How to Survive Being Out of A Job – 7 Tips For Staying Afloat.

Major corporations have continued layoffs despite the holiday season, and more are expected throughout the first quarter of the New Year. The Five O’Clock Club, the nation’s premier career counseling network, has prepared the following tips to help your audience survive.

1. Negotiate the best possible severance package-try to get some sort of outplacement

Deal with each issue separately- the cash settlement, career counseling benefits, etc. Negotiating each item individually gives you more leverage. Decide what you want- do not start from the company policy. Try to get continued health insurance benefits, which cost the company less than they would cost you. Ask for one year of career counseling and the right to select the counseling service. Do not underestimate how much time and counseling you will need it to get a new job. Do not accept cash for the entire settlement.

2. Don’t let a layoff lower your self-estee – remember that lots of good people get downsized.

What’s more 78% of the unemployed people who attend the Five O’Clock Club get a job at or more than their previous pay. Don’t let your layoff become the end of the world.

3. Find a way to structure your life-keep some sort of routine.

Join trade organizations, schedule interviews, work on your search. Don’t let your entire life fall apart or you’ll never find the motivation to get a new job. Your search can replace the structure your job gave you.

4. Conserve your severance pay-don’t plan on a week in the Bahamas.

A large cash settlement can disappear quickly, especially if you are left to pay for your own benefits. In addition your search may take longer than you expected. Take some time off but don’t spend money. Get started in your search sooner rather than later.

5. Put yourself on the calendar-make sure you set aside time for your search.

The Five O’Clock Club recommends that an unemployed person spend at least 40 hours a week on their search. Designate parts of your schedule as time devoted to your search, make an appointment with yourself.

6. Work on your targets-

The right job, the right field, the right areas. Expand your search. If you are searching only in Los Angeles or only in Detroit, for example, think of other geographic areas. If you are looking only in large public corporations, consider small or private companies. If you are looking for a certain kind of position, investigate what other kinds of work you also could do.

7. Hard work will grind you down unless you really love the business you’re in.

Take your time to make the right decision- don’t leap into the wrong job for security. One Five O’Clock Club client was an investment banker who rushed into the wrong field. She made $700,000 a year, but she was terribly depressed. Taking the wrong job may just cause you to bounce out of it and into another job that doesn’t last very long.

For more information at http://www.FiveOClockClub.com