Top Things to do Before and After a Layoff ©

I hope you find my story of value to you.

I was unemployed for nearly 11 months in 2009 after being employed for 19 years at my last company. I wrote this blog to help others that may be facing this or currently going through it. I hope you find this information of value and share it with others. I would like to know what you think so I can keep improving the content.

WordPress Summarized my blog for 2010 on 1.2.11

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A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,900 times in 2010 and over 2,400 views in 2011 to date. That’s about 5 full 747s.

I am now a full time employee at FKM Advertising Agency in Houston. I found this position through constant networking.

I can be reached through:

email:  eabtex@comcast.net

Linkedin:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/ericbrennan

Please send me some feedback on what you think of my blog…Love to hear from you.

The question is…..ARE YOU READY?

BEFORE THE LAYOFF:

Does this economy scare you or what?  You have to save as much as you can and take care of your family. The government can’t and won’t do it. It’s up to you. Unemployment is at historical highs.

Live below your means while you have a job and start spending less than you make now.

• Make a detailed budget and figure out where to cut
• Learn to live on half of your income and save the rest.
• You will be happy you did when the paychecks stop coming.
• That latte every day will add up to over $120/month

According to a recent news article on cnnfn.com

Many don’t have $2,000 for a rainy day

http://tinyurl.com/3evdj33
Buy low cost, paid for cars

• A great quote from Thomas Stanley, author of The Millionaire Next Door book is “to be rich, stop acting rich”.
• Now is not the time to keep up with your neighbors buying habits.
• If you took out that 7 year car loan, sell it or pay it off and buy something with cash
• Do not lease your car
• Look for ways to cut your insurance bills with higher deductibles
• I know people who claim their business isn’t doing well, yet that doesn’t stop them from buying a fancy, brand new SUV.

Once your cars are paid off  -  focus on your home.

• While you have a job, start working toward paying off your cars
• Sell your current car if the payments are too high and buy a cheap reliable car—and have no payments.
• You do not want car payments. You are putting hard earned money into a depreciating asset.
• Now that your cars are paid for, start putting extra money toward the principal of your mortgage.
• It will take some time, but start now when you are working.
• How nice would it be to have no car or house payments when you get laid off? It’s nice, believe me. Even if you never get laid off, your nest egg will start growing.

Build your nest egg NOW while you have a job

• Target a minimum 1 year of living expenses in the bank
• TRUST ME ON THIS ONE!!
• 3-6 months is no where near enough that you hear from the “experts”
• Your goal needs to be to pay off all credit cards, payoff all cars and get your mortgage paid off or manageable that a low paying job could cover it
• When/if you get laid off, your main focus should be finding a new job, not worrying where you will live because you can’t make your house payment or living in the dark because your lights are turned off
• I heard terrible stories through during my search of people with foreclosures/living in shelters, no power, no water, no insurance, no food, divorce, etc— all due to financial issues.

Learn to fix things yourself, save money

• Time to get handy with fixing things, it will save you a lot of money
• Just mowing my own lawn over the last 20 years has saved me over $32,800 @ $41.00 per mowing over 40 weeks a year
• Do you really need a maid? Get out the vacuum cleaner, mop, etc.
• Get your basic tools and take a look at what is broken before picking up that phone to call someone at $100 just to come out to your house.
• I fix sprinkler heads, leaky faucets, VCR’s, etc.  Most of the time it is just taking a look, finding the broken part, buying it and putting it in.
• You can do it. I use Web search engines all the time to help me fix things.

Get out and stay out of debt

• I follow Dave Ramsey’s plan, read the “The Total Money Makeover”, and Financial Peace University and practice it like I do. He believes you should live debt free and I agree.
• Being debt free in advance of a lay off can help you weather this storm. Build your cash reserves while you have a job. I encourage you to consider a 2^nd job if needed to build these cash reserves. The target should be 1 years living expenses in the bank.
• Avoid using charge cards or if you do, make sure you can pay them off every month. Don’t get behind, as 20% interest rates on charge cards eating away at your nest egg is not the way to stay out of debt.

