In the five years after graduating college, I changed jobs five different times. In most cases, it wasn’t really my choice, but I was forced to make tough decisions due to the lack of growth in my profession (journalism) and the state of the economy. It was during these first few years of my career that I learned how to survive a layoff.
Seek opportunity
My first job out of college was part-time making $11 an hour working for a newspaper as an assistant reporter. Even though I had no benefits and had to work three additional jobs at one point in order to pay my bills, I stuck with it.
Sure enough, eventually a full-time opportunity opened up. I kept the job for a year, surviving three different rounds of layoffs at this company. Because I was so low on the totem pole, executives didn’t care too much about slashing my position. However, I knew the string of layoffs didn’t bode well for my career-who wants to be afraid of losing their job all the time and be consistently dealing with layoffs?
As soon as I heard about an opportunity to work at a small public relations firm, I took it. I increased my annual salary by 25% and started to get my footing in a new career path.
Listen at the water cooler
After about a year at my second job, the economy started to tank and we lost some major clients. I could have kept my head in the sand, but I chose to be proactive. I began looking for jobs and applying to anything that sounded like it would remotely be a good fit.
I ended up scoring an interview for a top 15 national advertising agency the same week that I found out my work hours had been cut 20%. I beat out several hundred other applicants to get the job.
However, this was the middle of 2009-the peak of the economic collapse. Two months after starting the job, everyone received a 10% paycut…and then the rumors started. While several of my co-workers chose to stick their head in the sand, I began almost immediately starting another job search.
Network, network, network
As part of my job search, I attended local networking groups, as well as met with all of my past supervisors so they could keep their ears open for any available job opportunities. It’s important to maintain good relationships with all previous supervisors so they will not only give you a great recommendation but will help you when you’re looking for a job.
Two weeks before I was laid off, an old boss called me on a Friday morning and gave me a lead for a job opportunity. By Monday evening, I was hired. I worked both jobs for the two weeks until I was laid off from the first job (I waited it out to see if there was a severance package-there wasn’t).
Pay your dues
While I was very proactive in my own job searches, I also paid my dues in each job I held. I made myself an invaluable employee. I worked hard and often went above and beyond what my job required of me.
Being an easy-going yet hard-working employee usually means your name won’t be first on the chopping block. It’s one way to secure your spot.
But even if you should find yourself collecting an unemployment check anyway, it’s important to maintain a positive relationship with your previous supervisor so that they will keep an open ear out for any future job opportunities.
Surviving a layoff requires hard work, perseverance, and a lot of can-do attitude.
