Search for a New Job

Network

• Each day, make a list of people to call or e-mail, including peers, former employers, friends, and family.
• Contact everyone you know and every group you know about to inform them of your layoff and to inquire about job openings. Include:
  • customers, vendors, and competitors of your former employer
  • contacts you learned about researching your area’s business environment
  • alumni and religious institutions
  • volunteer and community organizations
• Use community resources, such as job centers, local employment fairs, listings, and counselors available at the unemployment office.

Submit Resumes and Job Applications

• Set a goal each day to fill out two to three job applications or to send out two resumes. If you find these targets easy to meet, increase the goal.
• Commit to spending 8 hours every day searching for positions — just like you’d spend at a full-time job. The time you put in will benefit you by increasing the potential for new opportunities.
• Be open to all opportunities:
  • part-time and full-time jobs
  • a different industry
  • a different city

Be Open to Part-Time Work
 

Don’t hesitate to get a part-time job while you look for full-time work. Most states allow you to work a certain number of hours and still receive unemployment benefits — usually up to half of your former earnings. So, if you were earning $400 a week working full time, most states allow you to earn $200 in part-time wages without any benefit reduction.

A good part-time job can lead to a full-time job, or at the very least, meeting new people and gaining new contacts. A part-time job also contributes to your income-earning momentum and keeps you primed for new opportunities.