As much as my career involves resume writing, I am also a certified Master Career Director and Job and Career Transition Coach. Many of my clients have recently lost or are about to lose their jobs. So here is my top 10 list of what to do and not do if you are still working but about to lose your job.
- Do not quit ahead of time. If you are facing a layoff or other stressful situation, you may be tempted to quit first and look for a job after. If there is any way you can hang on until you have a solid job offer, please do. You may get a severance offer or be able to claim unemployment (which may have incentives during the COVID-19 crisis). It is also easier to find a job if you have a job.
- Do upgrade your resume. Update your resume and keep it up-to-date. Now is the time to gather information on your accomplishments in your current position before you forget them in the turmoil after you lose your job.
- Do send out your resume. The average length of unemployment right before COVID-19 was about 23 weeks. It may be longer now. Start looking for a new job as soon as you begin to worry. You may not lose your job but it never hurts to revise your LinkedIn profile, opening it up to recruiters and hiring managers (without alerting your own company that you are looking).
- Do not start slacking off at work. You may find it hard to keep your enthusiasm for work, but if you spend your time on social media, miss important deadlines, or start using your work computer to hunt for a job, you raise your chances of being fired by a whopping 10 percent, according to one survey.
- Do not complain about work online. Recruiters and hiring managers will find your rants and will consider you an employment risk. If you must let off steam online, make sure your settings prevent hiring managers and recruiters from seeing what you are posting.
- Do avoid over-sharing at work. If you are in the middle of a job hunt, no one at work needs to know: you do not want your boss to decide to fire you first. If you hear rumors of a layoff, ramp up your job search but do not spend hours gossiping about it with co-workers, especially if you are not supposed to know a layoff is coming.
- Make sure you know what you want next. Now is the time to think about your career path and what is most important to you: salary, workplace flexibility, more vacation time, more opportunities for training, different management style, and so on.
- Know how to position yourself. Research online for job titles and positions that match your skills, education, and accomplishments. Research companies in your field to find out what types of employees they are looking for now. If you need certification or more experience, consider how you might work toward it before you lose your job. The stronger you are, the stronger your resume will be.
- Negotiate. If you get fired, you may be able to negotiate on extending your health insurance, qualifying for unemployment insurance, or getting severance pay. If you quit, all those possibilities are off the table. In either case, be careful about signing any non-compete or nondisclosure agreements that might limit your future job prospects.
- Ask for help. You may not have the latest information on how to hunt for a job. You may not have the objectivity or the skills to pursue the next step in your career or write your resume. You may need help with any of the previous 9 items, including revising your online profile. Relying on a career coach and a resume writer like Robin’s Resumes® is a good decision if you are about to lose your job for any reason.