Build your education and skill set

• Get additional training in your field, take classes at a local college
• Go back to school to learn a new trade or build skills in a new area of interest
• Continuous learning is a must

Dress for success to keep your current job

• Look your best at work everyday.
• Wear the type of clothes your boss wears.
• Conservative dress

Network with others as much as you can

• I cannot emphasize the power of networking enough
• You must get out of the house and talk to people and get to know them. Offer to help them out. Offering to help others makes you a popular person and others will want to help you then. Do not sit at home and hope things will get better or that a company will call.
• Get their business card and connect with them on Linkedin.com or stay in touch through email.
• Find professional networking groups in your area,  join local or national associations in your field of work. Go to their luncheons or happy hours and make it a point to mingle and meet as many people as you can. Be friendly and smile.
• You will find a job through networking faster than posting your resume on job boards. You want to find the job through a friend before it gets on the job board

Get on Linkedin.com or other professional internet-based networking site, build your connections

• If you are not familiar with www.Linkedin.com, you need to be.
• It is one of the most popular ways to do professional/business networking and over 30 million users are on it today.
• It allows you to build a profile of yourself, get recommended, join associations, find recruiters, find jobs and build a network that enables you to be found and get hired.
• I have actually made money using Linkedin as a consulting firm found me and paid me to consult on technology to a hedge fund company in New York.
• Spend the time to build a profile and get it to 100% complete. Include a professional picture of yourself as well.
• Answer questions on Linkedin, update your profile regularly
• Also, considering Twitter.com. There are lots of job postings available through Twitter.

Join associations that pertain to your trade, get well known

• You should join at least 3 associations. Two that are related to your industry and another that is a general business, rotary club, local community group or local business association.
• This is a great way to network and meet new people you wouldn’t have met before.
• Volunteer at one of these groups part time if you can.  Get involved. It will pay off.
• Create list of recruiters/permanent placement companies
• Spend some time after work/weekends to build a portfolio and make contact with local recruiters in your area
• Try to meet with them in person so they get to know you.
• Look on the web, library or local business journals for who the top recruiters are in your area.

BE PREPARED…..Assume you will or could be laid off,

• You always want to be on the look out for that next opportunity even while you are working.
• Don’t get too comfortable and complacent in your current job thinking it will last forever- it won’t. The days of working for the same company for 30 years and then getting a pension are gone. You will have many jobs during your career.
• The best thing you can do is to be prepared.
• You will leave your job someday. Will it be on your terms or theirs?
• Assume that you will or could be laid off and start thinking and planning before it happen.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Can I make it for 1+ years with no paycheck. Are my living expenses as low as they can be?
• Do I have enough saved?
• Is my resume ready to go?
• Are my spouse/significant other in a position to get a job or part time job to help?
• Are my network of business contacts big enough and good enough to help me land a new job?

Always be looking for that next position inside your company or outside

• This is something I did not do.
• I got comfortable in my job since I had been there so long
• I wasn’t networked with other business professionals like I should have been
• I didn’t know any recruiters/head hunters.
• Finding a new job inside your current company builds your skill set and gives you something new to work on
• Now is the time to do that. Build your network, get to know head hunters. Get to know colleagues at other companies you might be interested in working at someday. Get to know CEOs of small/mid sized companies if you can through friends, church or other means.
• Be discreet, but be looking.
• Companies are not loyal to their employees and they can’t be because they are driven by profits and meeting Wall Street expectations to drive their stock price higher.
• I even know several churches that have laid off during this time

Read as much as you can

• You’ve heard it said, “Readers are Leaders.”
• Stay in tune with the top books and read them, target one book a month.
• Read the Wall Street Journal, Business Week,  Houston Business Journal to learn what is going out in the world, nationally and locally with businesses.

