Whether you were laid off, fired, or quit, the reality is you are now jobless in Seattle. Odds are you were let go on a Friday, which means you have the weekend to grieve, celebrate, or both. Come Monday though you have to formulate a plan to find a new job and make the most of your suddenly ample free time. Although HKM Employment Attorneys cannot give you legal advice unless you contact us, but HKM can offer you these 20 things to do if you lose your job in Seattle.
1. ASK YOURSELF WHAT YOU TRULY WANT TO DO
If you quit your job to join the circus, people call you irresponsible. However, if you’re laid off and then join the circus, people call you an inspiration. Ask yourself what you really want to do with your life and start working toward finding a job that lets you do it. Such as…
- Train for circus jobs—Teatro ZinZanni has various camps and classes teaching stage combat, juggling, and the aerial arts, and now they’re hiring.
- Become a top chef—Seattle is home to a number of culinary schools, including Seattle Culinary Academy, Le Cordon Bleu, and The Art Institute of Seattle.
- Get into the chicken coop construction business just like Seattle’s own Saltbox Designs.
- Become a famous farmer like those amazing agrarians at Local Roots Farm.
2. FIND OUT IF YOU’RE ELIGIBLE FOR UNEMPLOYMENT
There are a number of factors that determine whether you’re eligible for unemployment, but the best way to find out is by contact the Washington State Employment Security Department. You won’t be living the high life, but it beats living in your car.
3. WRITE TWO RESUMES
A professional resume is a must for anyone searching for a job, but after emailing it hundreds of times into the ether it’s therapeutic to write a second one. This time, write one that’s unflinchingly honest, completely satirical, or at least entertaining enough for an HR person to want to share it with others. Something like this.
4. RECYCLE YOUR RESOLUTIONS
You know those New Year’s resolutions you hastily abandoned last January? Time to dust them off because you now have the time to exercise, read books, and learn a new language. Also, since your new financial situation means you can’t afford anything, it’s an ideal time to eat healthy.
5. TEMP WORK
While you wait for NASA to offer you that astronaut job, you should play the field and try and see other employers by taking temp jobs.
- Molly Brown Temps, Inc. partners with a lot of Seattle companies, particularly for office work.
- The Creative Group is creative staffing agency focusing on design, marketing, advertising, and public relations.
- Craigslist’s et cetera job page is a good source for leads on jobs like egg donor, mock juror, psychic phone reader, test subject for medical studies, and toothbrush research study participant.
- Cool Works posts openings for seasonal jobs at farms, ski resorts, camps, parks, and canneries.
6. DOES ANYONE OWE YOU MONEY?
There’s a small chance someone or some company owes you money, and you might not even be aware of it. The Washington State Department of Revenue’s website allows you to search your name through its database to see if you’re owed money or have any unclaimed property. Who knows? Maybe that deposit you paid the utility company back in 1988 is just waiting for you to collect it… so you can pay your utility bill.
7. BURN ALL WORK-RELATED ITEMS
Part of the healing process is purging your home of artifacts that remind you of your previous employer. It’s time to toss any awards, certificates of appreciation, and especially cheap T-shirts from any awful team-building retreat. While you’re at it, toss in those pleated khakis.
8. REMOVE YOUR PIERCINGS
If you have a lip, eyebrow, or belly button ring, and you aspire to work somewhere besides a food court, you need to take that out immediately.
9. FIND A NEW HOBBY
You could binge watch old shows on Netflix and set a world record for Nutella consumption, or you could find a unique new hobby that would impress employers, friends, and eligible singles.
- Ukulele lessons at Seattle Ukelele
- Skydiving at Skydive Snohomish
- Parkour lessons at Parkour Visions
- Curling lessons at Curling Seattle
10. GET FIT
Without a job, there’s no shortage of free time. Running is a great way to get your mind off your unemployment status, and running is free. In addition to logging laps around Green Lake or along the Burke Gillman Trail, you could join the Seattle Running Club, or take part in some of the hundreds of races each year in the Seattle area, including 40 in March alone.
11. CLEAN UP SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILE
Potential employers will be spying on your internet presence. You probably want to set your Facebook page to private, delete any questionable tweets, and untag yourself from any questionable photos like these:
- Vegas trips, bachelor/bachelorette parties
- Pretty much anything from college, New Year’s Eve, or Halloween
- Any photo of you attempting to ride an endangered species, even manatees
- You at that Limp Bizkit concert you reluctantly attended because your cousin begged you… yeah, that’s why you went.
12. UPDATE YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE
Most people avoid updating their LinkedIn profile while they have a job for fear their employer will think they’re on the hunt for a new one. That’s not an issue now, so really spruce it up. There’s no shortage of articles on the web about how to get the most out of LinkedIn, although you will eventually come to resent it and all the terrible updates you get.
13. LEVERAGING HAPPY HOUR FOR PERSONAL GAIN
Not only is happy hour a great way to get discounted food and drinks, it’s also a great way to meet up with friends and former colleagues who have jobs. There are also numerous happy hour meetup groups organized around professions and industries. Your next job might be just a beer away.
14. BUY BUSINESS CARDS
Business cards are nice to have, but don’t waste a ton of time and money on them, unless they’re edible business cards, which would be a great business to start. This could be your Kickstarter golden ticket, unless a team of entrepreneurial stoners have already beat you to it.
15. FREE SAMPLES
While 95% of your calories will come from steamed rice and canned soup, you can still taste the finer things in life thanks to free samples at Pike Place Market, Costco, Whole Foods, Theo’s Chocolate, Starbucks, and other places.
16. FREE MONEY
People with steady employment are actually incredibly lazy. The mere thought of picking up a nickel on the street is itself tiring. However, those without jobs are far more motivated. The willingness to bend your back, extend your arms, and pick up coins off the street can be a mildly lucrative revenue stream. You’ll find lost coins under and around these places…
- Between the couch cushions at other people’s houses
- Vending machines and arcade games
- Parking meters and curbs where cars are packed
- Cashier counters at shops, restaurants, mobile food retailers
- Roller coasters that turn upside down
- Entrances to buildings where people take out their keys
17. FIRST THURSDAYS ARE FREE DAYS
Your entertainment budget may afford little more than watching your pet hamster conquer the wheel, but you can still live a life of culture on the first Thursday of each month. Entry is free for the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Asian Art Museum, Museum of Flight, Museum of History and Industry, and Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture.
18. SEARCH FOR A NEW JOB
The vast majority of you time will be spent enduring the drudgery of seeking out available jobs online. Due to the misery of this task we buried it down here at the bottom of the list so you didn’t run off to look at cat videos. Here’s but a small list of the online places you’ll search for a job…
- The job pages of companies and organizations you’d like to work for
- Job sites like Indeed, LinkedIn, Seattle Times, Poachable, Craigslist, and numerous others specific to your industry.
19. RELEASE YOUR ANGER
Yoga is very calming, but there’s nothing like paintball to truly release the pent-up frustration of searching for jobs day in and day out. In a controlled and safe setting you can go on a Rambo-style shooting rampage at any of three Doodlebug Sportz locations in the greater Seattle area.
20. DETERMINE IF YOU WERE FORCED OUT OF YOUR JOB UNFAIRLY
If your previous employer discriminated against you, subjected you to a hostile work environment, inflicted emotional distress, withheld wages, harassed or assaulted you, or if you believe you were wrongfully terminated, you should consider contacting an employment attorney at HKM Employment Attorney in Seattle.
