Ask HN: You lose your job, with 2 months of savings. What do you do?

[pwncat]

This is one of those "if the worst happens" hypotheticals, though I'd imagine it has happened to some of us. You lose your job, get no severance, and have 2 months of savings. Let's also assume that no one in your network can help you out.

Where do you send your first 10 resumes, and what roles do you ask for/expect? (Also state where you are in your career.) Do you take roles below your ability (and the attendant career risks) or hold out for something interesting?

[qohen]

1. Post your resume to http://monster.com, http://dice.com and the rest. Also, post it to the resume section of http://craigslist.org (assuming you live in a city served by Craigslist). This way, recruiters and companies will find you, rather than you having to go after them. (Yes, you'll get some inappropriate jobs from recruiters who aren't so swift, but you can filter them out).

2. Refresh your resume: after posting your resume, you should periodically refresh it--in Craigslist the resume only lasts 30 days, if memory serves and on Monster, you should re-save your resume to update the last-updated date every week or so to push it to the top of the pile (you may need to make some minor alteration to get it to save).

(Note: a recruiter told me that they can see the date you first posted your resume, despite this kind of updating, so that if your job search has been going on for a long time, it can make sense to delete the resume and post it from scratch, so you don't look like someone who has been looking a long time unsuccessfully--only one recruiter has told me this, I don't have independent confirmation).

3. Keep looking yourself--don't rely on recruiters to bring things to you--look in the "eng" and "sof" sections of Craigslist for tech jobs that you can respond to (assuming again that there's an appropriate Craigslist for you--or, if you are willing to relocate, check the Craigslists for those locations). Also, use the job meta-search engines, such as http://indeed.com and http://simplyhired.com to save time. And, if there are specialized boards related to what you do, check there (e.g. http://jobs.perl.org)

4. Go to user group meetings, meetups (i.e. look at http://meetup.com), etc. in fields that are of interest to you and talk to people there--social networking in real-life can lead to employment opportunities, esp. since many jobs never get posted anywhere. Also, there are informal social events involving tech people, e.g. in Los Angeles, there's a standing Thursday lunch group in Santa Monica: http://thursdaylunch.com

There may be some sort of site keeping track of most of these meetings, e.g. in Los Angeles, there's http://latechcalendar.com/

5. Real life social networks:

- College alumni association: another social network to investigate: your college alumni association. You may be able to search it online to find people involved in relevant areas as you who might be of help.

- Cultural/Religious associations: e.g. if you're plugged in to such institutions, someone might be able to help or to refer you to someone who can.

6. Online social networks: The online social networks can be helpful too--http://linkedin.com seems especially relevant here, though no doubt others are too.

7. Expand your search: you might want to look at non-development jobs where your tech skills could come in handy, at least temporarily. E.g. training, teaching, tech support, sales support, etc.

Good luck.

P.S. It ain't over till it's over: even when you think you may have found something where they like you, etc. until you actually sign on, keep looking--things have a way of falling through sometimes, so don't stop until it's a done deal.

[Tangurena]

Step 1: file for unemployment immediately.

Step 2: very carefully husband your money. If you have student loans, call them and ask for a deferrment until you start a job again. Likewise, ask your lenders for a deferrment as well.

Step 3: if you have friends or family that you can move in with, consider doing so.

Step 4: don't be fat. There is a lot of subtle discrimination against obesity, and not-so-subtle discrimination against being old (where old tends to be 35ish).

In 2001, I got laid off like a lot of developers. At that time, I had about 6 months of money in the bank, and I felt that I could ride out the downturn in the economy. I was too proud to file for unemployment at the beginning, and as the money dwindled, I found out that the contract agency that I was hired through had claimed I was employed for 3 months after I got laid off (they did that sort of thing to reduce unemployment insurance premiums). It took months to get that straightened out with the unemployment agency and by the time I got my first unemployment check, I also managed to get hired - 9 months after getting laid off. I ended up losing my car that summer to the repo man, and I couldn't get my mortgage/hoa payments caught up either, so I ended up losing my condo about 5 months after starting a job that was a 40% paycut.

The next time I ended up unemployed for an extended period (2003-4), I ended up using my lifetime benefits for unemployment in FL (if you make what most devs make, you'll hit that cap in about 6 months of unemployment). I moved in with friends, who had a hard time understanding just how bad the economy was, and that strained a friendship that has never recovered.

Back then, I sent out dozens of resumes every day to anything on Monster (or the local news papers) that looked like a job I could do.

