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How are you preparing for a job loss?
- Thread starter iShater
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LOL I'm coming over.
I was one of 15 people who was left to shut a company down, a company of 10,000. I began making sure I wasn't living too out of my means as I have only my income to rely on. For me it was paying my rent 4 months in advance and once I move 1/1, I have the full 6 months of rent saved up to pay up front. I also have 6 months of auto loan payments. Of course money for extras.
Bottom line is no job is safe, I am fortunate at this point, but I am also not proud. I'll work some silly job if that is what it takes to get the smaller bills paid. That or I'm still accepting applications for a sugar daddy. FWIW, I'm highly entertaining which makes up for what I lack.
I try to keep at least 6 months worth of living expenses saved up.
I keep up to date on my people network.
I'm not above taking a 'menial' job to make ends meet. From what I've read though retail stores are flooded w/people looking for seasonal work.
I'm in the entertainment industry in LA though so good economy or not you've always got to be ready to be jobless at a moments notice and be jobless indefinitely.
Lethal
I keep up to date on my people network.
I'm not above taking a 'menial' job to make ends meet. From what I've read though retail stores are flooded w/people looking for seasonal work.
I'm in the entertainment industry in LA though so good economy or not you've always got to be ready to be jobless at a moments notice and be jobless indefinitely.
Lethal
I don't have a job but I'll be needing one soon since graduation is around the corner (May 2009). Hopefully the job market will have picked up by that then. In the meantime, I'm saving all the money I can and looking for jobs closer to my parents (so I can move back in with them if need be).
Considering the economy - the last thing I'd invest in is a restaurant. I mean - what is one of the first things people scratch off their lists in order to save some $. Dining out.
That's a very risky venture in my eyes.
That's a very risky venture in my eyes.
Are you looking for full time jobs? what field?
6-weeks of vacation saved? you plan to cash them out or something?
I had 6 months worth of living expenses saved.
I'm now on month 7.
Ok, now you are scaring me.Do you live on campus right now or your own apartment? my sister-in-law graduates with an MBA next year, her career office told her to "not bother looking for work for a while"
We are back together.
She's going to convince her mom to like me, I don't know how she's supposed to do that though. It's pretty hard to convince someone to like you if they don't.
We are back together.
She's going to convince her mom to like me, I don't know how she's supposed to do that though. It's pretty hard to convince someone to like you if they don't.
Congrats.
And yes, it is impossible.
Good luck with that!
You're scared? The last job offer I got I had to walk away from. The owner let it slip that his business has been running off of savings - and he only could sustain for 3 more months.
You're scared? The last job offer I got I had to walk away from. The owner let it slip that his business has been running off of savings - and he only could sustain for 3 more months.
I'm waiting to hear from one company I did a phone interview with last week. But tonight I'll start the "search and apply" process again just in case. I am also planning to expand my search area to include more big cities.
Is your are of expertise in a field that is mostly in the east coast? or are you trying to avoid moving?
I'd like to keep within New England - but either I have to search further - or outside of my field. (hi energy / military laser systems) Pickens' are slim.
I'd imagine that is not the field that is in all states, or can work from home!
Good luck my friend.
I am starting to read up on unemployment benefits, but I think since I was a contractor for the last two years, I might be completely SOL.
I'm a contractor in a similar situation. This company was bought out by another and they are pretty much just taking their customers. There's a huge round of layoffs here around December 1st. I'll probably be done around February / March timeframe. At least I'll make it through the holidays...
I've been trying to get the savings up to snuff, but times are tough here. Wall St. which is my primary source of income pretty much collapsed in the course of a week.
I'm already looking for a full-time job as the consulting rates have fallen through the floor.
Rough times ahead...
i lost my job dec 2007 and it took me 6 month to find a new one. the reality is i dind;t look for a job for about three month and after the job offer i stalled them for another 4 weeks. I'm a scientist with a quite stable jobsituation so lokking for jobs is nothing I'm good at.
lessons learned:
1.) care about cash:
saved up cash for 6 month
massachussetts has 6 month good unemployment insurance
checked that i get severance pay
2.) make sure you have health care
got cobra
3.) update CV
sounds easy but is a lot more complicated. had to collect slides and data for my interviews (we usually give presentations)
4.) check job offers and learn how to read and how to respond to them
5.) network, network, network
most important, contact all friends, tell them you will get booted, ask for help, collect contacts, talk to other job seekers, network! get a short pitch that allows you to tell people in 20 sec that you need a job and what you want. check and update your references. more than two. at least 5 from different fields, companies.
6.) since you already contacted your friends it's much easier to talk to them. no awkward moment anymore when it comes up that you're unemployed. it is very important for your ego to feel ok with the fact that you need a job.
7.) make sure you have enough social contacts and don't get lonely. posting here doesn't count. do exciting things. learn about jobs. make yourself feel good about yourself. people notice that and are way more likely to hire or recommend you.
