What To Do If You Lose Your Job
Since the economy is in freefall right now, I’m going to write a quick overview for anyone that is losing their jobs.
If you have been laid off OR furloughed, you absolutely should apply for unemployment immediately. First off, here is an link with an aggregated list of all the unemployment offices in the US. You can also access your state unemployment resources if you are still working.
Some other basic questions:
Health Insurance
· COBRA: if you have health insurance provided by your employer, you will be legally eligible for COBRA for up to 18 months after your day of separation.
· COBRA basically gives you access to the same policy you had as an employee; the difference is that you pay the entire premium for yourself and any dependents.
· It is retroactive for 45 days from date of eligibility, which means that they have up to 45 days to send you the paperwork, and you will be covered under your insurance (you will need to save any receipts for care/Rx visits to be reimbursed) with the same plan, and if you have met your deductible, you should not have any change to your coverage.
Key things to take away:
1) You can choose any portions of your healthcare plan to keep: Medical, dental, vision. If you elect to drop any of them, you will not be able to re-add them at a later time on COBRA.
2) Flexible Spending Accounts will not be available to you.
3) HSA’s WILL be available to you as long as you are on a high deductible plan. If you use a debit card, hang onto it.
The Affordable Healthcare Act ensures that you can also take advantage of your state insurance exchanges if you lose your job. Here is the national website, you will need to fill out the information to be directed to your state’s exchange: https://www.healthcare.gov/unemployed/coverage/.
Where should you post your resume/find jobs?
Hourly employees: Monster, Careerbuilder, Indeed, and Ziprecruiter. If you are salaried, all of the above plus LinkedIn and Glassdoor.
You should also still look on Craigslist for jobs, and definitely look at temporary employment agencies.
Other places to look for information
I have a TON of resources on my blog for crafting a resume, looking for a job, networking, online resources, interviewing, etc. I started it during the LAST downturn because everyone was asking me the same questions. So please, use it. I also have articles on LinkedIn as well; some of the content is the same.
Other places to look for good articles: Vault, Business Insider, LinkedIn. The answers you will need will be from HR and Recruiting professionals, and career industry professionals that HAVE an HR, Recruiting, or prior hiring manager experience in your field. I would advise extreme caution when listening to anyone that claims to be a “certified career coach” or “certified resume writer” if they do not have HR/Recruiting/HM experience.
Who Is Hiring?
Amazon is hiring in its warehouses all over the country as well as delivery drivers.
Meal delivery services are hiring drivers. Think Grubhub, DoorDash, UberEats, etc.
Local and national pharmacy/drug stores are hiring (CVS, Walgreens, etc.)
Local grocery stores and Instacart are hiring both delivery drivers and crews to help stock shelves. Filling stations are also generally still open.
LinkedIn has a weekly “Who’s Hiring” list nationally that they update: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/heres-whos-hiring-right-now-andrew-seaman/
Auto Insurance
If you are not commuting to work due to “social distancing” policies, you can try calling your auto insurance company to see if you may qualify for a rate reduction.
