What its like to be fired and how to move forward pt 2

The next morning was like the worst hang over, a death in the family and rejection all wrapped up in one. I called my best friend and asked what he had done, what I needed to do for my unemployment and any tips he had for my next moves. He gave me some of the best advice I have ever received: get a routine, get back on the horse and don't stop till you get a job.

Day one was rough at best. Even though it was a Saturday morning It felt oddly like Monday morning and I should have been somewhere doing something. The only thing I had was to leave the house and walk (gas costs money and I wasn't going to burn that). I was lost and looking for something to grab, a branch, a rope, a raft. Anything to feel I would be ok. In the contracting world of the DoD, being fired at this time is a death sentence. No one is hiring, no one is looking for resumes and no one is going to answer a call on a weekend let alone 5 days till xmas.

I was beginning to feel that my firing was done with vengeance and hate. I had made the client look like an ass and he was going to show me who was boss This was part three of the seven steps, Anger. It had taken less than 24 hours to make it here. Well all he did was light a fire in me that took several days to begin to burn but now two years later its a full blown forest fire with no stopping in site.

The first thing I did was make a schedule of what my days would be like till I got another job. I recommend doing the same as I did with light modification as needed. Schedule your day. Time can be a killer on you if it takes a while to get a job.
This was my first day:

Wake up: You would normally for work so why would you change this? Set an alarm and make a day like you would normally.
Eat breakfast: Even if you never do normally, do it. It will take some time out of your day to prepare it and eat it. Time you will learn is an enemy of your mind if you take longer than you expect to get another job.
Call the unemployment office: You will most likely have several things you need to do to get them. Set alarms for these things.
4)Call the VA if your a Vet: they may have training for you to get into your next job!
Make a resume(s) (ill post another blog to help with this, look for it)
Make a spread sheet with the following columns. Job position, Date applied, status (applied, called, emailed, received call/email back, interviewed, offer letter, hired, 30/60/90 days since applied, written off, other notes about job) This will help when you need to show the unemployment office you have been trying!
Look for a job: I know this seems like a no brainier but do it like that was your job before you got let go. (ill be posting links for job sites and tips) Apply for everything you are remotely qualified for. Don't say no to yourself let them say it. You may be shocked to hear a yes to something you never thought was possible. My personal philosophy is this: You can always say no to a job that is offered, but you cant say yes to one that isn't. Apply to everything and see what comes up.
In my case I was over qualified for most jobs at the entry level and under qualified at the high level. The mid level jobs were just not there for me because I didn't have that degree yet.
Lunch break: Again if you don't eat it do it anyway. Its a break in the day.
Look for more jobs: Did I mention you need to look for jobs?
Make dinner: you need to eat don't you?
Exercise: Walk, run, swim, bike what ever you can do, make sure you exercise. the stress of being jobless is far greater than having a job and being stressed. If your married it will give you a moment out of the norm and lets face it its healthy.
Go to bed normally: This isn't a vacation, don't treat it as such. Treat your job search as if you are getting paid for it.

Other things I did after day one was to call all the friends I knew had connections and sent them resumes, I called former bosses I had and asked for references. I took account of the money I had and what my bills were and turned off, canceled, paid off what I had to to get by and made a list of how long I could last with what I had.
Also I made a new email that was only for job hunting. I made it a habit to do something I always wanted to do but "never had time" to do. My habit was to meditate. I don't much any longer but it really helped calm my day and it was something i did before bed to help me sleep.

Maybe its time for a change. Did you ever want to do something else before you had this job? Make a list when you are on day three. By now you will have surfed all the jobs you could if your working hard at it and will need a little break. If you deiced it is then you need to know what it takes to switch now that you have time to change course. If that's the case be ready to move (more on this coming as well in another post)

My first few days felt like I had either too much energy or not enough to do the simplest of tasks. My reason for this was all the constant thinking about what just happened, the anger of being fired and the worry of what was to come next. Trust me the exercise was a welcome relief from this and it helped greatly with the energy level balance. I made it part of my morning and it made eating breakfast easier, it made me focus easier through out the day and made me sleep easier when it was time for bed.

Exercise helped me through the 7 levels of grief pretty fast actually, the meditation helped quiet my over active mind with the anger and pain and the clean eating helped keep me from depression, the reflection and loneliness, well that's going to happen.

Another thing to remember, just because you don't have a job does not mean your friends and family don't. Call and text them as you would normally but not none stop. You don't want to run them off. They will be your lifeline when you feel alone in this journey.

In the next post (how to get to the next job) ill go over sites to visit and how to set up your resume for that next job. How to answer why you go fired and turn it into a positive.