Out Of Work? How to Get Back In the Saddle After a Job Loss

Last Updated on July 25, 2019 by Jessica Adams

Whether you’ve recently been let go, left a job on your own terms, or found yourself unable to work for health reasons, life after a job loss can be really difficult. You might be unsure about the next step you should take, and you’re probably worried about your financial security.

If you were let go, chances are your confidence has been shaken. In that case, you could do with some serious self-care! Just remember not to over-indulge or wallow in pity for too long. It’s so important to keep yourself focused on pursuing your next work opportunity.

Here we’ll discuss the best ways to find the right financial support, make money while you sleep, brush up on your résumé, and how just a bit of self-care can go a long way…

Out Of Work? How to Get Back

In the Saddle After a Job Loss

Getting the Right Financial Support After a Job Loss

The biggest hurdle to overcome when you’re out of work is covering your costs. A lack of income can quickly become a problem if you don’t create a financial plan of action. After all, you don’t want to burn through your savings, and the money in your bank account will not last as long as you’d imagine.

You should do some research to see if you qualify for either state or federal government-sponsored financial assistance. This includes cash aid, food stamps and if you qualify from your last steady job, Unemployment Insurance.

But here’s something everyone who has lost their job needs to realize right away. Since Unemployment Insurance is literally a percentage (around a third) of what your last steady paycheck was, doled out to you every few weeks. A person literally cannot survive on this method alone but also, not even with the greatest amount of cash aid and food stamps provided.

If you ended up jobless as the result of an accident and are recovering, it will be even more difficult for you to get back out there. If you were injured at work then you should absolutely be offered compensation by your employer. Even if you were injured on the road, you might want to seek help from attorneys at Hughey Law Firm, LLC. The point is, you should consider your legal options if you’re out of work because of someone else’s negligence or incompetence.

Make Money While You Sleep – The New American Dream

While you’re job hunting, you should also be looking for alternative sources of income. Maybe you can find three different part-time jobs, running around giving people rides and delivering their groceries, etc. I don’t know about you but that sounds like way more work than I did at my last job!

One of the best ways to replace your old income is by earning money online. The self-employed route can be easy to pursue if you have a talent you know how to monetize it. Perhaps you’ll start freelancing, using sites such as Fiverr and Upwork to sell your services to clients.

Or, if you’re not an Entrepreneur by nature and just need to get by, there are hundreds of online survey sites that pay you to (obviously) take surveys. There are also plenty of sites that allow you to go a step further and shop online for cash back, watch movie trailers and give your opinion, audit websites, post ads to social media sites, the list is endless.

Then, of course, you can always launch your own website or blog. After choosing a niche, creating content and driving traffic to your site, you can sell digital products that you’ve created and offer services of your own. All the while, sprinkling your blog posts with affiliate marketing links all day long…

Alternatively, you could start your own e-Commerce business. And don’t worry, you don’t even need to have a product of your own! You can sell items that people find through major sites such as Amazon, eBay, and Shopify. These companies offer everyday sellers like you, the opportunity to build successful home businesses in dropshipping.

Rewrite Your Resume & Update Your LinkedIn Page

Building up your résumé is a great use of your time when you’re out of work. This will increase your likelihood of not only getting a new job but getting a better job than the one you just left. The same goes for updating your LinkedIn page. Not only does the site allow you to showcase your most detailed “virtual resume”, but there are also recruiters actively scrolling through the site, looking for their next hire… and it could be you!

To perfect your résumé, you should aim to better yourself at every possible opportunity. You could go study and receive qualifications in new subjects to make yourself more impressive to potential employers. Some people get a first or second degree after furthering their education while on a break from work.

You might even want to take on an internship to gain experience and do some networking in your industry. Working on your résumé is all about working on yourself. In turn, you’ll stand a better chance of beating other candidates that you’re up against for jobs.

A Little Self-Care Goes a Long Way

Experts agree that divorce, job loss, and moving can be as traumatic as losing a loved one. Upon reading this, my first instinct is to scoff at the comparison. Ultimately, having dealt with three out of four of these traumatic events at once (moving and death among the three), I’ve come to wholeheartedly agree with this theory.

Regardless of where you stand on the subject, I think you’ll agree that every one of these events is very shocking. Each event is a different type of abrupt separation. Maybe you’re thinking, “Um, I loved my grandma much more than my old job. I didn’t even like my job that much!” It doesn’t take being at a job or living somewhere, or even being in a marriage that long, to truly connect with your job, home, or spouse.

What’s the first thing that everyone tells you to do when any of these four events take place? People usually tell you to “take good care of yourself”. Self-care techniques and related assignments are perfect examples of the inventory one must take of themselves during times like these.

Getting It All Out On Paper

Journaling your emotions is a popular self-care practice, for obviously self-therapeutic reasons. Getting your feeling out about your job loss might help you discover the reason that things didn’t work out for you. Whether you left or were let go, you’re not there anymore. Talk to your boss through your journaling and tell him what you would have handled a difficult situation differently.

Ultimately, the goal is to care for yourself as often as possible but for in this case, until the shock of your situation has diffused. If not completely, at least until you’re well enough to walk into your future interviews and impress recruiters or potential new bosses.

If all else fails… I find that playing with my dog always reminds me that everything is going to be okay!