How To Cope With Unemployment Till Finding A New Job?
16.03.2022
I think we can all agree, UNEMPLOYMENT SUCKS! And for many, Covid-19 has made it nearly impossible to find a new job. Throughout the years I’ve developed some coping mechanisms to endure both expected and unexpected emails with the subject title “cancellation of labor contract”. Here are my tips for coping with unemployment:
Let that Sink In
After getting the bad news, you are probably feeling frustrated and devastated – maybe you’re trying to hold back the tears. You start to wonder “Why me?!”. Sit yourself down and think. Maybe this is a new opportunity to find the job of your dreams or spend more time with your family? After doing your best to accept the situation, pack up your stuff, say goodbye to your friends and colleagues, and leave. Even though it’s tempting, don’t steal or harm anything. Maybe this is only temporary and very soon they will be calling you back…
Sharing the News
For me this is the worst part. Now you need to call your family or go to them with the bad news. Most of the time their voices will calm you down and help you stand firm. If you are lucky enough to have a supportive family, you will feel everything is going to be okay.
The Future
The future will always seem a little foggy in the beginning. I generally give myself one or two days to rest and recover while the fresh unemployment stress wears off. After you give yourself this time, now it’s time to update your CV, LinkedIn profile and to inform your network about your situation. Who knows, maybe they’ll contact you straight away for your next job. But be ready for this period to last a little longer than expected. Try to avoid catastrophizing
– start to think of new ideas for how you can earn some money.
Money
Hopefully you had some money saved for hard times like this. Plus, you may receive some compensation from your old work. But be careful with your savings, you don’t know how long this situation will last. If you weren’t able to save money, or you spent your savings on something unavoidable (in my situation I had to spend my savings on health issues), try to use any money you have as carefully as possible. Find a way to earn or save extra money. You can cancel unnecessary memberships, or if you’re good at tutoring, maybe you can give some private lessons on the side.
Side Hustles
Since the dawn of employment, people have had side hustles to earn themselves some extra money. If you already had a side hustle, maybe you can start doing that as your main job. From my point of view, the job I’m doing doesn’t matter as long as I’m earning clean money.
Freelancing
Being a freelancer could be a good option. Maybe you’ll even fall in love with it and continue with it for many years. Think about your abilities and offer these services to people. In today’s world, freelancing and working from home is becoming more and more common.
Job Hunting
Job hunting is really hard, especially you haven’t done it in years. Applying to countless job and getting rejections or often no answer can drive you crazy. Try to relax; there are always countless candidates, and more often than not some of them will be better than you. So, try to focus on improving yourself. Pick some skills you want to focus on and improve during this unemployment period; it could be learning a language, how to code, specific work training, or honing your craft in your favorite hobby. Adding new skills to your CV will always help you later on.
Never forget that these days will be over. If you need help, you can always ask your loved ones, they’ll understand.