lifeinmycubicle

Layoff is not something new to us anymore. We hear melt-down, downsizing, mergers, layoffs everyday in the news, from our friends, family and co-workers. A lot of people are worried about losing their job. I’ve gone through two layoffs. First was in 2001 (one of the major Auditing Firms) and the second one was in 2005 (one of the major Internet companies). What I have learned about this experience is to learn to accept, let go and move on.

1. Accept, let go and move on. Anger, denial, worry, shock, grief, frustration, hurt, embarrassment are a few emotions you may or let me say “you will” experience when you get laid off. These are emotions that are hard to control but normal reactions to a loss of a job, someone or something important to us. Keep in mind that these feelings are normal and natural. Learn not to blame your company, boss, family, friends or even yourself for what has happened. Don’t waste your time and energy dwelling on the past. Instead, start creating positive perspective. Learn to accept that things happen for a reason. End negative thoughts and start thinking positive. Let go of the past and move on. Life goes on. 2. Browse through job boards and see what’s out there. Since I’ve gone through this twice, I already know what to expect. I work for a high tech company and we all know that it’s one of the industries that’s hardly hit by weak economy. While I still have my job, I browse through job boards like Yahoo! Hotjobs and Craigslist everyday (lunch break or at home after work). I do this just to see what’s out there. What do I benefit from checking the job boards? Knowing what jobs are being offered out there prepares me emotionally and mentally. it opens my mind to the unknown. I also learned more about myself, what I want and need in a job.

Our company may or may not layoff employees but I know we’re not doing well. From my experience, I have to prepare myself. I have to think of myself, my family and my future. I have already learned from my past experiences. My company will not be there for me when they lay me off.

When I browse through job boards, I look at both full-time and part-time jobs. This is how I came across eHow. I have always dreamed of working from home, either full-time or part-time. I have always wanted to write, help people and create training manuals.

3.  Keep your resume updated and save or print out kudos from managers or customers.

4. Attend in-house trainings offered by your company, if any. Our company offers in-house trainings or classes and I make sure I attend those classes. After each class or training, I update my resume.

5. Save your vacation hours. This tip may or may not work for others but it definitely works for me. I realize that we all seek for “work life balance”. I do too but I still manage to save my vacation hours. When I first got laid off, I was not expecting extra money besides my severance pay until I received my last check. I got more than what I expected. This extra money has helped me a lot. From then on, I’ve been extra careful with the use of my vacation hours.

6. Make sure you utilize your company’s medical benefits. You pay for it each month, so use it.

7. Have you accumulated sick hours? Convert your sick hours to cash or vacation hours.

8. Another way to prepare yourself in the event of a job layoff is to build up emergency funds or cash reserves. Your goal is to have 3 to 6 months of emergency funds. If you have a part-time job, put that money towards your emergency fund. If you can convert your sick hours to cash, put that extra cash towards your emergency funds as well.  Click here to see more ways to save money and build emergency funds fast.