What to Do When You Lose Your Job | 32 Tips For Bouncing Back Quickly

I’ll always remember the day I was let go from my job as an exercise physiologist due to downsizing. It was my second job out of college and I had moved across the country to work there. While I spent my first few months living with family, I had just moved into a new apartment, with lots of new bills to pay, one week before they delivered the bad news.

I cried in my manager’s office at the news. I didn’t know what to do when you lose your job and felt helpless.

It didn’t help when a coworker popped her head in the door and asked, “Did you fire her yet?” before she realized I was there. She then asked my manager, in Spanish, to hurry up because she wanted to try the new restaurant down the street. She didn’t know I spoke Spanish.

Talk about a bad day. I cried in my car in the parking lot, feeling as if I lived in a heartless, cruel world.

But you know what? I found a new job, a better job! 

They paid me three dollars more an hour and the new office environment offered a night-and-day difference to the daily stressors of my old employer. Despite my fears, I didn’t lose my apartment, didn’t incur thousands of dollars in debt, and was eons happier a few months down the road. 

How do you deal with losing your job? Even better, how can you bounce back from losing your job? Let’s talk about it!

What to Do When You Lose Your Job to Work Through Your Initial Shock

Identify and acknowledge your emotions.

It’s okay to cry, to scream into a pillow, to feel sorry for yourself for a bit. These are all normal emotions and every single one of them is valid.

You are not a robot. Allow yourself to feel your feels.

Pull yourself together. You’ve got this.

Once you’ve acknowledged and experienced a wide gamut of emotions, it’s time to take a deep breath, tell yourself, “I’ve got this,” and make a plan. Negative emotions will wreak havoc on your mental and physical health if you allow them to call the shots. So make a conscious choice to put your brain in charge.

Maintain professional behavior.

It will be tempting to talk lots of trash about your old employer. But this will (a) burn bridges that you might need later and (b) demonstrate a lack of professionalism to potential future employers.

Instead, be incredibly selective of who you choose to vent to and avoid venting in public settings.

What to Do When You Lose Your Job When It Comes to Termination Logistics

Find out where you stand.

Work with HR to understand your employee rights and make sure you get every benefit that’s coming to you. This could include PTO payouts, insurance options, potential severance packages, and more.

Ask for copies of anything you sign to review later, since emotions at the time of losing your job can make it difficult to focus and retain information.

File for unemployment.

Get this ball rolling as soon as possible, since it may take several weeks to fully process and get checks coming your way. A quick Google search of “how to file unemployment” plus your state (e.g. “how to file unemployment in Texas”) should point you in the right direction.

Look into health insurance options.

One unfortunate ER visit while you’re uninsured could cost you thousands out of pocket, which is why it’s important to nail down health insurance when you lose your job. You might consider joining your spouse’s plan, utilizing COBRA continuation coverage, or perusing Health Insurance Marketplace plans on healthcare.gov.

Review health savings account (HSA) and flexible spending account (FSA) options.

Similarly, you may have balances sitting on HSA or FSA cards. Work with HR to learn if you can continue to use these cards/balances or if you’ll need to take some kind of action to save your funds.

Figure out what to do with your retirement plan.

Any money you’ve invested into a company-sponsored retirement plan is yours to keep. You’ll want to work with HR to find out if it can sit where it currently is or will need to be moved over to an individual retirement plan. Do not lose track of your money there.

You may be tempted to cash out your account balance to cover expenses. But this will cost you upwards of a 30% loss thanks to taxes and penalties and could potentially bump you into a higher tax bracket! This should be a last-resort option made under the advisement of a financial professional.

Return all workplace equipment.

The longer you wait, the more awkward (or even complicated) it may become. Get any information you need from work computers, phones, etc. (like resumes or work examples to add to your portfolio) ASAP, then turn them back in to your employer.

Review your final paycheck carefully.

Now that you’re aware of what you’re owed, double check that all of those funds and benefits are included in your final paycheck. Follow up with HR if you find anything is missing.

How do you survive unemployment financially?

Take a financial inventory.

What to do after sudden job loss, with its inevitable financial toll? Take an immediate inventory of your finances! 

How much money do you have and where? What debts do you owe? Make sure you gain a solid understanding of your entire financial picture.

Create a budget or tighten down your existing budget.

Now’s the time to reassess what you really need and what you don’t. Decide where you can cut back to save money and make a plan for how you’re going to stick with your budget.

Contact your creditors. 

Let your creditors, including home and car loans, student loans, credit cards, and more, know about your situation. MoneyManagement.org suggests, “Many creditors offer short-term hardship programs that could significantly reduce your payments for six or 12 months. Some may even let you miss a set number of payments.”

Consider alternative sources of income while you wait to land your next job.

What to do when you lose your job and have no money? From selling unused items, to babysitting, to driving an Uber, there are loads of side hustles out there that can help to immediately bolster your finances.

Ask yourself, “What can I do for money now?” Be sure to check out Best Side Jobs For Moms | 112 Profitable, Practical Side Hustles for ideas!

How to Find a New Job After You’ve Lost Your Job

Before you can nail an interview and land a new job, you have to find a job opening! Here’s how to maximize your findings.

First things first, Google yourself.

Potential employers will likely be googling your name when you apply to positions, so be sure that what they find works in your favor! This may involve cleaning up your social media accounts from coarse language, controversial posts, and otherwise unprofessional content.

Ask for references or even better, letters of recommendation.

If you’re leaving the company on good terms, ask those you worked with to write a letter of recommendation for you. If they’re unable to do so, ask if you could at least list their name and number as a reference. References and recommendations can make the difference to a hiring manager who’s reviewing hundreds of applications.

