My son just called and told me he got let go from his job. I don't really know the details and it's nothing that would keep him from getting another job.
My main question is, aside from looking for a new job (which he had been doing anyway, but now will be more motivated) or possibly go back to school, what all should he be doing?
My thoughts:
0) Keep his head up and realize stuff happens, and not to take it personally. Have a short pity party and move on. He wanted out of there anyway (he was in retail) so this will probably turn out to be a good kick in a better direction.
1) Get on ACA. He loses the medical insurance he had through work. He'll probably come out better since he'll get a subsidy and was paying a good chunk for mediocre health care before. Any rules on how quickly he can do this?
2) File for unemployment compensation. Any rules here? He's already applying for jobs and will certainly be actively working.
Less urgently:
3) Move his 401K over to Vanguard. He had reviewed his investment options with me a couple years ago and I don't recall any especially good investment choices.
4) If this turns into a low income year we'll look at converting that 401K/IRA to a Roth, at least partially.
Any other advice? What are the best job seeking sites these days?
Here are job search tips given to me many years ago and I find these to be the holy grail of job searching:
1) Update linked in profile
2) have 2 people proof read your resume
3) every week meet 2 people for coffee/lunch for networking purposes
4) create an internal resume which includes additional sections
4a) create a section which lists prospective job titles to search for (example- I can manage projects, be a software architect or be a business analyst). Write a generic profile of the job descriptions/roles responsibilities of each job I could consider taking).
4b) create a section which lists specific companies which need the skill- try to make this section 20+ employers long. (for example, I know a specific PLM tool well, and my list would include key customers which use the tool, and authorized resellers of the PLM tool).
Each week:
1) contact someone on linked in which matches job description in 4a
2) contact 10 employers listed in 4b
3) have lunch or coffee with 2 people
What I found was this:
1) every time I found a job since 2013 it was based on someone I met while at my previous job (so in 2013 my employer was based on someone I met in 2006, in 2014 it was based on who I met in 2013, in 2015 it was based on same search in 2013). The networking thing pays dividends. My eyes were always open to other job titles people had which did similar work as myself.
2) Resumes are online forever, get a google VOIP and use that number on all resumes (so I can cancel number if not looking for a job).
3) create a job specific email, so job searches and recruiters do not have my private email address.
4) create a resume for each city a person wants to work in- I have a Colorado resume on a specific job board because I want to move there- I can create a Colorado VOIP for same search. recruiters tend to search based on state when sourcing.
5) It is easier to find a job when already employed- so after 2 months it is better to take lesser employment and keep looking that wait for something perfect. This can lead to job hopping, so remember greener grass has more manure. Working for a temp agency or job shop is a good way to bridge the gap, and owning a small business can also bridge the gap (that small business covers a few time holes in my resume).
6) use vague dates on resume- at one point I formatted my resume as the projects I worked on, not the employer names to mask some gaps in the timeline- until I got to point where I just removed dates altogether.