5 Things I learned While Being Unemployed
After nearly 9 years at Amazon I left to join Viome. I knew joining a startup was risky, but I was excited for the challenge. Things didn’t work out at Viome and we parted ways after 9 months. Next week I start a new job (more on that later) ending nearly 3 months of unemployment. Being unemployed is hard and stressful. There’s this ticking clock and employers work according to their own timeline, not yours. Here are some things I learned about how to handle being unemployed. Feel free to add your own.
1) When leaving a job before having another (voluntarily or not) you should have at least 6 months of financial runway so you can hold out for the right job, rather than just taking something because you need the paycheck. This doesn’t need to be cash in the bank, it could be stocks or some other form of liquid asset. Most people don’t have this and you really should.
2) As soon as you find yourself out of work, cancel or downgrade every subscription that you don’t need. Your first priority needs to be extending your runway as long as possible. Everything is a subscription these days and I bet most of don’t even know how many subscriptions you’re still paying for that you don’t need. Not just the multitude of streaming options you could definitely reduce, but what about productivity apps, or how many content subscriptions do you have (e.g. news papers, magazines or Patreon), or Amazon Prime, or how many parked domains do you have that you’re never going to get to (let’s be real). Cancel, pause, or downgrade everything that’s non-essential.
3) Finding a job is a job, and it’s exhausting. Treat it like a job, get up, get dressed, and have a set number of hours in your day that you’re going to work on it. But then stop working and try to relax. I found it really helpful to have something else I could do that allowed me to stay productive and take my mind off job searching. For me, it was working on my second book. For others, it might be those house projects you’ve been putting off, or volunteering. Volunteering is a great thing to do to help you appreciate what you have.
4) Apply for everything that might be a fit. Finding a job, even in today’s market, is a numbers game. You’ll be surprised how many jobs you qualify for (and how many you don’t). This will also highlight areas and in your professional development you could work on. As an example, while I have lots of B2C and DTC experience, my B2B experience is pretty dated. Part of the reason I chose my next job is that I can leverage my DTC while expanding my B2B.
5) My last tip is to take care of your mental health. Whatever you do to keep yourself sane (exercise, meditate, etc.), double up on it. You’re going to need it. Reach out to friends and catch up. Not only is your network a great place for job leads, but you’re going to need that extra human connection and friendship when things get low.
I have other thoughts I’ll share later. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
