people are working. I say most because everyone know in my city is working except me.

I have reached out to people, and it’s frankly embarrassing. These are people who saw me rise to the top. Not I have to beg even the people below me for help finding a job. I feel like the lowest of the low.

It also hits me when I think of blowing through my finances with nothing coming in. I pray, but I need a true miracle in the form of a very high paying job, or I fear that none of these survival methods will prevail.

I wake up aggravated that I woke up to another day, unemployed.

By: Travelogged

Travelogged — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:22:17 +0000

This is a really great list and I certainly agree with your last item (plan a trip). I not only planned a trip, but I started a travel blog, http://www.travelogged.com, too.

It’s so hard to travel when you have a job — we get so few vacation days and then even figuring out when to take them is stressful. Remember, it takes time and money to travel and at least right now you have the time!

If you absolutely can’t go away after you get laid off, then look for fun things to do in your city. Take advantage of your free weekdays to enjoy places that are packed on the weekends, like museums and movies.

By: Martha Finney

Martha Finney — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:04:08 +0000

I’d like to add another couple of tips to this great list:

1. Explore the possibility of freelancing with your former employer. They may need to reduce full-time headcount, but they also need to get the work done. You may end up making more money as a freelancer than as a full-timer.

2. Call your former coworkers. Don’t wait for them to call you. They may be worrying about saying the wrong thing. If you make the first call, you get to set the tone that’s upbeat and positive. You’ll be seeing these people throughout your career, so you might as well take control of the tone of the rest of your career as soon as you can haul yourself up off the sofa.

Martha Finney, author, Rebound: A Proven Plan For Starting Over After Job Loss.