On April 30^th, The 405 Club published an article titled “Unemployed & The Happiest I Have Been In Years.” I definitely sympathized with the writer. I recalled writing a similar piece last summer. I knew several people who had some pretty rough situations with an employer that I would prefer not to mention in this writing. Yet I felt the need to write something. While it felt good getting the words out of my system, I reviewed the article and decided it was not the right time to submit the writing. I had nearly forgotten about it, however the April 30^th article jogged my memory. I had to find my writing and take another look at it! After a subsequent review, I thought, “If the writer of the April article had the courage to express his convictions, why shouldn’t I do the same?” As a result, I have decided it is now time to submit the writing below.

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   The point I want to make in this writing is that sometimes unemployment is a preferable outcome; certainly better than working in a toxic environment. We all know the downside of unemployment: the loss of self esteem, the frustration of the silent phone, the nightmares, and worrying about how you will be able to pay your bills on $405.00 a week. Although I have written some articles about the lighter side of unemployment, I have realized that I need to look at things in a slightly different perspective. There are some times when unemployment is not necessarily a bad outcome….

   Several months ago, I received a letter from a former co-worker saying that, although he is out of work, he did not realize how miserable he was until he had left his former position. Although it may not seem practical to leave a job, especially during a recession, there are some instances where it is definitely worth considering: and for some it may almost border on necessity. Here are some examples:

1): The Mid Life Crisis: This is when you find that it is a complete struggle just to get up in the morning and drag yourself to work at a position you have become tired of.

2): The End is Near: In this situation you know your company is living on borrowed time. Imagine you are passing by conference room and there is a senior level meeting taking place. Although the executive assistant should have closed the door, it remained partly open. You overhear management talking about plans to close the office and before the executive assistant realizes his or her error and asks you to leave the area, top management starts talking about milestones for closing your office.

3): Workplace Bullying and Sexual Abuse: When you are abused or bullied by those who are managing you. If Human Resources turns a deaf ear to your plight and the abuse continues, or increases, you just may not have a choice.

4): Moral or Legal Conflicts: You are asked to perform a task or tasks that you feel are morally wrong, however if you do not perform them, you may lose your job anyway.

   If you find yourself in any of the above situations, leaving your job, and facing unemployment may be the only option to preserve your sanity, as well as your reputation. Here are some pointers from people I have spoken to in these situations:

Survival Tip One: While you have income from your job, put as much of it as you can into savings. It is tough enough to face unemployment, however if you feel that you may encounter problems filing for unemployment, your savings will be your survival lifeline. My accountant once said, “Howard, the best time to start saving is as soon as you start earning an income. The second best time to start saving is now.” Even if there is no obstacle to collecting unemployment, you will find that it is difficult at best to survive on unemployment assistance alone. This is why you need to save, the sooner the better.

Survival Tip Two: If you own a home, look into a home equity line of credit, especially if you have not yet lost your job. If you have a good credit rating, opening up a home equity line of credit (HELOC for short) will help pay the bills while you are out of work. The best time to take advantage of this is now, especially while the interest rates are low.

Survival Tip Three: Get references from those you are sure you can trust. My father told me that he once had a job where the relationship between him and his boss was so caustic, that when he was fired, his boss told him that he would do whatever he could to prevent him from landing another job. Fortunately for him, many of his co-workers felt he was being treated unfairly. They were more than happy to give him a reference. So in the event you find yourself in a similar situation, make sure that you get your references from those who you trust.

Survival Tip Four: If you find yourself in a position where you are abused, or if you feel your employer is asking you to act unethically or illegally, ask, a lawyer. If you feel that your situation warrants retaining a lawyer, it will most likely be expensive, so try to stick to the facts and minimize the amount of time you require their services. Above all, save e-mails and put them in a safe place.

Survival Tip Five: If possible try to get a job while you still have a job. Here is an example from my own personal statistics. While I had a job, the shortest time my job search lasted was two weeks (although that was some time ago) and the longest was about 5 months. When I did not have a job, the shortest time it took to find another position was 10 weeks and the longest was seven months. With the current recession those time periods are sure to be longer.

Survival Tip Six: Take time to mourn your loss. Losing your job is traumatic. Whenever anyone goes through a traumatic incident, they need to take time to mourn. My rule of thumb is to allow yourself two weeks to mourn job loss before starting job search.

Hopefully these are tips that you will never need, but if you do, I wish you, as always, Good Hunting.

-By Howard K. Young, Contributing Writer & Member of The 405 Club.

View all of Howard’s posts here.