Get health/life insurance on your own

• Check into health/private life insurance on the open market. Term life insurance is very cheap and everyone needs to have some level of life insurance and it’s cheaper sometimes to buy it through a private company versus through work.
• I found health insurance cheaper through a private provider than I was getting through my company. Just do some homework and you might save some money.
• Do you really want your life and health insurance tied to where you work?  When/if you lose your job, there goes your insurance.

Understand COBRA insurance coverage before its needed

• Do a web search on COBRA insurance to understand it before a layoff.
• COBRA is temporary and meant to keep your current insurance intact through this period of transition. It is expensive.
• It is good if you have a serious condition/pre-existing condition that needs to be insured through your current provider, they have to cover you through COBRA for 18 months.

Get those medical check ups before your company paid insurance runs out

• If you have been notified of a lay off and have some time, go get a check up or a procedure done that you have been delaying. Get it covered under your current insurance.
• Get a dental check up.

Keep your resume polished, current

• Are you keeping a log of your positions at work, your accomplishments, the dates you work at what company, your awards, your previous bosses?
• These are all things that need to be done while you are working because when you start filling out job applications you will need dates of when you worked at what company, names of previous bosses and contact information.
• Are you keeping names of people/contact information of who you want to be your references in the future.
• Consider creating a Resume online with:

http://www.visualcv.com/

• Update your resume every 6 months. Put a reminder in your calendar to take a look at it.

Be a top performer at work, over produce

• Now is the time to be an over achiever at work.
• Now is the time to build your network at work, offer to help your boss take on projects beyond the job you are currently doing.
• Now is the time to be seen, heard and showing real value to your boss, bosses boss and colleagues.
• If you are not bringing value to the company every day and way in excess of your salary, then you might find yourself looking.

Mortgage

• While you are employed, get your monthly mortgage cost as low as possible or even better, pay it off if you can
• Refinance to a 15 year fixed rate mortgage, rates are at all time lows if your mortgage is anything but a 15 year fixed..
• If you have a Balloon mortgage or interest only loan, change it immediately to a fixed rate mortgage or sell and downsize.  You are not living within your means if you have a balloon mortgage or interest only one.

Keep your spouse, kids, family, friends and other relationships strong

• Keep your family relationships strong and healthy.
• Problems at home can lead to performance issues at work and that can lead to a layoff or firing.
• #1 cause of divorce is financially related.
• Stay positive, stay out of debt and communicate.

AFTER THE LAYOFF:

Deal with the immediate emotions, grief, and anger or excitement.

• A layoff can be a huge impact to your psyche.
• It’s ok to cry, scream, laugh or take a long walk or say “I am glad to be out of there!”
• However you deal with it, deal with it in a short time manner and get over it so you can focus on looking for that next opportunity.
• You don’t want to go interview for a new job if you are still negative, upset about the last job as it will show up in the interview.
• All jobs are temporary whether or not they are called full time or contract.
• Let it go, and move on!

Focus on the positive

• This is an opportunity to do something new and fun.
• Take some time off to reflect. Looking back it was the best thing that could have happened. I met over 500+ great people that I never would have met otherwise because I got out and networked like crazy.
• Get a dog to go on long walks with and think about next steps, they are good therapy.

Get your unemployment insurance payout started

• Sign up for unemployment insurance (UI) as soon as possible. It can take 3-4 weeks to get money into your hands. You can normally do it online through the internet or in person at your local Unemployment State Agency, if applicable. In Texas,

http://www.twc.state.tx.us/ui/uiclaim.html

• Current Texas UI coverage is up to 79 weeks which includes many government extensions.
• Average is $300-400 a week, so you see why I said you need to have money in the bank. That’s about $19,000 a year…Can you live on that?
• Severance money doesn’t impact UI in Texas (check your state for details), so go ahead and sign up for it immediately. You deserve this money if you were laid off and your company has paid into this fund.
• The amount you get depends on how much you were making, what state you live in and if you were employed full time the prior year.

