Ask HN: Have you lost your job anytime? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Have you lost your job anytime?

4 pointssun1238 comments

The company I worked suddenly closed down. I am sure I can find a job outside but I don't want to join a random company. I can of course clear interviews, but I think I cannot make choices now. Have you been through this kind of situation ?

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If you're healthy, and really in a pinch, you can make money donating plasma and hopefully soon, bone marrow for more money.

Don't be afraid to go after social services you paid for in the past with your taxes too. You paid into the system, now it is time to collect out on unemployment, food stamps, whatever and everything you can find. Don't be too proud or something stupid like that. Every little bit helps. $100 in food stamps is $100 more you have.

Yes try to find freelance work immediately, contact recruiters and see if they have any small gigs that are available. The point being make some breathing room so that you have time to evaluate your next move. Hit up people that you know and see if there company has any small projects that have been on the back burner for a while. See if you can persuade them to fund it and let you run with it. Remember all you have to do right now is cover living expenses to give you time to breath. A lot of people will get caught up with not making less than the last job, which should be a goal, but when committing to small term efforts the first and foremost concern is to cover the rent, to give you breathing room, from there you can make bigger decisions. Once your rent is covered raise you rate to the next small project that comes along. Do this until you find a job you are interested in, or have built a freelancing network that will support you until you do. Be careful though, you can get caught in the freelancer trap, where you start earning too much to go back to a day job, this can make you pass on what would have been good opportunities. It's a strong market for us right now and we are blessed for that, so don't panic and work the numbers, a contact is a potential project so ask every contact you make.

Sure, happens to everybody.

Losing your job unexpectedly does funny things to your emotions - it can create feelings of panic, and lead to rash decisions in your rush to get back to a steady income.

Assuming you've got marketable skills and you're not broke, you'll be just fine - but it takes a few days for your emotional, non-rational side to realize this. So don't make any rash decisions until you've calmed down.

Go for walks, do something you find fun, try to put looking for a job out of your mind until the initial shock wears off and you're thinking clearly again. Then and only then should you resume your normal job search.

That's how you keep yourself from foolishly joining 'a random company' - you give yourself time to cope with the shock you've just had.

Right on. I would add that after the new job is landed prepare for it to happen again by keeping your professional network fresh and up-to-date. Most importantly be ready to look for the signs before the shit hits the fan. There are always pre-indicators when things aren't going well in an organization. It is always much better to jump ship before the thing sinks if you can do it.

If you're a coder or tech just wait until January, companies start deciding who to hire and advertising work then. Until then just chill out, go to the movies, do stuff that isn't computers and decompress. The panic will pass shortly.

If you were close with your coworkers, invite them on linkedin and maybe ask if they all want to go get beer.

Is this true about January? As someone that is actively looking for work, this is kind of a big deal to me

same here im looking to move to the bay area come next year.

absolutely! The holidays are always slow for hiring. A lot of company budgets start in Jan.

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