In an absolute worst case scenario, talk to an Army recruiter. If they were taking 43 year olds in 2003, I would have enlisted. The army is taking folks that old NOW (marines, navy and air force won't take anyone 30+ without prior experience), but back when we were "winning" the cap was much lower.

[Chocobean]

If you have no income and only 2 months of savings, you don't think about the first 10 resumes you send out -- you bloody send them everywhere, to everyone.

[tjpick]

1. Why wouldn't your "network" (or as I like to call them in the real world, "friends") help out? If you think no one in your "network" can help, you didn't think hard enough.

2. Don't send 10 resumes. Narrow it down better, concentrate, and work hard and fast to get some offers on the table.

3. Accept an offer, starting date +1 month, buy a ticket to Europe and load whatever is left on your visa. Perfect opportunity for a holiday.

[qohen]

2. Don't send 10 resumes. Narrow it down better, concentrate, and work hard and fast to get some offers on the table.

This doesn't seem like very good advice. After all, getting a job is all about the numbers--the more times you're "at bat", the more chances you have to hit the ball.

And, while you may plan to "work hard and fast to get some offers on the table", those offers are completely in the hands of the hiring companies--some of them are going to take their time, some of them are going to interview multiple people and decide to hire someone other than you, etc.

So, again, you'd better be getting yourself out in front of as many companies as possible and doing all the interviews you can get. If nothing else, you'll get better at doing interviews--you'll be more confident, you'll pick up interview questions that you'll be able to answer better the next time, etc.

(Also, IMHO, given the current economy, it doesn't seem like a very good idea to blow off a new job for a month, particularly if one doesn't have much money).

[tjpick]

Well yeah that's probably the conventional advice. But it's not what I do.

Stop swinging the bat like an idiot, watch the ball and play the right stroke for the delivery.

[pwncat]

Networking is always hit-or-miss, and I'm asking about a worst-case, not average case, scenario.

[adelle]

Trim half of your experience from your CV. No one wants to hire a know-it-all. If you don't have much experience, then go to several recruiters - they are all about finding bodies and they're not too fussy. If you're a chick, then change the name on your CV to one that can be interpreted as either male or female, eg. "Chris" or "Kim". If you have 2 months of savings then party like it's 1999 because it could be worse.

[ddemchuk]

On the lifestyle side, immediately cut out going out to dinner, new clothes, going to movies, bars, all of the extra stuff that can be done for much less money in different ways.

I have made a good number of poor decisions financially in the last year since losing my last job and now have to work twice as hard to get caught back up. If you immediately cut your overhead down to a bare minimum than you're in much better shape to a) last longer without a job and b) bounce right back financially once you're back on your feet.

When it comes to the professional side, look to your immediate life network (friends, family, even former colleagues) for projects that can utilize the skillset you have and begin freelancing to offset your lost income. While doing so, you can continue looking for a stable "9-5" job but at least you know you won't go broke until then...

[firebug]

Let's not assume that no one in your network can help you out. This is a worst case scenario that requires the help of those close to you - family, extended family and close friends if necessary. The approach you take is also going to be highly relative to your experience level. Obviously if you have a ton of experience and there is going to be a bidding war for your talent, then there's not much to worry about. Otherwise a job search that takes six months or more to find a job that is suited to your goals is not unheard of and, indeed, I would say is actually the norm. Some people will say a good engineer should be able to get a job in two weeks regardless of the economy. And I've heard of that. But don't count on it. Instead make preparations for an extended job search and use undesirable work - office temp work, etc - to build up some savings so you can get out of your relatives' hair.

[pwncat]

I'm explicitly asking how people would respond to a worst-case scenario.

This isn't something that has ever happened to me (although it theoretically could) and it's not my situation now. I'm just curious how people on here would handle it.

[GrandMasterBirt]

I highly recommend going to multiple recruiters. If for nothing else but to critique your resumes and see how they would go about selling you. Use that to either get the job or get a better idea.

2 mo. of savings is cutting it rough. If you have family who you can trust with your life, consider transferring any assets (like a car) to them and essentially squatting it out in your apartment (assuming you rent). If you have a mortgage immediately start going through the red-tape of your bank. It may be many months until they really get to you and if you play ball they may allow you to postpone enough payments until you get back on your feet.

[qohen]

I highly recommend going to multiple recruiters. If for nothing else but to critique your resumes and see how they would go about selling you. Use that to either get the job or get a better idea.

I'll second this--I got a lot of useful suggestions for retooling my resume from several different recruiters. And, of course, more recruiters means more possible job opportunities to look into.