by Doreen Martel

Created on: January 05, 2010   Last Updated: January 18, 2012

Being laid off from a job is a serious blow to your self-esteem, especially if you are the primary bread-winner at home. However, instead of looking at the dark side of layoffs, you could consider this a golden opportunity.  Being laid off is certainly not something that one would look forward to, however while you are laid off you may consider a career move. In fact, being laid off could be the best career move ever, and here is why.

Income - First of all, when you are laid off, you do have the benefit of having some income while you are unemployed. There are few times in your life that you will be able to explore a career move and be paid to do it. While it is easy to think about the downside (i.e. unemployment benefits do not equal your weekly paycheck) consider it an opportunity instead.

Time - You currently have a lot of time on your hands, even if that was imposed on you by others. Rather than letting too much time be a burden, put it to good use.  Explore career alternatives, consider trying something you always wanted to do, and make the most of your free time.  Reach out to friends, contacts and family members and find out if they know of any free courses offered at local schools, or online. Additionally, you might want to contact your local unemployment office. Many of them offer free courses to help those who have been laid off.

Other advantages

Options - While you have some income from your unemployment coming in, you have the opportunity to explore some other options.  For instance, if you have been working a 9 to 5 job for years, you may not have had the time to explore some of your hobbies that could ultimately be very lucrative.  In this case, a layoff may be the best career move ever for you.  If you love writing and you have not had the time to develop your writing skills, you have time on your hands.  Begin by exploring opportunities to write here at Helium or start your own blog (or do both).  Not only can this supplement your unemployment income, but it could turn out to be just the nudge you needed to explore freelance writing as a career choice. While not everyone can succeed at freelancing, if you are one of them you may find that being laid off was the best career move ever for you.

Education - You have an opportunity to train yourself in other areas that you are considering.  For instance, if you have been in finance, you might want to consider working from home as an accountant or bookkeeper. You may be able to move your current skill set into a field like tax preparation at home.  There are many opportunities open to you to take online courses and some of them do not even cost anything at all, or they have minimal fees associated with them.

While being laid off is not the ideal situation for anyone, you can turn your layoff into the best career move ever. Explore the possibilities that are open to you to change careers while you are laid off.  Instead of a layoff being catastrophic, you may find it was the best career move ever.

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