How to Create a Plan for Your Layoff Recovery

How to Create a Plan for Your Layoff Recovery How to Create a Plan for Your Layoff Recovery 2After you’ve been laid off, when you’re finally feeling like it’s time to get back out there (or even if you’re not quite there yet), it’s important to think about a plan for finding a new opportunity. But the key to making a successful return to the workforce is to have a structured plan for your layoff recovery. Why so structured? Well, even for career advisors and job search experts, job searching isn’t something typically described asfun. And if you’re not looking forward to the job search process, and you don’t have a plan to follow, it’ll be easy to quickly fall off track, or never even get on track to begin with. For example, if you’re prone to procrastination, or you tend to avoid stressful tasks (don’t we all?), a structured plan like this one will make it MUCH easier to keep yourself on track. Three of the biggest benefits of a structured plan for your layoff recovery include: Knowing what to focus on and work towards every day Seeing how much work you’ve put into getting yourself back on track Saving your energy and time trying to decide what to do every day- because it’s already decided for you! 3 Steps to Create a Plan for Your Layoff Recovery 1. Outline weekly goals in your job search. A good job search should involve a combination of the following: reaching out to your current professional network, making new network contacts, and searching for open jobs. Your existing professional network is one of your greatest job search assets, but it’s also necessary to work on establishing new contacts, and searching for open jobs. Your weekly goals should include things like: Applying to five jobs online that you’re qualified for and interested in. Updating your LinkedIn profile. Emailing five current networking contacts to catch up. Finding one in-person event to attend (sites like MeetUp.com are a great place to start). Searching for volunteer opportunities to stay active and keep building your resume (VolunteerMatch.org has in-person AND remote volunteer opportunities!). At the beginning of your job search, you’ll also want to include tasks like: Updating your resume (and having it reviewed by professionals or people in your network) Making several versions of your resume to suit different jobs and industries Writing and practicing answers to common interview questions Writing a one-page bio of your relevant work history, to get more comfortable talking about yourself, your accomplishments, your values, and your goals. Crafting your answer to this tricky question: “Why are you looking for a job?” While these won’t be recurring tasks that happen every week, it’s important to include them in your structured plan at the start. The sooner you start to kick the dust off your resume and interview answers, the more prepared you’ll feel when you start to apply to jobs. 2. Keep track of the hard work you’re doing. Keep a job search document or spreadsheet where you write down your goals and record your progress. This can be as simple as a Word document or Excel spreadsheet. The point is two-fold: your job search tracking document will help you see how much work you’re doing and the progress you’re making. And it will also help you figure out if you’re spending too much time in one area of your job search, and not enough in another. The most useful tracking documents will include tasks and info like the jobs you’ve applied for; the application materials you’ve sent; company names and contact information; the interviews you’ve done; the career and job search websites you’ve set up accounts with; your follow up with interviewers or job applications; and any networking events you’ve attended or should attend. Everyone’s goals and accomplishments will be different depending on the types of jobs they’re going for, so personalize and tailor this process to suit you. 3. Take things day by day: make finding a job your main job right now. It’s a bit cliche to say, but when you’re looking for a job after a layoff, treat your job search like it’s your full-time job. Devote a large part of each day to job searching. And list the things you want to accomplish that day to get closer to accomplishing your weekly goals. This will help you avoid procrastinating because you’ve made it very clear what needs to get done. Let’s review what it takes to make a structured plan for your job recovery: Outline weekly goals for your job search and start with those important preparation tasks first. Keep a job search document to track your progress. Set daily action plans to accomplish your goals. Recovering from a layoff can be a lengthy process. But creating a structured plan for your recovery will stop you from feeling so overwhelmed, and put you on a path towards success. Looking for even more help recovering from your layoff? partnered with LinkedIn Learning to create a whole course for you. Get a 30 day free trial with unlimited access to LinkedIn Learning’s full course catalog! Here’s an overview on Recovering from a Layoff to learn more about the course.