Week 2, STEP 2

Part of the job hunting process involves filling out applications and writing resumes. To help you make these tasks easier, you need to gather some things together.

STEP 2

1. You will need a personal data sheet (personal means for your eyes only) that has all the information needed to fill out an application or the create a resume. I call it my cheat sheet because it is what I refer to when filling in applications and writing resumes because I have to cheat/sneak a peek at it once in awhile because I can't possibly remember all the details requested on some applications.
2. Find a box about 13" long, 9" wide and about 6" tall. This is where you will stash certain documents that may be useful during an interview and are most certainly helpful when filling out your cheat sheet.

Items to stash in your job hunting box.

• Job descriptions (if you did not save these, save them from today on)
• Performance reviews/annual reviews (when you have your yearly evaluation, you need to make sure you mention accomplishments and positive events which occurred during your evaluation time period. After you note your achievements, sign and date the evaluation and immediately ask for a copy. If you don't get a copy at that time, ask for it every week until you get a copy. You are entitled to a copy of performance reviews).
• Awards. Please say any awards you receive, especially if given to you by your employer. Employment attorneys are directed Human Resource Managers to NOT save any employee awards in your personnel files because should they want to fire you, and you challenge it in court, the employer is not in the most favorable situation if the courts find employee awards in your files. This means, you save them.
• Training certificates, transcripts, continuing education documentation. Save these documents even if there is an expiration date. All your training counts for something - it tells an employer you have certain knowledge, skills and/or abilities - maybe you have some that nobody else has. This makes you more valuable to an employer.
• Addresses & phone numbers. You need to collect the names, mailing addresses and phone numbers for every one of your employers and every school attended, including elementary and junior high school information. This may sound silly to you, however many applications are beginning to ask for your elementary and junior high school information in addition to high school and post high school institutions. If you leave off a requested address or phone number from an application - you lose - HR will perceive you as unprepared.
• Military records/paperwork. You need to gather these documents and keep them in one place. Some employers may need some of the information contained in these documents.
• Social Security Card/Work Visas/Birth Certificates/Passports. You need to know where these documents are since you will need to provide them at the time you are hired, however I recommend you keep them in a fireproof box in a safe place.

Week 1, Step 1

Okay, when you had a job, you had a routine. The alarm clock sounded off, you hit the snooze button. Eventually you get out of (fall to the floor) bed. Next (nobody ever wants to admit this) but you stumble to the bathroom tripping over the dog.

Then your daily routine starts. Some of us start the coffee, some of us wake up family members, some of us hit the shower, and so forth. You finish your routine and hop into the car/truck and somehow you find yourself at work with absolutely no recall how you arrived (either the caffeine hasn't gotten to your brain or the vehicle has an autopilot function you did not know about.

You hop out of your vehicle, spilling coffee down the front of you and dropping your purse or briefcase as a gust of wind blows your stuff across the parking lot. You enter the workplace through the employee entrance and start working - hey you don't need the boss hanging over you to tell you what to do - you know what to do.

But, one day, the routine changes....Human Resources tells you that you are being laid off...your routine was just screwed up!

The next day, the alarm goes off, you hit snooze, you hit snooze, you hit snooze then rip the cord off the phone hurling it across the room. You couldn't sleep last night. You want to stay in bed - hey you don't have to go into the office! You finally get up but don't want to eat. You don't want to shower. You don't want to get dressed. You don't want to visit anyone.

Hmmmm....what do you do when you don't have a job to go to? I know I sat around the house looking for stuff to do and finally called my mom to ask her "what did you exactly do" when you were a stay-at-home mom? After receiving "thanks allot" and "you gotta be kidding me!" statements my mom delivered a litany about the things she did.

Well...I don't know about you, but I am not going to start sewing....not going to start baking bread or making spectacular dinners....not going to start ironing (hey what's an iron) the pillowcases and sheets....not going to start going to start going to PTA because my dogs are not enrolled in school.

