Getting Fired From Your Job

Getting fired from your job can actually be turned into a positive situation.

Each week, millions of Americans go to work, do their jobs, and collect their paychecks.  Unfortunately, there might come a time when that cycle can be disrupted.

 What To Do First

If you have recently found yourself fired or terminated from your current place of employment, you may be in shock.  Although shock is a normal feeling, it is important that you start taking action right away, especially if you rely on your income to pay important bills, such as your rent or mortgage, or if you use your paycheck to help support your family. 

Depending on the circumstances, you will find that most states do not allow those terminated from their jobs to collect unemployment payments.  This typically only happens if you are laid off.  What does this mean for you?  It means that you will need to find new employment if you do not have a savings account or some other income coming into your home that will cover your monthly expenses. 

The First Step To Take After Getting Fired

The first step is to create a resume. This is important, as you will need a current resume to apply for new jobs.  If you don't know how to create one, you can look online for various services that can help you.  

Even if you are able to fill out a traditional job application, you will still want to attach a resume. Resumes add professionalism to all job applications and they can help to set your application apart from all the rest.  If you are unsure how to write your own resume, you may want to consider using the services of a professional resume writer.

In keeping with resumes and job applications, it is important that you proceed with caution.  Unfortunately, many job seekers make the mistake of including a job in which they were fired from on their job application or on their resume.  

However, in that same sense, many make the mistake of leaving the job that they were recently terminated from off of their resume, when it should really be included.  That sounds a little bit confusing doesn't it?  If you are unsure as to how you should prepare your resume, you are not alone.

Job Resume Composition After Getting Fired

When trying to determine how you should prepare your resume, what you need to do is examine your reasons for being terminated, as well as how long you were employed by your past employer. 

Many employers do not like seeing gaps over one or two years; therefore, if your last job, the one in which you were fired from, lasted over two years, you may still want to include that position on your resume and job applications.  With that in mind, you also want to use your best judgment concerning the reason or reasons you were fired if it wasn't due to job cut-backs, or the closing of the company.  For example multiple missed work days, theft, or your inability to get along with your co-workers.

Looking For Employment After Getting Fired  

Once you have created a resume for yourself, you can begin looking for new employment by applying for jobs.  This is the easy part, as you will find that you have a number of different options.  You may want to start with your local newspaper. 

Most newspapers have an employment section.  What is nice about using your local newspaper to examine all open job positions is that most of your jobs will be local.  There is typically no sorting by location needed.  In addition to using your local newspaper, you can also use the Internet to help you research companies with open positions. 

Once you have a collection of jobs that you would like to apply to, you will want to create a cover letter for yourself.  Cover letters typically should not be developed in advance, as you will want to personalize your cover letter with the name of the position you are applying for, as well as the company you are applying at.  You can create a template for yourself, but make sure each and every one of your cover letters is personalized in one way or another. 

Another means of finding employment is to look online for Internet job location services such as Monster.com.  You create a resume online and it is kept on the server of each of the companies you work with.  Then you post your job interest and they notify you of any possibilities. 

There is also the possibility of the employment agency that has access to companies that might hire you.  They will interview you, find out your various skills, test those skills, and then set about finding you a job.  They will either expect you to pay them a fee or some agencies get paid from the companies that do the hiring.  If you have little money, you may wish to go with this type of service.

The above mentioned steps to take after getting fired will help you get organized to find new employment.  In dire circumstances, such as one where you need income right away, you may want to visit your local temporary employment agency, as they can help you find short-term temporary jobs that might turn into full-time employment.

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Getting Fired and all associated materials and related studies are the complete work of the site's author, Margaret Lukasik, and cannot be copied by any means without her express written permission.