Job Search After a Layoff Due to Coronavirus

To say we are in hard times is an understatement. We now have to worry about our health and the health of our family and loved ones in a way we never have before. Everything is harder. Grocery shopping, raising kids, working, home schooling (whether you're cut out for it or not), keeping a job, keeping healthcare plans, finding a job, finding a healthcare plan....the list goes on. The bottom line is that if you're one of the 30 million Americans who have lost their job due to Coronovirus, the struggle is real. Very real.

It can feel like you have an enormous mountain to climb, with raging storms brewing and no time to prepare. What you need is a really good sherpa. The good news is that job search sherpas exist and they want to help. One of the most respected career strategists I know, Hannah Morgan, aka, Career Sherpa recently posted some very timely job search tips for our new normal. A few days ago, she posted "Summary Sunday: Building Blocks for a Job Search". She writes, "From networking to preparing for a job interview, there are so many skills involved in job searching you’ll need… these are the building blocks for job search."

Another very helpful resource is this very platform itself: LinkedIn. Millions of us have managed our careers through LinkedIn for years and the site continues to offer timely and useful content that's relevant to conducting a job search after a layoff due to Coronavirus. In his June 30, 2020 blog post, "Helping 25 Million Job Seekers Get Back to Work", Ryan Roslansky, describes how LinkedIn "digitally mapped 690 million professionals, 50M companies, 11M job listings, 36K skills, and 90k schools on LinkedIn, to identify in-demand skills, emerging jobs, and global hiring patterns." With that research, LinkedIn "identified 10 jobs that are in-demand in today’s economy and are well positioned to continue to grow in the future. These 10 jobs were identified as having the greatest number of job openings, have had steady growth over the past four years, pay a livable wage, and require skills that can be learned online."

That's great and super interesting, but what's really helpful is this next part. "Today, we’re making the 10 LinkedIn Learning Paths aligned with these jobs available for everyone for free." Visit opportunity.linkedin.com to learn more and get started. Great example of a social network using it's power for good and not evil:)

Speaking of good and not evil, getting laid off means you might have lost your health insurance plan. Maybe you have access to COBRA, which means you can continue the employer sponsored plan but at a much higher monthly rate, since you're paying full freight. The monthly cost for COBRA can be impossibly high. I've seen people paying as much as $2000 a month for a family! Which is even more painful when you've just lost your income.

Here's the good news. Even if you don't have a health care plan through a spouse's job, you do have some options. The first is signing up for COBRA, as mentioned above. It's an option, although a pricey one. The second is to purchase a major medical plan through Healthcare.gov. Since leaving a job for any reason is a qualifying event, you can purchase a plan from the exchange outside of the enrollment period. The third option is short term health insurance. It can be expensive and the plans typically cover less than major medical and other healthcare plans.

A fourth option is purchasing a healthcare plan for individuals. Until recently, the plan options for individuals, families, self employed people and 1099s were very limited. Necessity being the mother of invention, some smart people have created a combination of insurance and non-insurance solutions that provide individuals with lower out of pocket costs and equal or better care than major medical offers. Full disclosure, I work for one such company, Clearwater Benefits, and we offer these types of plans to individuals, associations and groups. Like all options, none of these four are the ideal solution for everyone. In the utopian dream world, with unicorns and rainbows, it would be great if one plan worked perfectly for everyone, but the reality is that is not the case.

I recommend you research your options (which is why I included links in this post:), look at your total expected out of pocket costs, how often you see a doctor or go to the hospital and find that plan that fits your needs and your budget best. If you want to talk with a benefits consultant who will tell you the truth and help you wade through these options, I invite you to schedule a call with one of my consultants. If the plan that you are already on is the best fit for you, they will tell you. Whatever you choose to do, I encourage you to gather the information on your options and make an informed decision. Your health and your finances are too important to skimp on the research.

Wishing you the best of luck in your job search and if you find a new and better way to network, job search, get healthcare plans or save your sanity, please share them with me.