Tips for Pinoys Who Have Lost Their Jobs (Or About to)

Are you one of the increasing number of Pinoys losing their jobs? Being shown the door is very rarely a happy event, especially in tough times such as these when jobs are hard to come by and whatever job openings are available are just way below or above your current skills. If you have already lost your job or are just thinking you might be the unlucky recipient of a termination notice, here are some tips on what to do:

Network. Now.
Sometimes, the best next step is just right under your nose. Start looking for a possible next employer. Tap the sources you know, particularly officemates (those you can trust not to yap about your latest jobhunting efforts), industry contacts, friendly suppliers and customers.

Do this even if you truly like your job and want to stay. If things don't go your way, at least you have a real job waiting for you.

Get all necessary documents from your employer.
If you lose your job, make sure your employer gives you all your employee documents. Ask for a Certificate of Employment and other support documents including your letter of termination, clearance, quit claim form, etc.

Make sure you also have a copy of all documents that pertain to your finances -- salary (including last pay), certificate of payment of loans (whether you've paid them in full or still have a balance) and copies of other information regarding SSS contributions/loan payments and BIR deductions.

Start living a stingy life.
When you lose your job, you need to protect all the money you have. Do not make the mistake of not having enough at the time your employer shows you the door. If you fear you might lose your job at any time, cut your expenses immediately. Skip the Starbucks coffee, the fancy lunch and the after-office drinks. A thousand bucks saved is a thousand bucks you can grab when you truly need it.

Update your professional and transferable skills.
The point here is to make yourself relevant to whoever your next employer might be. If or when you lose your job, you'll be much more employable compared to other jobhunters at your level. If you haven't lost your job right now, check to see what resources or tasks you can sign up for that will improve your skills, both professional (finance, human resources, management, manufacturing) and transferable ones (customer service, communication skills, negotiating, leadership, etc.).

Enroll in government-sponsored trainings.
Government agencies such as TESDA have programs for people who may be out-of-school, in between jobs or just want to expand their skills. If you lose your job, the last thing you might want to do is to pay for expensive re-training courses and TESDA might just be the perfect tool for that.

The agency offers these trainings for free. Sure, you will have to pay for other expenses such as transportation fees and lunch and probably some materials but the cost is nearly negligle compared to what you could have spent if you enrolled in classes offered by private training schools.

If you want to know what TESDA offers at an area near you, here's a link: TESDA

Get a temp job.
Sure it's just temporary or part-time but so what? It's still a job. And when times are this hard, you're lucky to actually have one. Usually, the pay is way down your salary scale. If you've been earning P700 a day, don't be shocked if a temp job offers you a measly P270.

But look at it this way: P270 a day is still P270 more that you'll have in your wallet. At the end of the week, this translates P1,350; at the end of four weeks, that's P5,400.

Since it's a part-time job, you'll probably only work for a few hours -- two, maybe four or five. You can still use the rest of the day to look for work or get more training.

Get an online job.
There are plenty of online jobs you can apply for in case you need a transition job or a job that will help earn you something while you transition to the next phase of your career. Most online jobs require some sort of training or skill (Web development, Web design, Java and PHP, medical transcription) but there are others you can do almost immediately (content writing, SEO, paid-to jobs such as blogging, posting in forums and surveys, online selling and auctions).

Losing your job
Many Pinoys view their job as an important part of themselves, so much so that their identity is tied to it. You know how it is... 'Tanungin mo si Engineer...' or 'Ayan na si Manager...' This is why it can be a real blow to lose a job because for many of us, it's what defines us as people or professionals.

But a job is often temporary. It's just something you do to earn a living, not who you are. Do not think you will lose yourself as a person if you are stripped of a title or get demoted to a lower rank as a result of getting fired. Of course, the loss of an income source can be very difficult but with a little work and creativity, it can be remedied.

Instead, view it as a chance to examine your goals closely. Is this what you really want to do? Is this what you want to be doing for the rest of your productive years? Ten, twenty years from now, what would be your biggest regrets about this job?

Very often, a job loss is not a loss, it's an opportunity to find something that will be so much better and more rewarding. Now that you don't have a job to distract you, ask yourself if it's truly a loss. For all you know, this could just be the chance for you to finally do what you truly love and get paid for it.