Laid Off: First Week Plan

You just got laid off, and the next seven days decide how expensive and how long this gets. Not the next hour. Not your whole career. The first week. Here is the exact order to work in, so you handle money and paperwork before you start rewriting bullets at midnight.

Day 1: collect the paperwork before you sign anything#

Do not sign a severance agreement in the meeting. You almost never have to. Ask for the documents to take home and read them with a clear head.

Get copies of everything: the separation letter, the severance agreement, your employment contract, the latest pay stub, and any equity or bonus plan documents. Ask HR to confirm your official termination date, your last day of health coverage, and how unused vacation or PTO gets paid out.

Questions to put in writing to HR:

• What is the exact severance amount, and when is it paid?
• Is severance paid as a lump sum or in regular paychecks?
• Does my health coverage end on my last day or at month end?
• What happens to unvested equity, and is there an exercise window?
• Will the company contest unemployment, and how will they code my separation?
• What is the reference policy, and who gives references after I leave?

Get the answers in email. A phone call is fine for tone, but you want a record. Two weeks from now, when the payout looks wrong, that thread is what you use.

Day 1 to 2: severance questions worth negotiating#

Severance is often negotiable. Not always, but often enough that accepting the first number is leaving money on the table. Common reported offers run from two weeks of pay per year of service up to four, with wide variation by company, role, and country. Treat that as a rough range only, and check the current rules where you live.

Things people successfully push for: a longer coverage window, paying out the full year bonus pro rata, keeping the laptop, a longer health coverage bridge, and agreed reference language. If you are over 40 in the US, you usually get 21 days to consider and 7 days to revoke an age discrimination waiver. Confirm the exact timing in your own documents.

If the agreement includes a non-compete, get someone to read it. In some places these are weak or unenforceable. In others they are real. You need to know which.

Day 2 to 3: money triage, in this order#

Money anxiety makes people either freeze or panic-apply to everything. Neither helps. Spend one afternoon on the numbers and the anxiety drops a lot.

Run the math on your runway. Add up cash you can access without penalty, subtract fixed monthly costs, and divide. That number is how many months you have before things get tight. Write it down.

Then do these, in order:

• File for unemployment as soon as your employment officially ends. Waiting costs you money, and processing is slow in most places.
• Check your severance timing against your first rent or mortgage payment so nothing bounces.
• List every subscription and recurring charge. Cut what you will not use in the next three months.
• Call lenders before you miss a payment. Many have hardship programs, and they only help people who call early.
• Look at your health coverage options and the enrollment deadline. COBRA in the US, or your local equivalent, often has a retroactive window, which gives you time to compare.
• Hold off on big purchases, and do not drain retirement accounts to avoid touching savings. The tax hit is worse than it looks.

Unemployment rules and severance interaction vary by country and state. Some places reduce or delay your benefit if you get severance. Verify the current rule on the official government site before you budget around it.

Day 3: tell your network, in a message that gets replies#

Most layoff announcements read like a press release, and people do not know what to do with them. The ones that get replies are short, specific, and ask for one small thing.

Here is a version you can adapt and send to about 15 to 20 people you actually know:

Hi Sam, quick update: my role at Northwind was cut in the reorg last week, so I'm starting to look. I'm targeting senior ops roles in logistics, ideally remote or in the Chicago area. You came to mind because of your work at Meridian. If you know of anything opening up, or someone I should talk to, I'd really appreciate a pointer. No rush, and happy to return the favor.

Why it works. It says what happened in one line, states the target clearly, gives a reason you are asking this person, and asks for a pointer, not a job. People can answer that in 30 seconds.

Post a short public version too. Keep it to four lines: what happened, what you are looking for, one detail about your background, and that you are open to intros. Skip the long gratitude paragraphs. They read well and generate sympathy, but sympathy does not schedule calls.

Day 4: resume update, in the right order#

Do not open your resume and start polishing bullet by bullet. That is how people spend three days on adjectives and still send a document aimed at the wrong job.

The order matters:

• Pick 3 to 5 real job postings you actually want. Read them closely.
• Pull out the repeated requirements. That list is your target.
• Rewrite your headline and summary to match that target, not your whole history.
• Rewrite bullets under your two most recent roles first. Older roles get trimmed.
• Add any recent scope you forgot: team size, budget, systems owned, numbers moved.
• Export as PDF and check the formatting survives.

A worked example of a bullet rewrite. The before is what most people send:

Responsible for managing the logistics team and improving processes across the supply chain.

The after, aimed at a posting that wants cost control and cross-team work:

Cut regional freight spend 18% in 14 months by renegotiating three carrier contracts and consolidating routing across four warehouses, working with finance and warehouse leads.

Same job. The second one names the number, the method, the timeline, and who you worked with. That is what a screener can actually picture.

Run your finished resume through a free ATS checker to catch formatting that breaks in applicant tracking systems. If a posting is vague or stuffed with jargon, decode the job description first so you know what the role really needs before you rewrite around it.

Day 5 to 7: apply, but not at full volume#

You can apply this week. Just do not treat applying as the whole job. Set a limit, like five to eight targeted applications, and spend the rest of the time on conversations.

Applying while still processing the layoff is normal. You do not have to feel ready. But keep a few things in mind. Do not badmouth the company, even if the layoff was handled badly. One neutral line is enough: "The company restructured and my role was eliminated." Then move on to what you want next.

Track every application in a simple spreadsheet: company, role, date applied, contact, and next step. Check live openings on the job search board so you are working from current listings rather than stale ones.

If you find your energy dropping fast, that is not weakness. A layoff is a shock and most people are running on adrenaline for about a week before it dips. Take one full day off from the search this week. The work will hold.

What not to do in week one#

• Do not sign a severance agreement without reading it at home, twice.
• Do not start a certification or degree program in a panic.
• Do not apply to 100 jobs to feel productive. Volume without targeting burns you out and produces nothing.
• Do not wait to tell people. The longer you sit on it, the harder the first message gets.
• Do not fix your resume before you know what roles you are aiming at.

Free tools#

• jobrise.io/en/free-ats-checker/
• jobrise.io/en/free-jd-decoder/
• jobrise.io/en/jobs/
• jobrise.io/en/blog/

FAQ#

How long do I have to sign a severance agreement?

In the US, if you are 40 or older and the agreement waives age claims, the law usually gives you 21 days to consider and 7 days to revoke after signing. For others, the deadline is whatever the document says, and it is often negotiable. Read the exact date in your copy and ask HR to confirm it in writing.

Should I file for unemployment before my severance is paid?

File as soon as your employment officially ends, even if severance is coming. Some regions reduce or delay benefits when severance is paid, and some do not, so check the current rule where you live. Filing early matters more than getting the timing perfect, because processing takes weeks in most places.

Is it bad to apply for jobs in the first week after a layoff?

No. Applying early is fine and keeps momentum. Just cap your volume, target roles that fit, and do not let the applications replace conversations with people you know.

What should I say when someone asks why I left my last job?

Keep it short and neutral: "The company restructured and my role was eliminated." Then pivot to what you are looking for next. Long explanations about the layoff, or any criticism of the company, make interviewers uncomfortable.

Do I need a professional resume rewrite before I start networking?

No. A rough, targeted resume beats a polished one aimed at nothing. Talk to people first, learn which roles are actually open, then rewrite your bullets against those specific postings.