Things to do after being laid off
Being laid off can feel upsetting at first, and the media reports about theglobal economic downfallare probably not helping you to feel positive about your job loss. Being laid off from your job can be a blessing in disguise; the experience may not feel that way right away, but it can be. How you choose to react to being laid off is important. If you choose to view being laid off as the worst thing that could happen to you, then your motivation to find another job and pursue other opportunities might be low. If you choose to view being laid off as an opportunity to stretch your abilities, then you might find improved professional and personal opportunities for yourself.
Depending on where you live, you or your employer may have paidunemployment insuranceat your previous job. If this is the case, then you most likely will be receiving employment insurance payouts once you file at the unemployment office. The employment insurance payouts will give you some cash to count on for a little while, but the payouts will eventually stop. Don’t wait until your employment insurance benefits run out to start looking for new sources of income. Start searching for a new job very soon after you get laid off. Finding a new job requires a full-time effort. Employment agencies and Internet job search websites are great places to start looking for new jobs.
If you are lucky enough to have financial savings and can put off searching for a job for a little while, use being laid off to reevaluate your priorities. Each person’s priorities are different. Working helps to acquire income, however, working also takes up your time. If there were things that you had put off doing because your former job took up a lot of your time, then getting laid off is an opportunity to focus on things that are important to you. Spend time with your family, work on your garden, take walks in your neighborhood, volunteer at the local food bank; all of these are activities that you can do and enjoy more fully when you are not distracted from working.
Your previous job had a purpose in your life, but when one door closes, another door opens. If being laid off is something that you never want to experience again, put yourself in a position where no one can fire you except yourself. Start your own home-based business and be your own boss. Depending upon the business you choose to launch, operating a home-based business can be very affordable. Do an Internetsearchfor home-based business ideas and research estimates on how much money it would cost you to run the business you have in mind from home. Once you become a home-based business owner many of your household expenses can be claimed as tax write-offs. You can choose to run your home-based business full-time or you can do it part-time; the choice is yours. Best of all, you can schedule your work around your personal life; something you could not do when you worked for an employer.
Being laid off is a great opportunity to focus on yourself and figure out what you want for your life. Think about the many blessings that you have, and focus on blessings that are coming your way. Losing your job does not mean that you will never have another source of income. Jobs are created by people, and new jobs are constantly being created. You can choose to search for new jobs working for an employer, and you can also choose to create your own job by becoming an entrepreneur.
