Laid Off? Do This First

Staffing CEO Christopher McCarthy tells Jill Schlesinger what to do as soon as you lose a job, and how to explain the employment gap on your resume.

Laid Off? Do This First Jill Schlesinger: So Chris, what is the first thing you should do after you loose your job? Christopher: Great question, I would say go out with some friends, go to a happy hour, feel good about yourself, commiserate and feel good about yourself. And day two, after that, I think it’s important to get out right away and start looking. Start thinking about or start planning what’s your job search, what’s your next job. If you’re in a position where you’ve been given a significant amount of severance more than let’s say two weeks, maybe you want to take a couple of weeks off, clear your head. Sometimes when you got to the point we’re fired a lot of people knew it was coming, there’s a lot of anxiety. So it might be good to take a step back and clear your head. Jill: How do you explain the gap on your resume? Christopher: I think it’s important to be able to say something, something constructive like I spent my time off doing best or I tried to start my own consultancy or started my company or I was engaged in nonprofit work or whatnot but not having an answer is the worst thing. I think employers are much more tolerant now of gaps especially or for the past year or two because of the state of the economy. Having a story I think is the most important thing. And feeling good and confident about your story of why you had a gap. Jill: Great. Christopher: It’s important. Jill: Thank you so much.