Husband lost his job today. What next?

Hey, Dopers.

Mr. Furthur lost his job today. Almost completely unexpected. Half his 88-member IT department was let go, himself included.

What in heaven’s name do we do now? We’ve taken a few steps, including
letting our kids and parents know, getting some resume books to make resumes,
and letting friends know we need any networking/heads-up job help they can
provide.

Mr. Furthur gets 1 month severance pay, starting next Monday. Benefits run to February 29. I should definitely mention at this point that we have roughly one month’s living expenses total in our checking and savings accounts. Two kids to provide for. No major debt to speak of except for our mortgage ($76,000, no late payments, up to $35,000-40,000 equity), one car loan (around $1500), and one credit card bill for this month, probably totalling $700 to $1000.

I am eyes-wide panicky. What do we do now? Any advice from folks who’ve been through this process before, or had to let people go themselves?

Mrs. Furthur

Get out there and pound the pavement.

The job market isn’t too good right now, but the more he looks, the better chance he’ll have.

He should be able to get unemployment compensation for a while. Should help you keep off starvation.

Actually, my department is hiring 3 new people, but it would probably be a big drop in salary so he probably wouldn’t want it.

First thing is not to panic. With some severance pay and relatively little debt, you’re probably in better shape than many people in similar circumstances. It’s also better that it’s the result of a large layoff, which was probably well-publicized in your industry. Your husband doesn’t have to explain to prospective employers that he didn’t do anything wrong.

Some suggestions: File for unemployment right away. You probably won’t start collecting it until the severance runs out, but processing can take time. If your medical insurance was through your employer (as it is for most people), arrange for basic medical insurance if you can, either through COBRA or some other way. Make sure you have references lined up; if the supervisor and other officials got laid off too it might be hard for prospective employers to contact them. Form some kind of self-help network with all these people who were laid off together. Maybe you can share leads, help each other with resumes, line up consulting or free-lance work, etc. Make the minimum payment on your credit cards. Don’t buy anything you don’t really need. Down the road, you might try to refinance your mortage to pull some cash out, although that could be tricky without an established income.

Good luck.

First, don’t panic. Can’t do anything when you’re not thinking, and panic precludes rational thought.

Second, sit down and write up a very honest and complete budget. Include every little thing you spend money on from day to day, including “incidental” or “inconsequential” stuff like snacks at the kids’ sports games/practices, movie rentals, and so on. Figure out what can be cut right away, like a daily Starbucks habit, and what kinds of things might need to cut over the long term, like cable television, gym memberships, high speed internet and other luxuries.

Your husband should file for unemployment as quickly as possible, as there will be a two to three week waiting period before a first check can be issued. Most states have made this process really simple, he may be able to do everything by phone or online. You should find out what the unemployment benefits are going to be before doing anything drastic. Once you have the unemployment figure, you can look at your budget and make the modifications which will be necessary.

Meanwhile, do everything you can to avoid late charges or missed payments on your existing debt. You do not want this to wreck your credit; talk to your creditors as soon as you have your modified budget worked out and see if payment dates can be moved if that would be helpful, if payments can be lowered on a temporary basis (recognizing that this will, of course, cause your interest to pile up) or if you have any insurance provisions (especially on your credit card) that might kick in after X days of continual unemployment.

With non-secured debt of less than $3k, if money is tight and your creditors are being inflexible, you might want to consider – depending on your family situation, of course – asking someone in your family to loan you the money so that you can just pay those debts off entirely and focus on keeping your mortgage current which is absolutely the paramount personal finance concern you’ll have until a new job is found.

From what you’ve stated, it seems like you’re a stay-at-home mom, and Mr. Furthur was the sole breadwinner. If things get protracted, don’t be afraid to consider letting him take on homemaker duties while you get a job of some kind – even something part time – to supplement unemployment. Not a thing wrong with that, especially if Mr. Furthur is the good guy that I know he is and will pick up on the household duties if you’re out working. :smiley:

So deep breath, be calm, take stock, assess your situation and don’t get discouraged. It’s not time to panic, and if you’re careful and practical that time won’t be coming anytime soon. Best wishes to you all.