This may not be your scenario, however you most likely are in zombie land so, you need PLAN YOUR WORK & WORK YOUR PLAN!

Where to begin?????


STEP ONE

Contact the credit card companies to get your credit report. You need to review what's in each FREE credit report (there are three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and Trans Union - links listed on this blog site and all allow you a free report or you can visit Annual Credit Report dot com). Check the following information.

1. Your personal information - is your name, address, phone, birthday, etc. correct. 80% of the credit reports have errors (now a 20% accuracy rate is something worth getting fired for - go figure!.
2. Check who the reports indicate are your lenders. If you don't recognize an account, you need to address this. Check to see the payments are correctly noted. Your creditors information should reflect the past 7 years of dealings - nothing more. If more than the past 7 years are showing, you need to have this corrected.
3. Only information pertaining to your finances/money should be listed - no arrest records, nothing except money related information.
4. Check to see who has accessed your credit reports. If you try to open a charge card, take out a loan, etc., that information will be noted on your credit report (hard inquiries). However the people mailing junk mail to you may have accessed your credit history and/or bought your name from the credit bureau. This too will be reflected in your credit history and often negatively impacts your credit score. If this is happening, you may want to contact the credit bureau(s) to have a security lock placed on your report thus preventing solicitors from accessing your history and impacting your scores.

I just lost my job....now what?

I just lost my job - it doesn't feel real - am I just imagining this happened to me or is it a bad nightmare?

The day I was fired, I felt a wave of relief, however I was also numb - how did this happen to me? I am a good employee. I have good attendance. My safety record is awesome. My performance reviews are always way above "satisfactory". What do I do and what comes first?


STEP ONE

If YOU had any of these feelings, one of the first things you should do, while everything is fresh in your mind, is to sit down and write down everything you can remember from the meeting where you were told you were fired or laid off. This information may become necessary should your former employer fight you on receiving unemployment benefits. You may need to provide details from your last meeting, or from previous meetings, to the people at your local employment/unemployment office.

When trying to remember the details, try to include:

• people present in the meeting
• date and time of the meeting
• what each person said
• what your responses were
• what documentation was present for you to review
• what you did or did not sign
• if you were forced or pressured to resign (example: "you can either resign or be fired, however if we fire you, your reputation will be damaged").

When writing, proofread the documentation several times. Ask someone you trust to proofread your notes too, asking them to not only find mistakes, but to provide feedback as to whether or not he/she understands what you are trying to say.

STEP TWO

File for unemployment benefits even if you were fired. The agency handling unemployment benefits in your state will investigate the situation and determine whether or not you can and will receive benefits. However....you can't receive benefits if you don't file for unemployment.

STEP THREE- Create a BUDGET

You need to determine exactly how much money is going out of the household as well as how much will be coming in (alimony, child support, unemployment insurance, etc). To help you, you need a budget. If you do not have "a handle" on your expenses and income, you will (1) not know how long you can last as an unemployed person, (2) not know how to effectively negotiate for a new salary and (3) will add unnecessary stress to an already stressful situation.

There are many forms "out there" you can use, however your family budget doesn't have to be fancy. Take a piece of paper and have two sections: one for outgoing expenses and one for any monies coming into your household.

In the column for outgoing expenses, some expenses might include:

• mortgage/rent
• homeowners/renters insurance
• electric
• gas/propane/coal/oil
• water
• sewage
• garbage
• vehicle payments
• vehicle insurance
• estimated fuel expenses
• food
• prescriptions
• medical insurance
• life insurance
• credit card expenses
• student loan(s)

For the income column, some funding sources might include:

• alimony
• child support
• retirement
• severance
• savings
• unemployment

STEP FOUR

After you finish roughing out a budget, you may need to call the companies with which you are dealing to see if they will lower your monthly payments and/or lower (better to see if they will do both) your interest rates. If you have been a good customer and especially if you have a good credit record, companies will tend to want to work with you and keep you as a valued customer.