This Happened to Me | Advice
Tales From The Unemployed Side
Help Is Available - What To Expect When You’re Unemployed And Seeking Help
Job Lose
I live in the state of Virginia. Your mileage and unemployment programs available may very. My hope is that you can find similar assistance discussed in this article for your location and situation.
The Long And Winding Road
The past 18 months have been a trying time for me and my family. In February of 2023, I had major back surgery which included an agonizing recovery period and required a lot of family supported care.
Then in November of that same year I lost my father unexpectedly during Thanksgiving due to some unknown, at the time, heart related issues.
In January of 2024, I lost my dog, and best friend, in a blistering snowstorm for over a week. And at the end of May, right before Memorial Day weekend, I was laid off from my job, which I loved, as a Senior Software Engineer. Not a good stretch.
So layoffs suck, no matter how they go down or your current state of affairs in life. I’ve had my fair share of job changes due to no fault of my own. Some companies actually showed some signs of humanity by letting us know when the layoff was coming and gave a decent severance package.
Other places just huddled the whole team together, gave a surprise 'thanks but no thanks' speech and then at the end, literally pulled the plug on all of our company access. Like we were nobodies.
That aside, I’d like to talk about my personal experiences of being on unemployment in hopes that it will help others prepare for their journey.
The State Of The Tech Industry
Bad News Bob
Being in the unemployment system is a bit of a new thing for me. I’ve never been out of work for long. But this time something was different and I knew it was going to be a longer haul.
I knew the job market in tech was terrible. Layoffs, after layoffs, after layoffs were being reported in the news. So in my situation and with those current state of affairs, I decided to sign up for unemployment.
Unemployment Services & Paychecks
Providing Services
Unemployment provides several services to job seekers. First and foremost they provide some financial relief. The key word is 'some’. Don’t expect much.
When you sign up for unemployment you have to fill out gobs of paperwork. And of course, some of it involves questions about the company you were terminated from and your salary there.
So based off of that, they determine how much you qualify to get in your weekly check. The total amount you can get from these benefits is also capped.
Sooner rather than later you will exhaust the allotted funds. This, of course, is the incentive that they give you to get back to work as soon as possible.
Financial Relief
Now, the checks from unemployment are not free. You do have to work for them. And that means job hunting. While you are on unemployment, they require a weekly job seeking report of all the jobs you have applied to.
The minimum requirement for the amount of jobs you must apply to per week is two jobs. Personally, I think this number is way too low. It’s easy enough to do more than that in one day. But then again, I’m in the tech industry and everything is done online. Other industries may not be so lucky.
In any event, the weekly job seeking report needs to include each job’s employer name, address, phone number, contact information, URL to the job posting and date applied.
You’ll need to keep good track of what job listings you have applied to. The unemployment commission does say they do some investigations to see if the report you provide is accurate and not made up. Whether or not they contact these companies directly or not to check on things is not entirely clear to me.
Apparently, if something does come back as a false report at any time, even several weeks later, you could lose your benefits entirely and you may also end up having to payback funds previously dispensed to you.
Keep that in mind. Once you file the weekly report, then over the next couple of days you will get your weekly funds deposited.
Unemployment Programs
Helping Hands
Because of the job industry I work in and my seniority level, I was randomly chosen to be included in a program that is part of the 'Work Force Opportunity Act (WFOA)’. Which is "designed to help job seekers find and retain employment through high-quality employment assistance."
“Their services include career coaching, resume and job search assistance, occupational training, paid work experience opportunities and other supportive services.”
The program itself is called the 'Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment Grants (RESEA)’.
They assigned me a counselor to guide me through the process. And honestly, it’s nice to see that these services are so readily available. I hope the same sort of services can be found in your area.
Reemployment Plan
Workshopping
So the first thing I was required to do as part of the program was attend a remotely accessible workshop from home. The purpose of this workshop was to provide information on my responsibilities while in the program.
It also covered methods to writing resumes, cover letters and thank you letters. And also during the workshop we were given an assignment. We were required to come up with a "reemployment plan" and submit it a few days later.
SMART Goals
The reemployment plan had to consist of an undefined (for some reason) amount of short and long term SMART goals. It also required that a goal be set for the desired return to work date.
We were given no examples to go by for the SMART goals. Anyone who has had a yearly review at work is probably familiar with SMART goals. I won’t define what those are here because it can easily be found elsewhere. But I just wanted to mention that this was a requirement.
If you are not a fan of that yearly review process that includes making up SMART goals, at least you will already be familiar with the process.
After submitting my reemployment plan, my counselor contacted me to discuss it. Now, this wasn’t a very long conversation. I think she just wanted to confirm that what I had sent to her was correct.
Everything was acceptable to her so we made a follow up appointment for one month later. At that time we will discuss how I progressed on my SMART goals and the job hunt itself.
Keep your head and your thumbs up!
So that’s where I currently am. Trying to enjoy my time off but also trying to keep my head in the game. I’ve had a lot more time than usual to explore new tech and study up for certifications I’ve been wanting to pursue. So silver lining.
And to all those struggling right now with no employment, just know that help is available. And don’t feel ashamed or embarrassed to use any of these services. They are there to help get you through it and on to better times.
Head And Thumbs Up!
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