Volunteer

• Volunteer at a place doing something you like or volunteer where you can meet key, influential people to help you in your career.
• You can’t look for a job 10 hours a day so this is a good thing to do.
• Some people worked for free at a company they wanted to work to get in the door.

Take a break, collect your thoughts

• You may need to take some time off, if you can financially, to refresh yourself and clear head.
• It’s ok to take some time off. Go visit your parents, relatives or just go take a mini-get away. Time for you and your partner to think about where you have been and where you are going in life. Were you happy at your last job? Do you want to start a business?  Can you live off of working part time? What is your passion, something you have always wanted to do in life, but never had the time since you were always working?

What do you really want to do when you grow up?

• A good book I read was “48 Days to the Work you Love” by Dan Miller. It really helps you focus on what you want to do.
• Second book recommendation is ” Half Time” by Bob Buford.  It talks about going from “Success to Significance” in your life.
• A third book you should check out is “ The Real Secret to Finding a Job”  by Rick Gillis. Rick has some great tools and tips on the real keys to landing a job in this job market. How to stand out from the competition.

http://www.rickgillis.com/

• Now is the time to figure out what you really want to do to be significant, help others, work for a non-profit or charity organization, etc.
• Use this time to reflect.

Tell your neighbors, friends, church, others about your situation

• Don’t be shy about the fact you were laid off, there are 15+ million people out there that are unemployed.
• Tell everyone because chances are you have a neighbor, or friend who you tell that knows someone who is hiring at the company you want to work for next.
• You never know where that next opportunity is going to come from. It is usually a friend of a friend that has the contacts. So make lots of contacts and build your network. Be aggressive.
• The funniest comment I heard was from a lady at an outplacement service in her New York accent who said “You neva, eva, eva know”—where your next opportunity will come from.  It’s true.

Make a business card, finalize your resume, and build your reference list, use a database to keep track of contacts

• You must have a business card. Make it professional and add a little color to it, and a logo.  A plain white business card with black text says you are not creative. Have a company help make your cards for you, don’t print them on the computer at home.
• I used www.vistaprint.com.  Add your Linkedin address to it, put your key experience, and value add on the back of the card.
• Your name, email address, and phone number are critical at a minimum. Do not put your home address on your business card. Also, build your reference list of 7-10 people who can speak about you as a reference. Need to have bosses, peers, employees, cross functional people, etc

Severance package, medical coverage, pension and vacation payout

• If you were lucky enough to get a severance package, then be smart with this money and use it wisely. This is not the time to go blow it on a cruise or fun vacation because you have a large chunk of cash in your checking account. Believe me; you are going to need this money for basic life costs. Things like rent/mortgage, insurance, utilities, food and gas happen every month like clockwork and you need this money to pay for these things or you will end up with no place to live or no gas money to get to your interview. Now is the time to cut way back on your life style if you haven’t already.
• Medical coverage. You must have medical coverage. If you get really sick and need surgery and have no insurance, it could bankrupt you with medical costs as high as they are today. Get COBRA insurance or look into private medical insurance for coverage.
• Make sure you get your unused vacation hours paid out.
• If you have a pension plan, act on it—roll it over, cash it out, but do something with it.

Avoid fee-based recruiters

• These people will find you during your search and they will be very nice, and have that appearance that they can really help you find a job. Its nonsense.
• These recruiters (sharks) will want up to $5,000 from you to help you do what the things you are already going to do during your search, but they won’t make any guarantees of finding you a job.
• Ask up front when they call or email if they charge fees for their services or if they are paid by the client. If so, RUN.

Network, network, network

• I cannot stress this enough. You have to get out and meet people in your industry and outside of your industry.
• You need to build your network of colleagues that can help you land your next job because they will know someone who is hiring.
• Between Jobs Ministry (BJM) in Houston is a great help in the job search.
• Get involved with the HTC (Houston Technology Center) if you are in that line of work.
• Go to association meetings, targeted community breakfast meetings, lunch with someone a couple times a week who could help you and whom you could help.
• Targeted business happy hours can be good if you stay focused.
• Join your local rotary club.
• Ask a CEO or high level executive of a company you are interested in, if you can take them to lunch or coffee. CEO’s know lots of people.
• Call people for a job, most people don’t call.

