13 Tips to Surviving Sudden Unemployment

Thirteen can also be lucky when looking for a new job

By Will Penny -- Library Journal, 6/1/2005

Everyday, across the country, librarians are fired. Yes, Virginia, it’s true. Pick your favorite euphemism. He resigned, he’s pursuing other opportunities, he’s no longer with us. It happens, and like an elephant in the family room, our profession doesn’t talk about it. I found scores of articles in Library Literature on writing a power résumé, preparing for an interview, finding jobs on the Internet, and negotiating a salary. But when it comes to fired library workers, we pretend it doesn’t happen.

Here’s how it usually goes down. One day, most likely a Friday, the boss calls you into her office. Another manager, or someone from Human Resources, sits silently in the corner. The partnership is no longer working, you are told. Turn in your keys. Hand over your security card. Give me your computer password. Here are boxes to clean out your office.

Curling up in a fetal position in bed is acceptable for a week, but then you need to rejoin the world. You’ve got to find a job and kick the elephant out of the house! Follow these 13 survival tips, and your unemployment will be short, productive, and maybe even enjoyable.

13: Avoid daytime television. Daytime TV wastes time and warps your sense of reality. Watch enough divorce court, and you’ll think your spouse or significant other is cheating on you with the overfriendly grocery clerk. Watch enough soap operas, and you’ll think that that same grocery store clerk is having a sex change operation so that he or she can marry his or her half-brother. Talk shows are no good either. How many makeovers, celebrity interviews, long-lost brother reunions can you watch and still claim (especially to yourself) you’re expanding your reference knowledge of pop culture? The commercials are the worst. Before you can say, “Raise my credit limit,” you’ll be maxing out your credit card on adult diapers, diabetic equipment, menstrual cycle pills, and ambulance chasers. If you’re watching TV, how can you be looking for work?

12: Talk to someone, other than yourself. Get out of the house at least once a day and visit a bookstore, museum, or park. Wander the local mall. Strike up conversations with strangers. Ask clerks for help, even if you don’t need any. Stay sane.

11: Cut expenses. Unless you’re independently wealthy, in which case start a foundation and leave the job-hunting to those of us who want or have mortgages, you need to count your pennies. Skip the Madonna concert. Eat bologna sandwiches. Postpone the trip to Vegas. Your current job—looking for work—doesn’t pay and carries no benefits. Expect the job search to take 12 months, and enjoy the relief when you find work sooner.

10: Find free things. No, I’m not suggesting digging through restaurant dumpsters or swiping your neighbor’s newspaper. Madonna may be out, but that doesn’t mean you have to turn into a librarian stereotype. Every town has free events. You’re an information specialist. Find them and treat yourself to a few hours of R and R.

9: Remember, life isn’t fair. Whether laid off or fired, according to experts, you go through five stages of coping with job loss: denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and finally acceptance. It’s rarely a straight progression. Some days you will feel angry, other days sad, and, eventually, you’ll say good riddance.

You especially want to avoid tarring the many for the sins of the few. I had lunch with a headhunter a couple of weeks after my resignation. He asked me how many people I worked with in my job. I estimated 400 to 500 people. He then asked how many did me wrong. It was fewer than the fingers on one hand. Don’t let a few bad apples, he warned me, sour you on people.

8: Seek revenge, sweet revenge. It’s human and understandable. Your former employer hurt you bad, and you’ll want to strike back. Instead of indulging in pointless vigilante fantasies, expend your energy on achieving true and lasting revenge—get a better job.

7: Reevaluate your priorities. You have been given the gift of spare time. Use it to think deeply about your life. What did you enjoy about your last job and what do you want to avoid next time? If you could live anywhere in the world, had the education and money you needed, what would be your ideal job? What truly matters to you? Unless Shirley MacLaine is correct, we get only one life. Make sure at the end it’s filled not with regret but purpose and meaning.

6: Interview, often. Thankfully, I had several spring training interviews before I got to a position I truly wanted. I needed the interview practice to get right with the past. I feared the dreaded question—Why did you leave your last position? What I discovered was that the dreaded question was simply that: a single question. The interviewers were far more concerned about whether I matched their needs. By repeatedly talking about my departure, the stigma gradually faded. In my saner moments, I could view the event philosophically. It happened, I learned from it, and I’m moving on with my life.

Like a well-written book, my departure story went through several drafts. Some versions emphasized the elephant’s trunk, others the tail, and so on. An interview is not a therapy session. Stick to the facts, emphasize the positives, focus on your accomplishments. Trashing former employers rarely wins points with future employers.

5: Be patient. For you, finding work is one of the most important things in your life. For potential employers, your unemployment means nothing. Weeks will pass before you’ll get an interview or a final decision is reached. Until you receive the rejection letter, you’re still in the game. Follow up with potential employers: write a note, send an email, make a phone call. The name of the game is to keep your name in the game. But don’t overdo it. Calling an employer every day will certainly create an impression—desperate loser.

4: It’s OK to say, “No, thank you.” Only, and I mean only, after the job offer is in hand, can you decide if you want the job. Money, benefits, and location are legitimate reasons to decline an offer. Another is the organization’s stability. The interview may reveal that the board or top management isn’t working with a full deck. Your last job ended up being hell; that’s why you’re no longer there. You’ve been given a fresh chance at happiness, so don’t blow it by taking a return trip.

3: Be nice to people. It is the right thing to do, and you never know who knows whom. I once interviewed with a trustee who knew my former board president. Even though I didn’t list him as a reference, she called him to get the skinny on me. The library world is small, and everyone seems to know everyone else. Remember what you were taught in Sunday school: play nice. You never know who might help you get a job, stop you from getting a job, or be your next boss.

2: Lean on family and friends. Unemployment is a bummer. It’s unsettling and filled with angst. Will I get a call for an interview today? Will I have to move to Nevada, New York, or Ohio? Will I have to start delivering pizzas? The black dog of despair is looking for any chance to nail you. Your best defense? Those who love and care about you. Seek their support and understanding and good cheer. But, don’t forget your unemployment status is a Post-it™ note in their busy lives. Sometimes, you’ll have to ignore your pride and make the first move: call them, email them, tell them, “Hey, you need to take me to lunch.” True friends and family will make time for you.

1: Follow the advice of polar explorer Borge Ousland. He completed the longest unsupported ski trek in history, 1,767 miles across Antarctica via the South Pole. His mantra: “Never give up, even if all seems hopeless. Never give up.”