What to do during a “Forced Vacation”

Definitely one of the two words you do not want to hear when you are an employee because it could mean Leave Without Pay as well as be an ominous sign for Company Layoffs.

There are two options available to you while you are on a forced holiday, you can sit on your butt and enjoy your “vacation” or go the other route and be productive by preparing for the worst.

Things to do when you are on a Forced Vacation:

1. Watch the News - best to be informed about how other companies and industries related to your company’s are faring. The effect on one could have a domino effect on another. You might not be able to stop it but at least it will give you ample warning which translates to more time to prepare.
2. Polish Your Resume - during a tight employment market you will need all the advantage you can get, so having a ready resume can help get you out of the starting gate quickly if ever you lose your job. It also helps, before you are laid off, to get the permission of your bosses and office mates so that you can use them as references. Of course it would be both proper and polite to not to ask for references from your bosses till there is concrete news that you will indeed be laid off.
3. Hook up with Contacts - remember that advice?, to be always kind to your company’s suppliers and business partners? Well this could be the payoff when you are laid off as they could give you leads to new a job. Time to go through that stack of calling cards and email addresses on your vacation.
4. Job Hunt - you can start logging on to online job sites and looking at the prospectus. Another is to start checking job opportunities in classifieds. At this day and age, you can also look at jobs offers from online networking sites.
5. Work on Your Budget - when you are laid off, there usually is no guarantee as to when you can get back on your feet with a new job. So the best thing to do is to plan your budget so you can at least stay afloat longer on your funds.
6. Collect on some Old Debt’s - do this after you’ve worked on your budget and after you’ve found out that your budget just won’t cut it
7. Pick up a New Skill - there are a lot of skills that you can learn on your own online that can help add meat to your resume. Some of these can be learned in just a few days.
8. Do it Yourself Repairs - if you still have time on your hand after all that, it might be good to start scouting for stuff you can repair around your house or on your car. Jobs that don’t really need a professionals touch you could do on your own and save you a pound or to that can stretch your emergency budget further.