I Just Got Laid Off – Part 2
We’re in the middle of a three-part series on what to do if you get laid off. In Part 1, we talked about the day you’re notified. Now we want to move to the first few days after that.
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Take some time for yourself
As we said last time, you will most likely go through a grieving process. Accept it. It’s okay to be a little selfish for a couple of days. Get outside if the weather will permit. Enjoy nature. Go for some walks. Take a drive. Read that book you never had time for. Workout.
Reconnect with yourself. There is really important right now.
Reach out to the right people
Some people have a tendency to broadcast their woes. They think it makes people sympathetic. Unfortunately, it often creates a bad image in the minds of the people who are reading it or hearing it.
But it’s important not to bottle up your feelings. So reach out to a family member, a close friend, or a trusted advisor. Talk with them about your feelings. Go ahead, get it out – vent!
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Sign up for unemployment insurance
This is the one thing to put on your to-do list as soon as possible. It usually takes a couple of weeks for benefits to kick in so the sooner you do this, the better.
You may want to have federal taxes withheld so you don’t get bit at tax time. However, if you know you have the discipline to set the money aside yourself, then you might as well earn a little interest on that money. But if you aren’t absolutely certain, it’s better to just have the money withheld.
The Department of Labor is a great place to get information on unemployment insurance. If you don’t know where your state office is, you can find it there as well.
The right frame of mind
The bottom line is to give yourself a little time to unwind. If your financial situation isn’t dire, you don’t have to begin your search for a new job just yet. It’s more important to get yourself in the right frame of mind.
Next in this series, we’ll discuss getting to work on getting back to work. Thanks so much for reading our post today. Until next time, here’s to your bigg success!
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(Image in today's post by Hisks)
On whether or not to have taxes withheld from your unemployment: After being laid off twice in the last two years, I found that you can often get away with not having tax withheld.
When you’re working, you have taxes withheld at a rate that assumes you’ll be making the same amount throughout the year. Being unemployed for a month or more usually takes down your annual income enough that what was withheld while you were working covers what you end up owing from your unemployment coverage.
Of course, it will depend on how much you’ve worked that year and how much money you made compared to your unemployment rate. It helps to look at the tax forms and estimate how much you’ll end up making by year end, how much you’ll have withheld, and decide if you want the taxes withheld from your unemployment, because everyone’s case is different.
In my case, I worked 7 months, was unemployed for 3.5 months and worked the last couple of months at a slightly less amount than I made in the first 7. I came out getting a refund because those 3.5 months dropped my annual salary so much. (my unemployment was a little less than half of my working take home pay).
@Jodith, EXCELLENT point! Thanks so much for sharing your advice, we appreciate it!
I would also write down what you did at your most recent job on a daily basis – so you can update your resume with accuracy once you have had a bit of time to reflect. It is amazing how quickly we can forget important duties we might have had. This is particularly important as a resume customized for each application is best – so having a list of everything you did, written whilst it is fresh is useful, especially if you plan a break for starting your job search.
Great suggestion Chris! Thanks for sharing.