Unexpectedly Unemployed: My 9-Week Journey to a New Job
In late October, I found myself out of a job. I wasn’t fired, and I didn’t quit. It was more like a “mutually beneficial resignation.”. I needed to work from home for 8–10 days due to a family emergency involving my dad, leaving me without school transportation for my kids. Despite having worked from home during the early days of COVID and periodically in the time since then, I was given only four days.
It sounds worse than it was. On one hand, I was shocked that I could be so easily let go after four years of being a hard worker. On the other hand, I understood why. I know prolonged remote work wasn’t a precedent my employer wanted to set for any of the employees. By leaving on a positive note, I walked away with a few weeks of severance and a strong reference.
Being unexpectedly unemployed was a roller coaster, with my hopes rising and falling with each job application. In mid-December, just as I was settling into the idea of ending 2023 without a job, I received a call from a position I applied for three weeks earlier. That call turned into a phone interview the following day, an in-person interview the next, and an offer letter that afternoon. I was out of work for nine weeks. Here are the actions I took that I believe helped me make the most of those nine weeks.
