By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

After 9 months of career transition, I am gainfully employed again! I'm excited to be working in an amazing organizational development role. 

Each layoff and subsequent job search brings its own challenges. Take a look at my lessons learned from this time around. 

​People often ask how long a career transition lasts. To give a partial answer to that question, here is my unscientific, skewed-sample-size data on how long each of my periods of post-layoff career transition have lasted.

The time listed starts with my last day of work with my previous employer (aka "Layoff Day") and ends with my first workday in a new role:

• October 10 - April 8, 180 days (6 months)
• February 2 - May 27, 114 days (not quite 4 months)
• June 5 - August 14, 70 days (just over 2 months)
• October 16 - March 12, 147 days (not quite 5 months)
• September 22 - December 2, 71 days  (just over 2 months)
• March 8 - April 27, 50 days (not quite 2 months)
• September 21 - June 12, 264 days (not quite 9 months)

Overall, my average time in career transition is 128 days (just over 4 months). 
Layoff #7 was the longest one I've had so far, and 3 months longer than my previous record.

There are a few key factors that made this period of career transition longer than after my previous layoffs:
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• Time of year: 3 of the 4 times I have been laid off in the fall, I have not found a new role until after the holidays. In general, I find that if I have not accepted a new role before Thanksgiving, it takes me until at least March to land a job. Being unemployed over the holidays adds 1-2 months on to the total time in transition. 
• Other layoffs: The flood of mortgage company and tech company layoffs starting in the fall of 2022 made the market very competitive with lots and lots of job seekers.
• Initial focus on remote work only: Early in my job search, I was focusing primarily on roles with 100% remote work. I learned that many of these roles had hundreds of applications since now people from around the country, not just one localized geographic area, were applying. 

In April, when I re-launched my job search, I changed my overall approach. 

• I was open to a wider variety of job titles and placed a heavier focus on core responsibilities. 
• I focused on companies with a presence in Nebraska.
• I was more open to hybrid roles. 
• I relied more heavily on formal and informal referrals. 

At this point in my job search, I had also built stronger relationships with my colleagues in my Omaha-area professional development groups. When I first launched my job search in the fall, I had only been in the area for 2 months. Between then and April, I had met more people in person, talked with them in meetings, presented to groups, and helped a few of them solve business problems. I'm sure getting to know me better and working alongside me helped them to feel more comfortable speaking to my skillset and recommending me as my job search progressed. 

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

When you're looking for a new role, there is a lot to do to help move your job search along. Getting your resume where you want it to be, tracking application progress, and scheduling meetings with others can take a lot of time and effort. Here are three excellent tools to help manage, streamline, and optimize your job search. 

​The tools mentioned here all have a robust set of features in the free version with the option to pay for additional functionality. I'll focus on currently available features included as a part of the free version. ​Links for each tool are included in the "Learn More" section. 

Teal is helpful in multiple aspects of my job search. Teal enables me to save jobs of interest, evaluate highlighted qualifications, and track my application progress with roles.

Here is how I use Teal in my job search:
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• When I search for jobs on LinkedIn or Indeed, I use the Teal Chrome extension to bookmark roles of interest, which creates a record in Teal. 
• Then, I read each job description, review keywords included in the listing, and prioritize jobs by rating them from one to five stars. 
• Next, I use the keywords Teal highlights to customize my resume for the specific position. 
• Then, after applying, I update my status in Teal to Applied and include any details in the notes. 
• As I progress through the interview process, I update my job search status, add notes, and include details (like salary range and key people involved in the hiring process) to keep all information for each position in one place. 

Teal continues to evolve and add new features--and offers much more than I currently use. This is the cornerstone of how I track my current job-searching activities. 

Meeting with people during your job search can be very valuable. Whether you're meeting to learn more about a company, find out what tasks one does in a given line of work, or catch up with a former corworker, streamlining your scheduling process is a big timesaver. 

Enter Calendly. You can create a Calendly account, add your personal branding, and add language to describe yourself and what you want. You can also link Calendly with your Google Calendar and your webinar account (like Zoom or Google Meetup). Without paying an additional cost, you can select one free meeting type. I use the half-hour meeting, and I call mine "Virtual Coffee." It’s also helpful because our meeting can last as long as it needs to last (beyond that specified half hour) with no issues.

