Adventures in Unemployment
? Dan Curtis 2018
Like a car suddenly losing a front wheel, my career recently took a sharp turn and plowed through a guard rail called unemployment. Now that I’m back on the road I wanted to share some of those (mis)adventures in the hopes that my experience will help someone else. (Please don’t take my statements as representing sound legal counsel; it is only my experience. Seriously, you are reading this online—this could simply be the ravings of a lunatic.)
Filing for Unemployment
To start, I found out the hard way that at least in Michigan one must file for unemployment immediately at michigan.gov. (Here’s a handy link to describe the process, making it look deceptively easy: https://www.michigan.gov/documents/uia/127_-_Filing_for__receiving_UI_benefits_278807_7.pdf )
The online registration for unemployment benefits asks quite a few questions, and requires personal details, job details, the latitude/longitude of your buried stash of gold bricks, and details of any severance pay, such as date and amount received. I was fortunate to be offered some severance upon losing my job. However, as in all things, that took a little time to arrive. Before it arrived, I did not have a date or an amount to report while filing for unemployment. Wanting to be accurate, fully ethical, and not end up paying fines, I did not file until I received that check.
As a result of delayed filing, I lost eligibility for unemployment for a couple weeks. My advice: don’t do what I did! More specifically, if I had it to do again, I would have given my best estimate, because weekly certification for job searches and continued eligibility requires details and timing of any severance or any other type of income received.
It is also critical to register for work at a local Michigan Works! Agency location right away. Current guidelines require someone to be registered within 72 hours of their first appointment with Marvin (Marvin is the automated system to certify for seeking work). My advice: stop slacking and sign up right away. Don’t even finish lunch. With a joyful smile on your face, just hand off that half-eaten, greasy burger to the nearest stranger. They are sure to understand this gesture.
Also, expect to send proof and answer any questions proving the validity of unemployment or circumstances surrounding your departure. Good luck proving you were abducted by aliens. Anyway, the amount of documentation and detail tracking can be a little overwhelming to say the least. Do not even attempt to login when running low on patience.
Child Support
A person with much experience in life realizes that different branches of government are not always on speaking terms with each other. This effect emerges so frequently that I would advise family counseling. But back to the point, I discovered the hard way that child support does not change at all just because someone loses a job. As far as I know, there is no temporary adjustment available. No, in fact, the Friend of the Court is surprisingly efficient at finding and garnishing wages from unemployment checks! In order to change a permanent legal judgment for child support owed, one has to submit the necessary form to file for a hearing that must be scheduled in order to officially request a modification of support. In other words, I hope you have been kind to your friends and relatives; you may need them to help keep you afloat.
Morale
A person can start to feel pretty low, facing all these hurdles while still healing an ego bruised from job loss. Navigating the labyrinth of job searching further complicates matters. On average, today’s hiring cycle takes about a month to hire someone. With that kind of time to spend just waiting and endlessly applying, one of the most important steps in unemployment is keeping a positive attitude. Using a variety of approaches can help attain this goal. Allow me to make a few suggestions here, some of which I tried.
- Perspective – remember we are much more than our jobs. Something as temporary as a job is not a valid source of identity.
- Regular exercise – So many studies and articles support the stress-relieving effects of exercise. You know it, but don’t want to believe it. Start now. Start small. Beginning is the hardest part. Okay, I’ll be honest that lifting weights or getting the heart pumping is not easiest thing either, but it’s worthwhile! Consider it an investment in your future.
- Family/Friends – Open your mouth and actually talk with someone about your situation. It’s amazing how just sharing seems to lighten the burden.
- Faith – Sometimes all we need to do is ask for help.
- Positive self-talk – Would it hurt to dress up in a coach costume, blow a whistle, and give yourself a loud pep-talk in front of the mirror? Sure, it probably looks crazy, but at least it’s a lot more entertaining than hosting a pity party for one. Just don’t high-five the mirror. Picking glass slivers out of your palm would be an anticlimax to your pep-talk.
- Stay occupied – Keep applying for jobs. Get projects done that weren’t easy to accomplish during a full-time work schedule. This could include an early spring cleaning of the house, supercharging your car, mastering particle physics, or setting a world record for speed-skating through the Gobi Desert.
- Humor – Laughter is good medicine. It’s a shame I have zero sense of humor, but at least I can rely on people who do have one. Unemployment helped me rediscovered an appreciation for comedy. By the way, is that a form or vampirism, drawing humor from an outside source? No wait, that would be uncool. It’s definitely more like taking dietary supplements. Right?
Conclusion
Try to stay employed.
Administrative Assistant Senior Healthcare at University of Michigan
7 年I had to chuckle - as I have been there! Though I didn't have such a high-end uniform.
Sr manager of Fleet Maintenance
7 年That's a great read, and valuable advice. I have looked into loads of jobs at companies here in the twin cites, nothing. Depressing telly, with all the companies looking for people and not hiring, seems a waste of their monry. I went into a different direction for me. Started driving a motorcoach doing local work. Quite different for me, but it will work till something else comes along. But need to get back into the trucking industry.
Retired From CareerCurve | Current U of M Adjunct Clinical Instructor
7 年Thanks for sharing this information
Creating a New World Order in a Digital Age
7 年I can affirm 2 things. 1. These are indeed the ravings of a lunatic. (Ha ha ha ha). Love ya Bro! 2. Finding yourself on the outside looking in is indeed disturbing and disruptive. (So much so, I read articles on my own unemployment journey that equated losing employment to that of losing a dear loved one psychologically.) One additional piece of advice I would offer is don't be afraid to take leaps of faith in yourself when unemployed. Consider your full compliment of legitimate skills when looking for your next role. Maybe you fell into unemployment from Finance/Accounting, but can reemerge into IT like I did? Bonus Advice: Don't be afraid to try consulting. You have valuable experience. Someone can use it ASAP. It's often easier and faster to get "in the door" that way. Sometimes the best path to FTE is through consulting. You may even like the consulting route after you get used to it as FTE and consulting both have plusses and minuses. Thanks Dan for your post, and GOOD LUCK!