What everyone else said. Plus, you can probably get a job at Home Depot or a local grocery store or SOMETHING that will bring some money in. Also, most states let you make a bit of money before you have to take a hit on your unemployment benefits. Be patient. The right job will come along. In the meantime, you can work at the wrong job. It sucks, but know that you’re not alone. My IT dept. is laying off about 270 people come June. There are so many people in the same boat. But one thing I’ve found is that things usually work out. Just be patient.

If you’re so lucky to get swamped with credit card offers (don’t worry, I hate credit cards), one thing I did that could free up some cash…I had about $1800 in a car loan, but decided to actually look at a mastercard offer I got to transfer balance and receive 2.99% on the transferred balance. You know, it comes with the checks included with the offer…I paid off the car using one of the checks, then cut up the card. Then you can make lesser (or even the minimum) payments on the low interest balance until back on your feet. Could possibly do the same with the outstanding credit card debt. I cut up the card for that particular balance because new purchases still carry a high %, so you’d get stuck paying high interest on those new purchases if you are only making low payments. Just a thought.

And I agree with what everyone has said so far - don’t panic!

Your hubby should start hitting IT contracting agencies. However, IT contracting agencies want VERY detailed resumes so the standard 2 pager is no good. In my experience, all resumes are usually fed into a database and keyword searches are performed so you want to make sure that hubby’s resume is chock full of technical terms and specific duties.

Depending on local policies and your husbands previous salary, it’s very likely that he’ll hit the maximum unemployment payout. If that’s the case, it may not be worth his time to get a minimum wage job as any additional income is usually deducted from the unemployment income.

Check to see if the old company is offering councilling or layoff services. When I got laid off last June (also in IT), my company gave us the option of taking a 1 day course on resume creation and interview tips.

I feel for you. I got laid off last January.

I was able to receive unemployment benefits as well as my severance pay. So definitely check in to that.

In the first month, I answered every single newspaper ad I could find. I must have answered hundreds. I have only received two indications that the companies I contacted had even received my information.

I ended up contacting recruiters. I had four recruiters working for me, and was able to land a very good job in about three and a half months.

It was a scary time, but I got through it by cutting out all non-essential living expenses. I got rid of cable, we didn’t eat any meat for a while, etc.

Good luck!

Don’t forget to take care of yourself. When we went through it, I had a hard time sleeping and eating - it was horrible.

Cut the budget where you can. Look for other sources of income. Ebay stuff. Get a part time job for yourself. In my state, you can stretch unemployement via a part time job - your checks are smaller, but you get them for longer. Which in a tight job market may be more important than the freedom of no job and checks.

Let everyone know - for a lot of reasons. One is that someone will know someone who is hiring. Others is that your friends and family will be able to offer emotional - and perhaps even financial - support.

Go to a temp agency and take assignments that aren’t necessarily related to IT. It flexes muscles you need to flex.

Note: Any money you make from doing this gets docked from your unemployment bennies. Do it anyway. The alternative is more demoralizing.

2 can live as cheaply as one isn’t a complete lie. My parents actually survived with 1 car, no cell phone, cable or internet.

It’s time to get out a sheet of paper (or Excel spread sheet). Review EVERY expense you have and rate them in order of importance from need to want. You don’t need an HMO but you do need health insurance. The difference between the 2 is about $5000 a year. Refinancing your house should be looked at. Go back to a 30 year mortgage (that allows prepayment). You can always pay it off sooner when things get back to normal A better interest will add to the savings. DO NOT SPEND YOUR EQUITY. This is part of your retirement. sell the damn thing and buy a used mobil home if it’s necessary for the short term. File that under plan B or C. When looking at insurance think about only driving 1 car. Everything has an associated cost to it.