Give your resume a makeover.

Be sure to highlight all relevant degrees, certifications, skills, and experiences. You’ll likely find that you tweak your resume for each job to which you apply – being sure to hit the points they specifically call out in their job post. LinkedIn offers a fantastic guide on how to tailor your resume to a specific job opening.

Update your LinkedIn profile.

I’ve got to be honest…I hate LinkedIn! At a time when I’m trying to curb social media usage, it feels like one more app pinging my phone with notifications.

But like it or not, most employers are using LinkedIn to help screen job candidates. Be sure your profile there looks as fantastic as your resume. 

Tell everyone. (Yes, everyone.)

While it never feels good spreading the news that you’ve lost your job, you never know who might be hiring unless you put it out there into the world. 

So share on social media. Share with your friends and neighbors and your kids’ friends’ parents. You might just be surprised at who has a job lead!

Connect with your network.

When I was let go, the lead for my next job actually came from a coworker who was still with my old employer! She had been considering working elsewhere and knew of a similar clinic who was hiring just a few months prior.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to others in your industry, since they’re more likely to have the inside scoop (and maybe even the inside influence!) to help you get your foot in the door.

Re-assess your career goals. 

Losing your job offers an opportunity to decide how much you liked that job in the first place. Do you want to find similar work? Would you prefer a less stressful position? Is there another position or industry that interests or would satisfy you more? 

Granted, starting in a brand new industry altogether might mean you have to start at the bottom and work your way up. Still, if there was ever an ideal time to transition, this might just be your chance!

Create a job search plan.

It’s easy to dive into LinkedIn or Indeed and spend hours applying to every job you see. However, that can quickly lead to burnout and decrease the overall quality of each individual application, in the same way your signature slowly turns into scribbles after you’ve signed it 100 times.

Instead, set some daily objectives! Decide on start and stop times (Work-life balance is still important!) and set daily goals for yourself. This will ensure quality over quantity, which should result in more fruitful efforts.

How to Land a New Job After You’ve Lost Your Job

Now that you’ve applied to a job and are ready to interview, it’s time to position yourself as the hiring company’s best option.

Learn a new skill.

Show initiative by taking an online or community college course on a tool or topic that would serve you well in your field. 

As someone who’s conducted a lot of interviews, I can assure you that most people wait for a job to be given to them, while very few are proactively working to better develop themselves for a job. When someone can speak to that, it gives them a huge boost over other candidates.

Prepare and practice your story.

Many people wonder what to say when you lose your job. The fact is that your interviewer will likely ask you why you left your current company. 

If you haven’t thought ahead about how you’ll answer, you run the risk of spitting out the first (potentially poorly-worded) thing that comes to mind. Instead, decide on how you’re going to position it and practice positioning it over and over until you get it just right!

“Our company had to downsize due to financial strains and unfortunately, I was included in the cuts,” sounds a lot better than, “Oh…wow…well, I was blindsided. I’d been there for years, cried when they told me…they should have let my coworker go instead!” See what I mean?

Practice interviewing.

Chances are decent if you’ve lost your job that it’s been a while since you’ve interviewed for a position. 

So take some time to research common interview questions and practice how you’d answer them.  Prepare a list of the projects and accomplishments you’d most like to highlight during your interview, talk through them in a mock interview with a friend or family member, and ask for their feedback.

Follow up with a thank you letter.

At the height of my company’s hiring season, I interviewed over 100 candidates within a year. And not a single one of them sent a thank you letter or email to follow up. Pop a letter in the mail, shoot an email to their corporate address, but reaching out to interviewers at all to thank them for their time and consideration will go a long way in setting you apart from other candidates.

What to Do When You Lose Your Job to Maintain Your Health

What are the psychological effects of being fired? They could include depression, anxiety, and feelings of embarrassment and worthlessness. That’s why it’s important to prioritize your mental health during this time!

Get into a routine.

I know, I know…why set an alarm or make a rigid plan for your day if you don’t have to?! But friend, having a routine will save your sanity when you lose your job.

When a friend of mine lost her job years ago, she began basing her days on what she felt like doing. It turns out she felt like sleeping until noon, watching tv and scrolling her phone for hours, scrolling job openings for 30 minutes, getting discouraged, and falling asleep in front of the tv to finish out the day.

When you fail to plan, you plan to fail. So establish a regular routine based on what you need to accomplish each day to not only find a new job but also maintain your physical and mental health. 

Then stick to that routine. Save sleeping until noon for the weekends.

Get around other people.

Work offers people the majority of their social interactions outside of those they live with. Without a regular 9-5, it’s important for your mental health to make time to interact with others, whether that involves calling a friend, meeting someone for coffee, or even just getting out and about in public for a short time.

Get outside.

When you lose your job, you lose one of your biggest reasons to leave your house. But there are so many benefits to getting outdoors, even if only for a few minutes each day! Make outdoor time a daily gift to yourself.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Your family and friends likely want to help you in any way they can, so don’t be afraid to ask! You can return the favor when they’re in a tight spot down the road. 

Focus on what you can control.

While it’s tempting to kick yourself over the things you can’t control, or even remove yourself from responsibility altogether, both approaches are far from productive. Instead, recognize what you can control, make a plan for action, and let go of everything else.

Stay positive.

Who knows? This might be the opportunity that launches you into an even better job! Hang in there and try to maintain a positive and hopeful mindset.

Sure, you may have lost your job and I know it feels like things are bleak right now. But friend? Your comeback is on its way!

What to do when you lose your job? By focusing on practical actions you can take logistically, financially, and mentally, as well as preparing yourself to find and shine in a new role, you can come back better than ever. You’ve got this!

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