Within Calendly, you can set up your available days and times, choose how far out in the future people can schedule a meeting with you, and even decide how many meetings you are open to having on a given day. In addition, you can select the mode of the meeting (phone or online) and include a few questions to help clarify the goals of the meeting.

Here is how I use Calendly in my job search:
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• When one of my LinkedIn connections expresses interest in meeting, I send them a link to my Calendly calendar. This eliminates the 2-10 messages we would otherwise send back and forth to determine when to meet.
• They select a time that works for them from the times I provide that I know work for me. They also let me know if they would prefer to meet via Zoom or Phone, provide their contact information, and answer a couple of questions on the purpose of our meeting. 
• Calendly sends each of us a meeting invitation, including the details they specified. If we're having a webinar, Calendly includes webinar information in the meeting request. 
• Calendly has features to enable either of us to cancel or reschedule the meeting as needed. 
• I include my Calendly link on the top of my resume alongside my other contact information to make it easier for a possible hiring manager or recruiter to find a time for us to talk. 

​Calendly automates key components of scheduling. With a minor setup on the front end, I can spend less time finding a meeting time and more time on other valuable job searching and networking tasks.

Your job search is all about communicating your value to hiring managers and recruiters. Ensuring your writing is clear and correct is essential to demonstrate your professional value and credibility. Enter my new best friend, Grammarly. This spelling and grammar checker goes above and beyond what you may already have in word processing or email platforms. I run any communication I will put in front of job-searching influencers through Grammarly.

Here is how I use Calendly in my job search:
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• Each time I write or customize an email, I run it through Grammarly. It catches the times when I update a sentence to make it more applicable to a specific employer but forget to include enough of the right words to make an actual sentence. 
• Each time I update my resume, I do one last Grammarly check to ensure I'm using the correct word and that it hangs together. I also remind Grammarly in that case that my statements are written correctly.
• Each time I make a social media post, especially if I'm thinking and commenting as I write, to ensure that my final product is in actual human-readable sentences. 

Even this English major appreciates having Grammarly as a second set of eyes (or, in this case, AI) to polish my writing. 

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

When your “day job ends”, many things in your financial life change. For one, what is for many people their core source of income, ends. This often prompts a quick shift to a short-term survival mindset that will last from the layoff event until the first paycheck from that new job arrives. 

Let's talk about how to manage your healthcare during this time.  Note that I’ll outline options first, and then you can review all of the links at the end of this article for additional information. Brace yourself—there is a lot going on here.

Disclaimer: (You know there has to be one of these now that we're talking about topics like personal finances and health insurance.)

While I know quite a bit based on my previous work experience supporting financial coaches, my own research, and my personal life experiences, I do not currently hold a license or certification to give financial advice. The information provided here is educational information provided as guidance.

I hope you glean value from my lessons learned. Feel free to take my recommendations or not—but whatever you do, double-check my facts (and everyone's facts, for that matter). This is your life, and you will care more about your finances and health care than anyone else does. With that, read on. ​

​In the United States, where health insurance for many people is part of an employer-provided benefits package, thinking through the health insurance implications of a job change is critically important. While working, you have limited health care coverage options through your employer. You make your selection when you first start, and after that, once a year. In most cases, your employer pays for part of it, facilitates the payment for your health care coverage, and even allows you to set up and use a Health Savings Account (HSA) as a separate benefit. 

After you are laid off, your former employer will let you know when your benefits end. It may be as soon as your separation date, the end of the calendar month, or some other date altogether depending on your organization. If you have the time and ability to do so, it may be a good idea to fit in any doctor's appointments you have been putting off while you still have coverage. 

Once your employer-sponsored coverage ends, there are many options for healthcare coverage. You'll also need to take steps to enroll in whatever coverage you choose. Most of these options have an associated monthly premium, and some are more cost-effective than others. Here are a few possibilities for your consideration.

If you do receive a sewerage package, you may also receive continued healthcare coverage for a specified period of time. ​You may get health care coverage included for a bit. This could be the company paying for the benefits you had before, or an amount of money that is earmarked to pay for healthcare coverage. These are two very different propositions.