Start selling your excess crap on eBay. Old toys, books, cameras, jewlery, car parts etc… ANYTHING that you are not using which has no sentimental value. You wouldn’t believe what sells. When My mother died my sister was able to sell our old toys. Crap like my old Bat Man thermos brought in a nice chunk of change. You can cruise the junk stores for “collectables” and resell them. I see the Post Office full of people doing this. You can sell the ads from old magazines (cars, airplanes, or anything special that someone owns and wants pictures of).

Cable, dump it. Newspaper, dump it. Internet, dump it. A night at the movies or rentals, gone. The library has all of this for free as well as cookbooks that will teach budget gormet cooking. Read books and watch PBS, it’ll make you appreciate your brain more.

Soda pop, NOT. there are hundreds of ice tea flavors. Make a game of cooking great dinners cheaply. Make your own bread and flour tortilas.

Clothes, Goodwill. Damn nice clothes. There are dumbasses like me who buy the wrong size and just donate them because it’s closer than the store I got them from.

Interim jobs, anything that has management potential and a medical plan. Home Depot, whatever. Find something you like doing. It will make it easier to sell yourself in an interview. Get a vendors liciense and sell stuff at the flee market on the weekend. Given the crap I’ve seen, a little creativity would go a long way. How hard is it to put up a table and sell “something” that isn’t already being sold. Every other vendor is selling socks, DVD’s and cheap tools. You could sell refurbished digital cameras, or other electronic items.

Kids, you owe them love, food, and a roof. DO NOT PISS AWAY YOUR RETIREMENT TO SEND THEM TO COLLEGE. They can work their way through school (I did). Just having a home to go to durring school is a big help. I thought it was great that my mother cooked for me while in college. Worry about that later.

Give your mate a hug, look at him and let him know the two of you are going to grab life by the horns and fight your way back.

I’ll drop one pessimistic note: I’ve been looking for work since September. In the current jobless recovery in the US, long periods of work-hunting are growing increasingly common-- so when summer rolls around and no one’s working, don’t worry about it.

Your hubby’s job has now become to look for work. Magiver didn’t mention one other thing that libraries may offer: employment clubs. Frequently the toughest part of looking for work is dealing with the depression that may result from not actually bringing home any money. Like all problems, this can be alleviated by talking about it, and MrFurther may not necessarily be able to talk to you about it.

However, I don’t recommend dumping the newspaper and the internet. These are still useful tools in finding work, and for staying informed about the world.

One more thing: congrats on being sensible enough to have no credit card debt! That’s pretty damn rare nowadays, and it makes things much easier for your family.

A few more suggestions to add to everyone:

  1. Consider substitute teaching. There are a number of school districts that will hire you with nothing more than a college degree. Also many schools get out early so you can have plenty of time for an afternoon interview.

  2. Don’t just send out a resume to a job listing. Call the company and try to find out the name of person who is actually hiring so you know exactly who to address your query to. You can also try showing up in person.

  3. Check out COBRA to see about keeping your medical insurance. In the meantime check your state to see about getting low cost health insurance for your children.

Good luck. You have nothing but my sincerest sympathies.

Great post! I couldn’t agree more.

Many, many thanks to everyone for all of your wonderful suggestions.

We have already taken many of them, and I’ve printed out the posts so that I can save and consult them later. I really appreciate the benefit of everyone’s experience – it helps no end.

I’m not precisely a stay-at-home mom. Mr Furthur and I do tag-team parenting, and have since the kids were born. He works during the day and I stay home then. I’ve always had an evenings-and-Saturdays job (as a reference librarian, actually) that begins 30 minutes after he gets home on weekdays. It’s never paid much (think 50 weeks per year, but only $8000 net before taxes). Still, we do have SOME income from it. And I’m also working on my Master’s in Library and Info Science, so when I graduate in August, I should be very marketable, even if he hasn’t gotten a job yet. Please, God, let me be marketable. :wink:

Mr. Furthur is going down on Monday (his first unemployed day) to apply for unemployment. He managed to land an informal interview on Tuesday, so we’re trying. And I’m getting my resume & cover letter out to a couple of potential positions tomorrow.

It’s just that this “jobless recovery” (what a crock that is) has got me really spooked.

Mrs. Furthur