I got really lucky and got a job within 6 weeks of seriuos search. but till i really started took about 3 month. and the most important thing after getting your finances under control is really to stay in good mood. it helps you thinking outside the box and find new jobs you didn't think about.
lessons learned:
1.) care about cash:
saved up cash for 6 month
massachussetts has 6 month good unemployment insurance
checked that i get severance pay
2.) make sure you have health care
got cobra
3.) update CV
sounds easy but is a lot more complicated. had to collect slides and data for my interviews (we usually give presentations)
4.) check job offers and learn how to read and how to respond to them
5.) network, network, network
most important, contact all friends, tell them you will get booted, ask for help, collect contacts, talk to other job seekers, network! get a short pitch that allows you to tell people in 20 sec that you need a job and what you want. check and update your references. more than two. at least 5 from different fields, companies.
6.) since you already contacted your friends it's much easier to talk to them. no awkward moment anymore when it comes up that you're unemployed. it is very important for your ego to feel ok with the fact that you need a job.
7.) make sure you have enough social contacts and don't get lonely. posting here doesn't count. do exciting things. learn about jobs. make yourself feel good about yourself. people notice that and are way more likely to hire or recommend you.
I got really lucky and got a job within 6 weeks of seriuos search. but till i really started took about 3 month. and the most important thing after getting your finances under control is really to stay in good mood. it helps you thinking outside the box and find new jobs you didn't think about.
drugs + stupidity = job security
Although I'm 4 years from my early retirement date and my investments have tanked. I've lost $7000.00 this year and that may push back my date back. We were planning on using that to pay for our retirement home.
Although I'm 4 years from my early retirement date and my investments have tanked. I've lost $7000.00 this year and that may push back my date back. We were planning on using that to pay for our retirement home.
Wow, seriously I can't believe none of you have mentioned getting rid of your iPhone as a way to clamp down your life. I know we all love our iphones, but if I lost my job and couldn't find a new one quickly, I would sell my iphone on Ebay or Craigslist (and hopefully the amount I get would help pay the ETF)... And then I would just go with a free or cheap phone and get a bare minimum $39.99 plan until times get better. That's $60 a month in easy savings right there.
Plus, things I've already done:
-Cancelled all my online accounts that had monthly fees
-Got rid of my satellite radio and just use my iphone
-CANCELLED MY CABLE AND MY TELEPHONE, don't need them with a good internet connection and an iphone. That saved me like $70 a month.
-Walked to the grocery store instead of driving.
-Make my coffee at home or in the office (my company provides pretty decent coffee)
-Make a list before going to Target and only buy the things I need. I'm now in and out of Target in 5 minutes instead of the normal 1-2 hours of browsing that I normally do.
-Downsized my storage unit to a smaller unit, saving me $55 a month. Got rid of a boat load of stuff on Craigslist and in the process made extra money. Seriously if you've had it in storage for more then 3-6 months and haven't touched it, time to get rid of it all on Craigslist or ebay (or donate to charity)
-Refinanced my auto loan last year. Payment went from $568 to $240. Downside is that I had 18 months left on my loan, after re-financing I had 60 (now 48)...
Things I might still do:
-Call all my credit card companies and tell them I'm struggling and see if I can get a better rate. Some people have had luck with this, they would rather lower your rate and your payments then have you default.
-Cancel my gym membership or ask about a lower priced option (threatening to cancel usually gets them to start giving you better deals)
-Cook at home even more.... And only eat out once a month instead of once or twice a week.
Plus, things I've already done:
-Cancelled all my online accounts that had monthly fees
-Got rid of my satellite radio and just use my iphone
-CANCELLED MY CABLE AND MY TELEPHONE, don't need them with a good internet connection and an iphone. That saved me like $70 a month.
-Walked to the grocery store instead of driving.
-Make my coffee at home or in the office (my company provides pretty decent coffee)
-Make a list before going to Target and only buy the things I need. I'm now in and out of Target in 5 minutes instead of the normal 1-2 hours of browsing that I normally do.
-Downsized my storage unit to a smaller unit, saving me $55 a month. Got rid of a boat load of stuff on Craigslist and in the process made extra money. Seriously if you've had it in storage for more then 3-6 months and haven't touched it, time to get rid of it all on Craigslist or ebay (or donate to charity)
-Refinanced my auto loan last year. Payment went from $568 to $240. Downside is that I had 18 months left on my loan, after re-financing I had 60 (now 48)...
Things I might still do:
-Call all my credit card companies and tell them I'm struggling and see if I can get a better rate. Some people have had luck with this, they would rather lower your rate and your payments then have you default.
-Cancel my gym membership or ask about a lower priced option (threatening to cancel usually gets them to start giving you better deals)
-Cook at home even more.... And only eat out once a month instead of once or twice a week.
You are only 4 years away from retirement and you've lost $7000? You must either a) not have enough money saved for retirement, or b) have your money invested in EXTREMELY conservative funds such as bonds rather then the stock market.
The reason I say that is that I'm 32, and at the peak of the stock market, I had over $11,000 in my 401k and it's down to $5500. I've lost over $5500 this year, so for you to be close to retirement and only be loosing $7000 is amazing, consider yourself lucky (or not if you don't have enough saved).
It makes me sick, imagine if I had $100,000 or $500,000 in my 401k, to loose 55% of your value in 1 year that is just insane.