If the company continues to pay for your health benefits, your coverage will work as before with your same coverage levels and networks. However, if you receive money to pay for health care coverage, you will need to decide what to purchase, enroll, then pay for it as billed. 

COBRA stands for Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. In short, this provision allows former employees to pay the total cost of their formerly work-sponsored health insurance on their own. If you choose this option, you can keep this coverage for up to 18 or 36 months. As part of your layoff paperwork, your now former company will send you information about the logistics and cost of keeping this coverage and let you know your deadline for signing up (which is typically 60 days).

The good news? You can keep your same coverage. The bad news? The cost may knock you back. Now, you'll pay the total price for your coverage instead of your employer helping offset the cause. For example, while working, you may have spent $500 a month for your family’s healthcare coverage, and with COBRA,  you will now likely pay thousands of dollars a month for that same coverage. 

Depending on your age and personal situation, you may have the option to be added to someone else’s employer-sponsored healthcare coverage. Here are two common scenarios: 
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• If you are 26 years old or younger, you may be eligible to be added to a parent’s healthcare coverage through their employer.
• If you have a spouse or domestic partner, you may be eligible to be added to their coverage through their employer. Some plans might strictly add legal spouses, while others may have less stringent requirements.

In general, if your former employer’s plan covered you, your family member's plan will allow you to enroll in their plan, even mid-year. Be sure to check with your family member's employer to see if being added to their plan is a good option for you. 

Remember, if you are added to your family member's health insurance plan, the additional costs for whoever is footing the bill can vary from “no big deal” to “holy crap, that’s an extra [whole lotta money] a paycheck!” 

Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA—also nicknamed “Obamacare”), additional healthcare coverage options have been available outside employer-sponsored coverage. To find out what health insurance options are available, your eligibility, and any amount of help (in the form of a subsidy) you might qualify for, check out Healthcare.gov, also referred to as “The Marketplace.” Alternatively, some states have their own healthcare-specific website, like MNsure.gov in Minnesota. Regardless of if your state uses the national site or their own, this is the go-to place to find out about possible healthcare options that comply with ACA standards, meaning that they include a base level of coverage (like preventative health screenings, emergency services, pregnancy, etc.).  
 
Many of these plans are High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP), and the higher the deductible, the lower your monthly premium, but the higher the possible out-of-pocket expense you will have. As with other high deductible plans, you can save money in a separate Health Savings Account (HSA) to help cover those expenses. However, Healthcare.gov does not have the option to help you set up an HSA account, so you’ll have to seek that out elsewhere if you are interested in setting that up. 
​
One significant benefit of looking here is the possibility of getting a subsidy. A subsidy will help offset your healthcare cost and is usually applied before any premium you would need to pay every month. Typically, subsidies are calculated based on your projected income for the year, depend on how much money your household is bringing in, and may vary by state. You would need to enroll in an ACA plan within 60 days of being laid off.

Overall, Healthcare.gov can be a lot to juggle—but they do have help available in the form of agents, brokers, or assisters. 

Short Term health insurance is just that—lower-cost insurance intended to help you bridge the gap between employer-sponsored coverage. Typically, these don’t have preventative benefits (like annual physicals or flu shots covered), but they are significantly less expensive. In addition, this kind of coverage ensures that if something big happens, like an accident where you end up in the hospital, you won’t go broke paying for all those costs.

For example, during one period of unemployment, I bought short-term health insurance coverage for my daughter (for a tumultuous month where for a moment, it looked like all of my daughter’s parental units would manage to be out of work all at once). It was under $100 and ensured she had at least some coverage as we figured out the details of her longer-term healthcare coverage. 

There are several other options to help pay for healthcare costs varying from good ideas to decidedly bad ones. For example, you could buy a private health insurance plan, take part in Medicaid/Medical assistance based on your financial situation, explore a community health share program, visit community health centers, use telehealth, rely on Minute Clinic, use a healthcare-specific credit card, and/or use discount cards to minimize prescription costs. 

​When it comes down to it, consider the short and long-term implications of your healthcare coverage decisions (including the possible financial hardship of having a significant medical diagnosis or expense without being insured) before choosing your course of action.

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

When your “day job" ends, many things in your financial life change. For one, what is for many people their primary source of income, ends. This often prompts a quick shift to a short-term survival mindset that will last from the layoff event until the first paycheck from that new job arrives. 

