What to do if you lose your job - Part 1

It’s a prospect that most people try not to think about, but it’s worth considering: what would you do if you suddenly lost your job?

Especially in a weak economy, being faced with the loss of a job is a grim scenario. But it’s important to be prepared in case it happens to you. If you know what to expect and you can plan ahead, you’ll be in much better shape if you ever do lose your job – and you’ll be able to offer advice to friends and family who find themselves unemployed.

1. Take a few days to grieve. Losing a job is one of the most unsettling and traumatizing events that most people will experience in their lives. Especially if you derived a great deal of satisfaction, social life, and a sense of personal identity from your work, becoming unemployed can be a great shock and a blow to the psyche. So before you start pounding the pavement for your next job, take a few days to go through the grieving process for what you have lost. It’s perfectly normal to feel sad, angry, depressed, anxious – even a bit desperate – upon losing a job. There are huge uncertainties involved.

2. File for unemployment. This is one of the first things you should do after losing your job. In most states, you need to wait until you receive your last paycheck before filing for unemployment benefits. Read up on the rules and restrictions for unemployment benefits in your state. Some states make it easier (or harder) for people to get unemployment benefits – for example, if you were fired “for cause,” your employer might try to disqualify you from receiving benefits. There are often appeals processes that give you the chance to state your case and exercise your rights. Don’t feel “guilty” about taking unemployment benefits. This is money that you earned, in a sense, by working at your previous job and paying into the system from your payroll taxes. Unemployment benefits are intended to be a safety net for people in a time of need, to help bridge the gap to your next job.