Dec 15, 20234 min read

5 Things To Do When the Job Ends

Don't panic when a job ends. Instead, focus on five forward steps.

To paraphrase the astounding John Lennon in "A Day in the Life," I heard the bad news today. Oy.

Earlier this week, I received a text from my supervisor asking if I could get on a call to talk. Not to discuss the project or answer my questions. Just a call ... to talk.

Uh, oh. My Spidey sense went all tingly. I felt my heart slip through my chest cavity. If I were a dog, my hackles would've risen.

Without much preamble, I was told the company wasn't renewing my contract for 2024. I'd do the following in previous situations:

Cry
Swear
Cry that I'm swearing
Blame everyone and everything except me
Leave a flaming bag of poop on their door
Pay a fine for leaving a flaming bag of poop on their door
Write an album of songs about them

I'm better than that now. I leave a flaming bag of poop next door with an arrow pointing to the company that let me go.

Oh, I had a brief moment of panic when my supervisor told me. However, rather than leaping into the inky chasm of the rabbit hole, I took action. Even as my brain decided to go through every worst-case scenario (hunger, isolation, homelessness), I ignored it in exchange for positive movements.

5 Things To Do When The Job Ends

These things happen when you're an independent contractor. Jobs are rarely long-term. In fact, the average contract length is a year. So, we free-spirited folks need to prepare for the next thing. On the other hand, it's tough to handle when you're a full-time employee who has spent years or decades with the same company.

To help you through the transition, here are five things to do when the job ends.

1. Don't woe, weep, or wallow. In other words, stay calm. At the minimum, keep your panic and pity party down to a minimum. Wallowing for extended periods has zero productive value.

Keep in mind the Universe isn't interested in punishing you. It doesn't care how many candy bars you stole as a teenager or the ants you burned with a magnifying glass. It wants you to succeed.

2. Update your resume/CV/portfolio. Don't hesitate to update your job qualifications. Even the dullest jobs have some redeeming value in learning new skills. Include these in your updates and remove any old data. Don't list every job you've had since that In-N-Out counter service position you had at seventeen. The last three or so are sufficient.

Edit your resume/CV/portfolio several times before submission to a company or job board. Improper spelling and sentence structure immediately knock you out of the running, even if the organization uses data algorithms to suss out potential interviewees.

3. Get out there. I wrote this a few weeks before Christmas 2023. I'm not waiting for the new year to put myself out there. I'm sending out my resume and CV now, regardless if HR departments are packing it in for the rest of the year.

You don't know what will happen. When I was a mild-manner IT administrator, a company hired me to start two days after Christmas.

Think of it another way. Organizations have leftover money with a "Use it or lose it" label at the end of a calendar or fiscal year. They're happy to bring you on for a project instead of returning the funds to a collective coffer.

4. Keep busy. Don't sit on your couch in three-day-old underwear while eating raw cookie dough and watching reruns of Mannix. A new position won't come any faster if you wait for the ring of your email notification. If anything, it'll make the days crawl like a race between a sloth and a snail on Ritalin.

Keep yourself busy. For example:

Pick up a lost hobby
Volunteer
Meet with friends at a physical location (not a Zoom call)
Exercise and meditate
Start a side hustle
Work a part-time job for extra funds.

There's always a chance one of these situations leads to a contact, an interview, and another job.

5. Try something new. Job loss may seem like a curse to some. For others, it's a chance to move forward with something new. For instance, I'm ready to transition into full-time creative writing and restarting my print-on-demand side hustle.

Is it scary? You bet your bippy it is. The thing is, sameness is tedious. Losing a job can shake you up enough to turn things around and make your ideal career happen. Having said this, don't blow all your savings on the new endeavor. Be smart.