Being let go from your job can be a distressing experience. Questions flow through your mind about how to provide for your family and pay the bills while searching for another job. Calm down and take a deep breath. Even though losing your job may have resulted from circumstances beyond your control, there are things you can do to stay afloat until that next employment opportunity comes along.
Resolve to stay positive
Attitude is key. Having a bitter or self-pitying mindset will only hinder your progress in moving forward to bigger and better things. Acknowledge your anger, hurt, fear, and the many other emotions you are no doubt experiencing but do not allow them to determine the whole course of your day. If you must ruminate, give yourself thirty minutes, but no more than once a day. Then get started on being proactive.
Take a day off
Your first day after being let go should be a chance to re-group. Stay at home. Wear your PJs. Take a bubble bath if it makes you feel good. If you dive straight into the job search, you’ll be putting a lot of undue stress on yourself and the last thing you want when you walk into your first job interview is high-stress levels. When you finally do get started on those job applications, you’ll be in a much better mental state to tackle what lies ahead. Just make sure not to wait too long. The day after your personal break, you need to go to work. You won’t have a time clock, but your bill collectors will so don't wait longer than twenty-four hours before beginning a dedicated job hunt.
Send up the smoke signal
Nothing beats good old-fashioned networking. Alert your friends, family, and any associates from your business and social sphere that you are currently on the lookout for employment opportunities. Think of them as extra sets of eyes and ears. They have their own set of networks as well, which potentially enables you to be introduced to job openings you never considered.
Read Some Interview Questions on the web and prepare yourself
Take advantage of the web
Social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook are great ways to gain exposure and to develop new business contacts and leads. Have an idea of what company or field you want to get into? Simply following a particular business on Facebook or Twitter allows you to get an idea of what that business is looking for. Sometimes job openings are announced exclusively through social media, so check back often. Just avoid getting involved in negative conversations. You want to maintain an air of professionalism online as well as in real life.
There's also a lot of career advice on the web so look for good sites like Yahoo to give you some solid career advice. Finally, get cranking job-search sites like indeed.com and monster.com. The more applications you can put out there, the better your chances are and the faster you'll hear back from employers. Remember that it’s going to be a process. After your applications are out, it could be a week before you hear back, another week before you go in for your interview and yet another week before you start. You might have a slow month ahead of you so the more applications, the better.