We explain what help is available to you if you find yourself unemployed.
Unemployment is on the rise, and many of us are losing our jobs or struggling to find employment. However, help is at hand, and there are steps you can take to ease the gloom of coping with unemployment.
As financial hardship will be the first thing that accompanies unemployment, it’s important to face up to this and not to bury your head in the sand. Unfortunately the problems that unemployment brings will only get worse if you ignore them, so it’s essential to deal with them as soon as you can.
What you can do to cope
First, accept that being unemployed can be a very difficult thing to deal with. If you lose your job you may go through a process of grieving, just with any other major loss in your life. After all, work makes up a large part of our daily routines, and can contribute towards our sense of purpose and identity. Therefore losing a job can be very unsettling.
Taking control of your time when you are unemployed can help to restore that sense of purpose, and prepare you for finding new employment.
- Try to maintain a similar routine to the one you had when working. Make job-searching your new full-time job, and try to be focused on this for the majority of the day.
- Take the time to overhaul and update your CV.
- Or, you might feel that it is time to think about a new direction; in which case you may want to brush up on old skills or learn new ones.
- Keep in contact with your friends and family so that you don’t lose motivation.
- Cut down on your spending so that you are only buying essentials. Try writing a budget and sticking to it.
- You may like to try undertaking some volunteer work. This will help you to gain new skills and give you a sense of purpose, as well as looking impressive on your CV when you do return to employment.
What help is available?
Make the most of benefits
You may want to look into what benefits could be available to you, such as Income Support and Jobseekers’ Allowance. These can supply you with a trickle of money until you get back on your feet again.
If you have been made redundant, you should be entitled to statutory redundancy pay - providing you have been working for your employer continuously for 2 years or more. Find out more about what your redundancy rights are here.
Visit your JobCentre
Your local JobCentre Plus branch will be able to offer you many different kinds of support and advice. They have a searchable database of jobs that is updated daily, which you can access either online or in-branch. They can also help you to write or update your CV, as well as offer general careers advice.
The Chancellor announced some measures in his 2009 Budget that will benefit jobseekers, including the £1.7 billion extra funding for the JobCentre network. There is also a guarantee from the Government that, as of January 2010, anyone under 25 who has been out of work for more than 12 months will be offered a job or traineeship.
Don’t ignore mounting bills
If you are struggling to pay your bills or meet mortgage repayments, there are ways to get help. First you should make contact with your creditors and explain your situation, as there may be other payment options or ways of deferring payment.
For example, if you are struggling to meet mortgage repayments because of recent unemployment, you may be eligible for the Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme. This allows you to defer your repayments temporarily until your finances improve.
Many non-profit organisations such as charities and counselling services will be able to offer you help if you are having difficulty paying your bills. Getting in touch with Citizens Advice, National Debtline or the Consumer Credit Counselling Service will start you in the right direction.
Remember that although unemployment can bring hardship, it’s important to deal with your situation before your finances get out of hand. Bear in mind that this could be a good time in your life to reassess priorities and personal goals, and make sure that you are set up for the future.
