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Ask HN: Laid off. Now what?

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Re: Ask HN: Laid off. Now what?

#61

Post by AnimalMuppet »

_m8fo wrote: post #2

1. I would immediately file for unemployment in your area, if applicable. 2. Take one day and just relax. Have the most fun you can possibly have that doesn't damage your health or take anything more than a trivial amount of money. 3. Calculate your burn rate and cut expenses. 4. Accept that you have a new job. Your new job is finding a new job. 5. Dedicate 20 hours a week to finding and applying to jobs. You can jus…

0. If you feel like it, go ahead and take 15 minutes or half an hour and cry. When the half hour is over, though, be done. Move on to 1.

Re: Ask HN: Laid off. Now what?

#62

Post by AlwaysRock »

AlwaysRock wrote: post #60

If you post on your linkedin that you are looking you will probably have a number of people reach out.

Example: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6235583...

Engineer from Zenefits was laid off. Plenty of people reaching out. You could honestly even just reach out to all the people who reached out to her.

Re: Ask HN: Laid off. Now what?

#63

Post by quicklyfrozen »

pasbesoin wrote: post #53
quicklyfrozen wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

COBRA will also end with the company's health plan, so it won't be available once the company fully closes down.

Hmm. Does it? That seems to be a loophole that would have been covered when COBRA was enacted -- the insurance company still being in business and able to ensure, with payments coming from the insured (or an administrative third party) rather than the employer. I don't know, so I'm asking. If I were the OP, I'd double-check this point with respect to their state's laws and regulations as well as Federal law and regul…

I was surprised as well, but as COBRA allows you to remain under the company's health plan, that option goes away if the health plan goes away, and the plan goes away when the company stops contributing. When my last employer shut down, we had less then a week to find a replacement -- we were paid up to the end of the month, but that was it.

Re: Ask HN: Laid off. Now what?

#64

Post by abeyer »

sixdimensional wrote: post #39
_m8fo wrote: post #2

1. I would immediately file for unemployment in your area, if applicable. 2. Take one day and just relax. Have the most fun you can possibly have that doesn't damage your health or take anything more than a trivial amount of money. 3. Calculate your burn rate and cut expenses. 4. Accept that you have a new job. Your new job is finding a new job. 5. Dedicate 20 hours a week to finding and applying to jobs. You can jus…

(US only) 1.1 If available, ensure temporary on-going health insurance coverage via COBRA [1]. Usually your former employer / previous health insurance is required to send you a letter regarding how to file for COBRA - otherwise ask. I had exactly, precisely the same thing happen to me. I agree with 1-5 above (and 6 in the child post). Try (really hard) not to get depressed and find a weird way to enjoy this unforese…

You may want to check out ACA plans for insurance, too. Depending on what your needs are and how much your employer was paying, COBRA coverage may be significantly more expensive than your options under ACA. Also, COBRA will only last as long as the company does. (see discussion downthread)

Losing a job allows you to enroll in ACA plans outside of the normal enrollment period, but only for a limited time, so check into that soon if you want to.

Re: Ask HN: Laid off. Now what?

#65

Post by crgt »

wazanator wrote: post #37
crgt wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. And, at least for a family, rent is 3k-4k+. Where's the real cash drain?

They're both cash drains. One's just bigger then the other, cutting back on both is sound advice if you are looking to save. I agree that you are probably right in that rent is a bigger factor but they are also right in that by not eating an expensive lunch everyday will add up over time. I think everyone can agree that learning how to properly budget finances should be something we all should learn.

I guess I was thinking about it in the context of saving up six months of living expenses. If rent is 4k+ you have to skip a lot lunches to save enough to cover that for six months with no income..

Re: Ask HN: Laid off. Now what?

#66

Post by qhoc »

usernametbd wrote: post #11

What kind of job were you working in? If you are in the software field, you chances of finding employment again are high. But the key is for you to act fast. While it is sad that you are out of job, this is not the time to regret or ponder over what you could have done differently. There is plenty of time for that. I can share my own story. On one Saturday, I got a phone call from a co-worker that there are rumors of…

I got a question about severance and new job. Some companies (like mine) will ask you to report new job and they will cut severance (monthly salary). If so, how do you deal with that? Many of my previous co-workers told me they just lied and the company never checked (all verbal or writing).

Re: Ask HN: Laid off. Now what?

#67

Post by jon-wood »

bsvalley wrote: post #20
falcolas wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I didn't find that any form of break between interviews made a difference (excepting when I had to fly out of state). I was fine doing 2-3 interviews (in person combined with phone) a day when they came up. It's probably a personal thing. If you do need a break between interviews, submitting new applications or working on your skills makes for a decent filler. Like a regular paying job, you'll get out of…

Sure, you can practice and reflect on the previous interview in-between. Your level of concentration is so high during a technical interview, as soon as you disconnect you get a big drop. For an onsite for example, you go to 5-10 45 minutes interviews in a row... you're in until the end, then you crash at night in your bed. No way you can do the same thing the next morning.

5-10 interviews in a row seems ridiculous to me. It may be that I focus on smaller companies, but I've never done more than two interviews for any job, and usually its just a phone screen and an in-person interview.

Re: Ask HN: Laid off. Now what?

#68

Post by arvinsim »

_m8fo wrote: post #2

1. I would immediately file for unemployment in your area, if applicable. 2. Take one day and just relax. Have the most fun you can possibly have that doesn't damage your health or take anything more than a trivial amount of money. 3. Calculate your burn rate and cut expenses. 4. Accept that you have a new job. Your new job is finding a new job. 5. Dedicate 20 hours a week to finding and applying to jobs. You can jus…

> Spend 15 hours a week attempting to make actionable progress improving your interviewing ability.

Do you have any suggestions on how to do this?

Re: Ask HN: Laid off. Now what?

#69

Post by 2061a48b32e8 »

Personally, I took some time to learn.

I don't mean learning on the job, or learning for a purpose, but rather, studying.

It won't, however, buy you anything beyond what you feel you have gained (no one will necessarily care about what you learned).

But for yourself, take that time, and enjoy the experience.

As IT people, we tend to be focus on acquiring knowledge for a purpose, and we aren't always great at actually learning, vs. learning what we need to do right now.

I found that receiving education I sought out was beneficial, and made me more engaged in learning. That isn't marketable, but from a personal perspective, is important.

As others have suggested, see what the state can do to help the financial side of things, and think about this in a different way: if you had quit, and wanted to find the right step to take next, what would you do?

It is a luxury to do this (I live in Europe, it is easier), but one you should consider affording yourself: you are your first work tool.

Re: Ask HN: Laid off. Now what?

#70

Post by rstormsf »

sumedh wrote: post #40
bsvalley wrote: post #3

- First outcome => Working for a startup is riskier than working for an established company. - Second outcome => Do I want to work for a startup again in the future? No. - Third outcome => If a startup is successful, the outcome is disproportionate between the founders and the employees. But, it if fails, we're all equally unemployed. Do I really want to be an employee at a startup? nope.

Well that depends, if you have no dependents and some money in the bank you can take a risk by working in a startup, you get to learn so much.

yes, but we are talking about rewards. It's still high risk/low reward
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