Have you received a layoff letter? If so, you’re not alone – Literally millions of Americans have faced being out of work at one point or another during their careers.
While your thoughts may be focused on finding your next job, here are five quick action steps you should consider before beginning the job search:
1. Gather your paperwork. Collect all of the information that your employer provided at departure, including the layoff letter, and a copy of an old pay stub.
2. Find the contact information for your boss or human resources manager – you’ll need this for your unemployment claim application.
3. Determine the dates you were employed. This is very important in determining your unemployment eligibility.
4. Calculate how much you earned over the past year.
5. Find out where to apply. Here is a list of links to all 50 state websites if you are looking to file for unemployment benefits online. Applying online (vs. over the phone or in person) enables you to collect benefits much sooner.
A layoff may not be fun, and the formalized layoff letter doesn’t do much to help. It can, however, greatly help in supporting your eligibility for unemployment benefits, and can be viewed as the first page in the next chapter of your career.
Note: Once you have successfully filed for unemployment benefits, take a look at our Career Resources page for a comprehensive list of tools and websites to help you in the job search process.
Economists love the notion of “frictional unemployment.” Some may go as far as to say that all unemployment is frictional – meaning a mismatch in the supply land demand for labor.
One definition (courtesy of BusinessDictionary.com) describes frictional unemployment as follows: “Temporary unemployment arising out of the inevitable time lags in the functioning of labor markets, such as the time taken in moving from one job to another.”
Said another way, if you are out of work and looking for a new job, an economist might classify you as unemployed due to the “friction” in the economy.
Here’s an example: if you worked for an automobile manufacturer in Michigan, and your job was replaced by a worker at a facility in Korea, your unemployment could be considered frictional, as you would be looking for another opportunity to work with the skills you have or learn additional skills that would allow you to pursue a different type of job.
While logically sound, I have trouble the idea of frictional unemployment because it is too theoretical. It is easy for an economist to pontificate about the state of unemployment, but it is much more difficult when you are a personal victim of the “friction.”
Take a look at the short video below by Latoya Egwuekwe. It is an excellent compilation of county-level unemployment data over the course of the recession. [Note: There is no audio.]
There are currently over 15 million people unemployed. When you take into account everyone else who is underemployed, involuntarily working part-time, or who have given up looking for work, the number jumps to over 30 million!
One of the first things you need to do is to sign up for unemployment benefits.
At any given time, millions of people are out of work. But, believe it or not, less than half of Americans who are unemployed actually receive unemployment benefits!
Typically, unemployment benefits last for a maximum of 26 weeks. With the recent state and federal programs and subsidies, however, you can now get up to 99 weeks of unemployment compensation. At over $450 per week in some states, this amounts to nearly $45,000 of money from the government while you are searching for a job.
Applying for unemployment benefits is a relatively straightforward process, and can be accomplished online or over the phone.
Once you have decided to sign up for unemployment benefits, the next step is to determine your unemployment eligibility.
Have you received a layoff letter? If so, you’re not alone – Literally millions of Americans have faced being out of work at one point or another during their careers. 
Were you recently laid off? 