Being out of gainful employment can be a disaster for anyone. From working for yourself to working for other people, a lack of a regular income is a worry. However, how disastrous can it really be? Both planned and unplanned periods out of a job can lead to long term financial consequences, but how much danger will you really be in? Let’s examine the idea, including all of the ups and downs, with the list below.
Savings Give You Plenty of Time
Having an emergency savings pot to hand is key to surviving an unemployed period. You never know when you may be made redundant, need to suddenly leave your job for any reason, or if you’ll become ill and be too sick to work.
But if there’s around 3 to 6 months of savings in the background, you can actually use this time productively. You can take your time looking for and applying to other jobs, or even consider setting up a business of your own.
Mostly, an emergency savings pot is safety. It’s an assurance of life quality when you’re in between employment. Never underestimate how much you might need your savings one day.
You Can Apply for Insurance
If you become ill for any reason, it’s good to have an insurance policy in place in case it means you can’t work. If you have health insurance at the moment, double check what the policy actually covers.
Does it pay out if you have to take time off work? If not, it’s time to invest in something like critical illness insurance. Even if your health insurance has coverage for out of work periods, you may still want to invest in this type of insurance on top.
You never know how long you’re going to be out of work for, or what treatment you’re going to need during that time, and there’s a chance standard health insurance won’t pay for everything.
You Could Be Due Compensation
If you’re out of work due to an accident or something like provably unfair dismissal, you should talk to a lawyer. You also have the chance to sue the federal government if need be, but that’s definitely not a case you should be thinking about alone!
Go through what happened to you, make sure you’ve got your side of the facts down on paper, gather your evidence, and let a lawyer determine if there’s a case to pursue. The better the legal aid on your side, the more power you’re going to have to get the compensation you deserve. That’ll make an unemployed period a lot less worrying in the long term.
It’s Easy to Lose Job Confidence
It’s not just your finances that can suffer during a time out of work. Your own confidence when it comes to working a job can suffer too. The longer you’re unemployed, the easier it’s going to be to feel like you’re never going to get another job as well.
During these moments, when the general mood is low and you’ve received many interview rejections, keep in mind that there are millions of employers out there. You have just as strong a chance to find a new job as you did at the start of this journey.
Freelancing Options are Greater Than Ever
If you’ve got the time and the energy, you could also use this time to lean into freelancing. If you’ve got a skill that’s easy to monetize, such as a degree in graphic design or experience in creating written content, you can start selling it as a service.
This makes it much easier for people to survive unemployed periods. The modern era values initiative and making something out of nothing, and if you’ve got a reliable wifi signal, you could easily establish yourself on a gig marketplace or social media platform for hire.
An unemployed period in your life can be hard to bounce back from. But the more you prepare for one, and take steps to reduce the harm when it happens, the less disastrous it’s going to be. Keep this in mind if you’re currently worried about your career or your ability to work.
You need to be kind to yourself and proactive during a time like this; it’s no good to sit still with the panic and let it eat you alive! And if you find that being out of a job is affecting your mental health, make a doctor’s appointment and talk to a professional.