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Job Loss Survival Kit

by Suzann Kale

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5. Locate Your Hidden Skills

Make a list of all your skills - from gardening to childcare, from proofreading to dog washing. Make the list huge - you can always cross the dumb things off later. Look at these skills and see if there might be entrepreneurial income inherent in them. For example, Barbara lost her job as a chef at a restaurant. As it happened, her second language was French, so she applied for various jobs in the translation field. Everyone needs translators, from big corporations to publishing companies.

6. Get a Reserve of Cold, Hard Cash

If you don't have 5 to 6 months of savings or retirement from which to draw while you're looking for a new job, get contract work from websites such as Guru (http://www.guru.com/pro/index.aspx), elance (http://www.elance.com/p/landing/provider.html), Solo Gig (http://www.sologig.com/), or iFreelance (http://www.ifreelance.com/). You may have to bid lower than you'd like on your jobs, but you can get cash coming in.

Be sure to register with all the local temp agencies in whatever fields are appropriate.

To Do: Keep an organization notebook containing every person you meet, the date, and notes; every job you apply for, the date, the results; every contract you bid on; every networking group you attend, with the names of the participants.

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7. Short Term Service Work

Check out short-term services you can exchange for cash - things you wouldn't normally consider, but still don't totally hate, such as bartending, catering, appointment-setting, teaching evenings at the local community college, baby sitting, house cleaning, pet sitting, or retail sales.

If you're really good at something many people need, now's the time to let the world know that you can design websites, dress store windows, read Tarot cards, or repair jewelry. Hang out the shingle, take out the ad, seriously spread the business cards around.

8. Keep Your Resumes Circulating Constantly

Always have at least 5 resumes out, either in the snail mail, at a job site such as Monster (www.monster.com), and / or at various companies' websites' application pages. Get a new resume out within an hour of a "no" coming back from a job application.

9. Always Keep Learning

Keep up with what's new in your field, so when you do land a new job you'll be up to speed. Take an Internet course in a new language instead of watching tv at night. If you can, go to an outreach course and learn a new skill, such as private investigating, daytrading, or real estate flipping.

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