Ask HN: How did you cope with being laid-off?

[altotrees]

There are rumblings that several of my team members and I may be facing a grim future at September's end. I have enough savings to get me through 6 months, and feel like I will be able to find something else, but the uncertainty is still nerve wracking. Have you ever been laid-off and how did you bounce back from it?

[WorldMaker]

One of the hardest things to remember is that despite what our culture seems to believe: your moral worth is not equivalent to the value of your current employment relationship. Don't let anyone, especially self-doubt, try to blame the lay-off on you or that you did anything right/wrong. Don't let anyone tell you while you are unemployed and seeking employment that you are worthless or terrible.

One especially hard one, I found, to deal with is unemployment insurance. You pay into unemployment insurance while employed, it's an insurance product designed to soften the blow in precisely these sorts of situations. Some state governments (in my case I especially throw shade on Indiana) force you to read brochures (and sign and fill out forms) designed to make you feel as guilty as possible to deign to take money out of the insurance pool you contributed to. It's hard to stay emotionally afloat when even the systems designed to help support you in a tumultuous time were designed to also harass you for needing them.

It can be a full time job to interview and look for your next job. Don't forget to take some emotional breaks and see friends and family you love and remind yourself you aren't alone, and are worth more to the world than just the job that laid you off or the next job that you will eventually find.

[Jeremy1026]

I've been back to work for a month following a 3-month layoff. I knew my company was heading down a dark path at the end of last year and started to reply to recruiters that would contact me. When a dozen people were marched into a room and to see HR and the two owners sitting together was still quite the shock though.

I made sure to keep a routine during my time off. I set my alarm and got up on time each morning. After dropping my kid off at day care I came home and did an hour or so of applying to jobs.

The first week or so I only applied to dream jobs, and slowly started to expand my search. My search criteria expanded as follows:

Exclusive work from home, iOS Developer, making $$$+

Willing to go to an office 3 days a week, iOS Developer, making $$$+

Willing to go to an office 3 days a week, iOS/Web Developer, $$+

One day remote, iOS/Web Developer, $$+

Pays me money

I ended up landing a job that offers one day a week remote and a $10k pay raise. I'm not doing iOS work though. Persistence is key, start to expand your network now, and honestly, might not hurt to try to beat HR to their own game.

No one (visibly) gave pause when I explained that I was laid off, it may have helped that I would follow up my reason for looking with mention that former supervisors and owners are willing references if we get to that point.

[zapperdapper]

Something to bear in mind. I've been in this game 33 years now and very few of the companies I worked for even exist today. They either went bust or were bought by a bigger company. And I'm not talking fly by night companies either: MySQL AB bought by Sun for 1 billion. Sun bought by Oracle. One day someone will probably buy Oracle (God help them!).

One company I worked for I literally had about an hour's notice before they shuttered. I was working from home on the Friday and got a call late afternoon and while my manager was on the phone the sys admins shut down the networks and an hour or so later everyone had gone home and the company never opened its doors again!

Being laid off can work out. The last time I got laid off I took the plunge, went contracting, and never looked back.

My advice. Stay cool. You have savings (many don't). This could be a good opportunity for you.

[spoonie]

In March 2013 I was laid off from Research In Motion. It was my first full-time job. I got 10 weeks of severance (I'd been employed since January 2012), on top of the savings I had.

I was pretty shocked, so I took a few days of "vacation" to not think about anything work related. Then I started looking around for a new job, secured by the knowledge that I had money for living expenses for the near future. I started out selectively: looking for fun jobs that interested me. I took a part time job at a startup, partnered up on a business idea with some friends from the local Linux Users Group. Eventually I found a new full-time job overseas through a friend.

[gaius]

No company hires anyone just because. Management have a plan and need people to help execute it. If layoffs occur it is because management failed to execute the plan - and workers bear the consequences. That's all it is. Anyone who has been around the block, or worked in volatile industries, knows the score, so don't worry about being judged in your next interview. When they ask why you left your last job look them in the eye and say layoffs, anyone worth working for will understand. Good luck!

[meric]

You can wait for the ship to sink before swimming to the next ship or you can jump and board another ship while the current one is still afloat. Both are viable options - depends how much you like swimming in possibilities/uncertainties, but it sounds like you find it nerve wracking. :)

[ghostbrainalpha]

Make sure to start collecting unemployment as soon as possible. For people with savings that don't feel like they need it, you can tend to let that slip.

If the job search takes longer than you anticipated you may have left a few thousand on the table.

[pasbesoin]

Also, factor in and take COBRA health insurance (if your context provides for it).

You never know what might hit. The group pricing is cheaper than you will find, individually.

And, with the uncertainty in U.S. health care (if we are talking about the U.S. context), it is worthwhile right now to maintain continuous coverage. You don't want one or another variation of the ACA "repeal" push to suddenly make a gap in coverage much more significant and negatively impactful.

[pasbesoin]

Don't wait. Start taking action, now.

Not only will you be further along if it does happen. You'll feel more in control and less stressed.

[Eridrus]

Start searching for a job now.