After you think about your overall survival budget goals and managing expenses, think about your sources of income during your career transition.

Disclaimer: (You know there has to be one of these now that we're talking about topics like personal finances and health insurance.)

While I know quite a bit based on my previous work experience supporting financial coaches, my own research, and my personal life experiences, I do not currently hold a license or certification to give financial advice. Therefore, the information provided here is educational information provided as guidance.

​I hope you can glean value from my lessons learned. Feel free to take my recommendations or not—but whatever you do, double-check my facts (and everyone's facts, for that matter). This is your life, and you will care more about your finances and health care than anyone else. With that, read on. 

When you’re gainfully employed, usually a couple of times per month, you receive your paycheck. Your taxes are deducted according to what you set up.  You also typically have deductions for health care costs, company-sponsored insurance benefits (life insurance, disability insurance), and company-sponsored savings (Flexible Spending Accounts, Healthcare Savings Accounts, retirement contributions). Once that company no longer employs you, your income changes significantly.

While you won’t have the income from your job on a go-forward basis, you may have one or more of these types of money coming from that employer after your position ends.

​You will receive a payment for any hours worked for which you still need to be paid. Typically, this check will not include deductions for health insurance or any other benefits since you no longer participate in those programs. In addition, taxes will be withheld from this payment.

Depending on multiple factors, you may be paid for any PTO you had accrued but had not yet taken. For example, if the company you worked for had “Unlimited” paid time off, you will not receive any vacation payout since there was no tie between accruing and taking time off.

In addition, some companies have written into their company policies that they do not pay out vacation time after an employee no longer works there. However, some states require vacation payouts from previous employers. (I know this because Nebraska, my current state of residence, is one of those states.) Know that getting a payout is not guaranteed, but this is definitely something you should investigate to see if you are eligible.

A severance package may be a component of your layoff. Severance could include a lump sum, continuation of insurance for a period of time, and/or support services to help you transition to a new position outside of that organization. In many cases, companies do not have to provide any sort of severance. If they offer severance, it is often to help minimize the likelihood of former employees taking legal action after a layoff. It is also a way that companies help their employees financially during that difficult transition time. 
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If you do receive a severance payment, the amount can vary wildly. It could be between a fat lot of nothing, to the equivalent of a paycheck, to 1-2 weeks of pay for each year you were with the organization, to a larger check equaling months of income. It depends on the organization, their financial position, how they want to be perceived by the media during the layoff, or any other factors. If you receive a severance payment, realize that it may be less money than you anticipated because of withholding taxes.

If you are offered a severance package, realize you must sign something before receiving a payment, benefits, or any other services promised. Once you sign, any thoughts you might have about legal action regarding your employment with the organization are pretty much over. Read the agreement given to you, consider having a lawyer look it over, and ask for clarifications (and any revisions) before signing it. After that, there is typically a waiting period before you receive that money. This is big-time adulting here, so enlist help as needed. 

While your regularly scheduled income from your previous employer ends, in most cases, with a layoff, you will be eligible for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. In short, apply for UI benefits. Remember--this is money that you paid into your state government while you were working. There is no shame in collecting unemployment because it is literally your money that you paid in and get to use for this purpose. 

Here are a few key details about UI payments:
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• Each state handles Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits.
• You can only collect UI benefits from one state at any given time.
• The amount of your UI benefits payment varies by state and factors in your previous income while working.
• You may be able to decide whether or not to set up deductions from your UI benefits payment. However, come tax time, unemployment income is taxable.
• You complete an online application for UI benefits to determine eligibility and payment amount.
• Payments are issued weekly.
• You apply for each payment weekly, usually online or via phone.
• There is typically a waiting period before you will receive your first payment.
• Payments typically last for as long as 26 weeks, with some variation by state.
• You stop being eligible to receive unemployment payments until you are past your maximum benefit period or have a new job, whichever comes first.
• Doing paid work while receiving UI benefits may impact the amount of one or more payments.

​You may also be eligible for job search support services and even programs to help you upgrade your skills. In many states, you must complete outlined “reemployment activities” to stay eligible to receive unemployment payments. For example, some states may require you to apply for a given number of jobs each week, or attend classes, or confirm you did not turn down a suitable job offer.

