How to Deal with being Laid off
Getting laid off can feel like a crushing blow, especially when you have little money saved and limited career options in your field. Not everyone likes to work, but if you are someone who enjoyed your job and viewed your co-workers as your extended family, getting laid off will feel especially sorrowful. Even though you lost your job you can take comfort in knowing that all is not lost. If you have good health and a positive mindset you can upgrade your skills, find a new job, and fulfill your dreams. You can even start your own business and be your own boss while you are laid off, meaning that you never have to worry about receiving apink slipagain.
Working is a way to earn the money you need to fund your lifestyle, but working also takes up a lot of your time. Is there a goal that you have put off for far too long? Perhaps you have wanted to go back to school and study subjects that interest you, but your previous work hours prevented you from making that happen. Now that you are laid off you have more time to study the subjects that you are interested in. There might be better job opportunities for you after you have completed your course study. Earning a degree looks impressive on your resume and it also shows future employers that you were keeping yourself busy and focused on self-improvement during your layoff.
There are other jobs out there; they just might not be the exact same jobs that you have done in the past, but different types of jobs are good for your personal development. Other jobs give you chances to develop skills and discover things you weren’t aware of about yourself and specific job industries. If you were laid off from your job working as a cook in a restaurant and you still want to use your cooking skills, try searching for culinary teaching jobs. If you worked as a flight attendant before getting laid off, considering pursuing customer service jobs. The skills you learned meeting customers’ needs as a flight attendant can be transferred to pretty much any customer service job. Being laid off gives you a chance to exercise your skills and learn new career skills and build connections.
Do you dream about never getting laid off again? If your hope is to have job security that no one else can take away from you then starting a business of your own is the best way to achieve the job security you want. Make a list of your skills and interests and how you would like to earn income from them. Many businesses can be started in one day while other businesses need a few weeks from conception to be officially launched. Working as a business owner, especially as ahome-based business owner, means that you have more freedom to set your own schedule. If you want to take a vacation during off-peak travel times, you can do that as a business owner who designs your own work schedule. If you prefer to work 5 hours per day instead of 8 hours per day, you can do that too. Owning your own business is a big accomplishment and could be a big confidence booster for you.
Getting laid off does not have to be the end of your career; when one door closes, another door opens. Use the time that you are laid off to do some soul searching about where you want to go and who you want to be. Make a list of all of your blessings and things you want to accomplish while your unemployment payment benefits kick in. Volunteering at charity organizations is a great way to gain work experience to list on the resume while helping people in need at the same time. Joining business networking groups and attending events is a great way to meet people who you could do business with. Don’t be afraid to ask family members and friends for help connecting you with people who could hire you to work with them as an employee or as the owner of your own business.
