8 Job Loss Survival Tips

Losing your job can be devastating for any family and unfortunately, it is happening more and more every day. While it might seem like it, losing your job isn’t the end of the world. These 8 Job Loss Survival Tips will hopefully give you some ideas to help you and your family make it through this season of unemployment.

8 Job Loss Survival Tips

1. Breathe

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At a time when you’re probably scared, stressed and more, the most important thing to remember is to just breathe. Things might seem down right now, but remembering that you are strong, smart and can make it through this, will help keep your heart and attitude in the right place for fixing the situation. Take a day or two after your job loss to grieve and collect yourself. Also, take time to assess your financial situation before going out to find your new job.

2. Stop Spending

As soon as you know that you’ve lost your job, stop spending any unnecessary money. You’ll need to re-do your budget based on the income you have coming in after your job loss. As of right now, consider that you have no extra money so you’ll need to remove any extras in your budget and go to your basic needs only. Your situation will decide how extreme your budget cuts need to be. For example, you could just drop your cable package down to a lower level, or you may have to cut it altogether. Basically you want to cover your 4 walls – which are housing, utilities, food, and transportation (gas money to get to interviews and car insurance). Everything else will have to wait.

3. Look at Your Emergency Savings & Assets

Your emergency savings are just that…savings for an emergency and a loss of job definitely counts as one. Look at how much you have available and use it to fill in areas that need help on your budget. Try to be very frugal with this money, to help it last just in case the job search takes longer than you’d hope. Look at other assets as well. What can you sell?

4. Update your Resume

Before you go looking for new jobs, be sure that you update your resume. Resume styles and requirements have changed over the years so if it’s been more than 12 months since you last updated, now is the perfect time. You should update both your paper resume and your resume on LinkedIn, as more and more employers are taking to the Internet to find new candidates.

5. Improve Your Skills

If you’re lucky, you won’t be unemployed long. But it’s quite likely you may have to go several months, or even a year, before landing your next job. There’s only just so much time you can fill with cutting costs, tweaking your resume, and applying to jobs. In the time in-between, try to improve the skills relevant to your career so you can better compete in the increasingly competitive job market. Not only will it show employers that you’re interested in continually improving yourself, but you’ll also feel productive and more confident. This doesn’t have to cost anything, either. There are tons of free classes available online from traditional and nontraditional learning sources, many of which provide certificates. One with many varied subjects that you may want to check out is called ALISON.

6. Use an Emergency Menu Plan

Groceries can be super expensive, so as soon as you know that you’ll be tight on cash, switch to an emergency menu plan. This will help you make absolute certain that your family will be fed at a time when money to buy food might be scarce. To help your grocery budget go even further, you’ll also want to use an app like iBotta to save extra money (it’s saved me hundreds!).

7. Apply for Unemployment

Unemployment might be a fraction of the income you’re used to, but it is at least some form of income being brought into your home. Apply as soon as possible and use the money to pay bills and build a buffer for yourself. Just be aware that depending on where you reside, your unemployment may not begin until your severance runs out.

8. Look for a job

This one should go without saying, but when you’re down in the dumps and depressed over losing your job, you may actually not feel motivated to find another job. Don’t let it beat you back. Instead, climb right back on the job hunting horse.

If it’s been a while since you had to look for a job, remember that times have changed. You’ll now want to use sources like LinkedIn, Monster, forums, and social media to help you find a job. You’d be surprised how many people have found a job through Twitter! And if your career is the kind that requires any kind of creative portfolio or website, you’ll want to make sure you have an updated one that you actively promote. To help bring in a bit of money until you can get an interview, consider using a rewards program like Perk or join some survey sites. If you really work the survey sites and rewards programs, you can make a decent amount of money in a month, which can be really helpful as you look for your next job!

So while it may not be the best time in your life, these 8 tips should help you make it past your job loss and survive until you can find your next job.

Just keep a positive attitude, don’t give up, and know that in the end everything will work out!