Networking without looking desperate, good article here.

http://tinyurl.com/3y2mlon

Talk to a lawyer if you think you have been wrongly terminated

• If you feel you have been wrongly terminated, you may want to see legal help.
• There are books you can read or you can search the internet about this to help you make a decision if you want to get some help in this area.

Stop 401K contributions, build cash

• My recommendation is if you are laid off and have some advance notice before your pay check ends, is to stop your 401k contributions and build your cash.
• You don’t need to be adding to this fund because you can’t access the money without taking out a loan or cashing it out and taking a penalty which you don’t want to have to do.
• Do not borrow against your 401K, it will cost you in 40% in taxes and impact your longer term retirement.
• Just switch your contributions to zero and bank the cash.

Roll over your 401K to IRA

• Once you have left your company, you might want to consider rolling your 401K over to an IRA.
• You have more options for investing in an IRA than you do in a company 401k plan where there are normally a fixed number of funds to choose from.
• You also may want to just completely sever your ties to your old company and not deal with the company that manages your 401k.

Collect the personal data you need from your work PC

• Before you are walked out the door, be sure to get all your personal files.
• Do not take any company information, but just what is personally yours.
• Print out any information off the intranet company website that you need for the transition related to insurance, stock options, key phone numbers that you will need.
• Once you are off the network, you will not be able to access this information.

Send out a farewell email at work to let everyone know how to reach you

• This is an important first step in separating from the company, saying your goodbyes and also sending out your email/phone number for contact information to stay networked.

Go to the library and research your local city business journal for top lists of companies, recruiters

• The library is a very valuable resource in your job search and its free.
• In Houston, I used the Houston Business Journal as a great resource tool, you can find this behind the desk at the library.

Hit the internet job boards, job fairs, local recruiters, friends at other companies (insiders)

• Set goals each day/week of what you are going to do toward your job search.
• Keep track of the numbers.

Use,

• Indeed.com
• Dice.com   (technology site)
• Talentzoo.com
• Monster.com
• Jobfinder.com
• Theladders.com
• Linkedin.com

I didn’t find job fairs very helpful, but it’s something to try once to make your own decisions.

Good article on jobs for the future:

http://www.getdegrees.com/articles/career-resources/top-60-jobs-that-will-rock-the-future/

Polish your interviewing skills

• Get out and interview, practice makes perfect. Go interview even if you aren’t interested in the job.
• You may not have interviewed for many years.
• I noticed I was getting better and more comfortable each time.
• Get good at phone interviews with companies and recruiters.
• Get good at in-person interviews.
• Be ready for 3 on 1 interview or a panel of people hitting you with questions.
• Be friendly with the person at the front desk when you check in, everyone has input into whether they liked you or not.
• Follow up and thank each person you interviewed with by way of taking a stack of professional blank Thank You cards to your interview, and then after the interview, go the lobby and write a brief hand-written thank you to each person you spoke to and return to the front desk secretary to ask them to deliver them right then. Hiring decisions can and sometimes are made the same day you interview. There is no time for postal mail and an email is too impersonal.  YOU WILL STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD!!!.

Exercise, keep your health a focus area

• Stay in shape, get out and exercise, walk or do something every day. You can’t job hunt every single hour of the day.
• You want to look your best at the interview.

Sign up for COBRA insurance or get private health insurance within 60 days of  termination.

• Don’t forget to do this.
• I recommend private health insurance as it is cheaper and you can pick what you want.

Find a job you will love and don’t forget to help others once you have landed a job. You know better than anyone what it was like when you were looking.

Good luck and I hope this was helpful!!  Let me know what you  thought of my blog through the Comments section.