Also know that if you will be receiving a severance payment, it will impact when you are eligible to start receiving unemployment payments. When you apply for unemployment, you will be asked to specify any payments you still expect to receive from your previous employer. Typically, if you are receiving severance that is intended to cover a set period of time, you will also not be eligible for unemployment payments during that time. Personally, I had periods when I was in a career transition where I never received an unemployment payment because I started a new job before the number of weeks specified for my severance ran out. Again, if you’re unsure on details, make that phone call to ask for clarification.    

Depending on your situation, you may need to find interim work while looking for a more permanent role. For example, if the amount you receive from UI benefits needs to be increased to pay your core bills, you may need to take a job to make ends meet. This could be anything from contract work in your chosen field (that may pay pretty close to your previous full-time job) to a supplemental job that you do for a little extra income. If you have a partner, it may be a case where they take on additional paid work or help more with expenses while you are in career transition. 

There are multiple ways to pay for your life, varying from good to decidedly bad ideas. You could do anything from using your savings, to selling unused items, to using credit cards, to acquiring additional debt, to using your home equity, to taking money out of your HSA account (and paying taxes on what you removed), to starting a Go Fund Me page, to donating plasma, or even tapping into retirement accounts (and paying a steep penalty). Be sure to consider the short and long-term implications of any of those decisions before choosing your course of action.

In 2019, for the fifth time in my career, I found myself unexpectedly in a position where I needed to change jobs. The last time around, my position was suddenly eliminated on the day I returned from vacation. That was about two years before, and I was not expecting to have to do this again quite so soon. 

Things moved a bit more quickly this time than I initially expected. Keep in mind, too, that about half of the jobs I applied for have not responded. In their defense, I was on and off the market pretty quickly. With that, here’s how this job search shaped up: 
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• Total Length of Job Search: 47 days
• Number of jobs applied for: 21
• Jobs where I had an employee referral: 11
• Total number of interviews (phone and in-person): 12
• Total number of interviews for companies where I had a referral: 11
• Total interviews for companies where I had no referral: 1
• Total jobs where I had at least one interview: 8
• Total positions for which I applied where I heard nothing at all back ever: 10
• Total where I withdrew due to salary limitations: 4
• Total where I received rejection emails: 4
• Number of offers received: 2
• Number of jobs accepted: 1

My last job search (after layoff #4) lasted 147 days. That's right. It was exactly 100 days longer. So what were the differences between these two job searches? What magic did I use to so quickly land a great new position?

Fortunately (as I look at the bright side), I knew I needed to make a change in late September. I’ve found that being unemployed over the holidays nearly guarantees about an extra month or two of job searching (or, more likely, waiting).

​My last two job searches included the holiday season, lasting 180 and 147 days, respectively. My best advice is to take some time off from job searching over the holidays. This time around, when I estimated the possible length of my period of unemployment, I surmised that I would either secure a new position before Thanksgiving or I’d most likely be waiting to start a new role until February or March of next year. Getting a jump start, even by a couple of weeks, made a big difference.

I started using LinkedIn seriously in 2006. Since then, I’ve connected with coworkers, members of professional development organizations, colleagues with whom I’ve interacted, and pretty much anyone who I encountered and found interesting. I stay active on social media sharing useful content and attend industry meetings on a regular basis. Having this robust professional network and assisting individuals in my network when they are job searching or exploring new fields of interest, has helped me immensely.

​When encountering a position that interested me, I immediately looked to my network to see who might be able to put in a good word for me and help me get pulled out of the initial pile of candidates. I have also had more than one “informal interview” with a possible referrer so they feel comfortable recommending me for a position. Since people are putting their reputations on the line, I don’t take their assistance for granted.  ​

As a bona fide Excel nerd, and meticulous planner, I kept detailed records on my job search journey from layoff #4 through finding a new role. Here are a few statistical highlights of what on earth I did with myself in the months between when my previous role ended and starting a new job. 

I’m including several numbers in this article. Keep in mind that while I pride myself in my ability to count and do basic math, I’m dealing with a very small sample size. (See the “Learn More” section for issues that can be caused by having a small sample size when it comes statistical information.) This article can only barely be called “research” and is more appropriately described as me sharing my personal experience. With that disclaimer, on to the numbers!