Advice for Lake County, FL residents who need to replace income lost due to the Wuhan Chinese virus. (Updates added Mar. 24)
This is a factsheet set up on March 21, 2020, by FiscalRangers.com and Editor Vance Jochim to provide ideas and advice on replacing lost income due to the WuFlu (Wuhan Virus) Crisis - for those laid off, etc.
LIVE VIDEOS ON FACEBOOK: WATCH my Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FiscalRangers/ for notices and LIVE Videos on Job Hunting issues. Be sure to JOIN it and click notifications. I will also upload the videos later to my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/FiscalRangersFlorida as well as post the video links on my blog at FiscalRangers.com.
HERE is my FIRST Live video on Facebook on Sunday, March 23 - it is an overview of what is on this page. I also had issues with bandwidth, which will be fixed with the next 7pm video on Wed. March 25.
Why me? I am now retired, but I have been through many recessions and layoffs, and also received outplacement services or was an active volunteer in a California Dept. of Unemployment program during various recessions in California.
This page is localized for Lake County, FL residents and primarily laid-off employees, but there may be good advice for others. During live broadcasts on Facebook, we can also take questions from Employers who have been closed since I was also a professional performance internal auditor in years past.
Scroll down and skim this entire page first, and do so again later to find updates.
Vance Jochim
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First tips based upon my personal experience:
- Create an action plan checklist and keep expanding it. I create star diagrams on big worksheets for projects of this type.
- WATCH the White House Wuhan Virus Task Force daily press briefings. They already have announced various plans for waiving student loans, etc. You need to know they exist to ask for them. The same for the Florida Health Dept. and Governor's office news on the virus.
- Assuming you are self-isolated at home, don't spend time watching videos, but start a focused campaign to find new income with online research. Get all family members involved.
- Learn to do your OWN research and generate ideas that make sense for you. Don't just first post questions on social media without doing initial research and sharing what you found. I find that searching on Google IMAGES on a topic like "job hunting advice" results in many graphic lists with links to detailed articles and recommend doing that related to your skills.
- Spend time to assess how long the crisis lasts (maybe 2-months or longer?) and you might be out of work and chances you get re-employed. If your employer is well-financed, or are in a key industry where they may get government financing, then there is a better chance of getting re-employed, but if not, figure you might need a new employer and what chances exist they will be easy to find and WHERE.
- Take action FAST to reduce your family spending and increase cash flow:
- REDUCE family spending as fast as possible. Analyze all expenses for the last 12 months, cancel or reduce each that are non-essential NOW. I have seen many families crash and become divorced in California because a middle-class family tries to maintain a facade of "no worries" and do not react quickly, and spends all their reserves and credit balances without reducing costs.
- Create a cash flow worksheet showing spending for the last three months by category, then your planned reductions to see how much you need to continue living until you find work.
- JOIN Nextdoor.com which is for neighborhoods. Then if you need local labor or want to offer a service, you can do so on a localized basis. DON"T decide to buy retail price fancy furniture for a home office. Buy it used on Nextdoor or via Facebook Marketplace or from a local thrift shop.
- Cash is King! Sell all those items sitting in your garage on eBay, Facebook marketplace or Nextdoor.
- Call any vendor or creditor, see how you can re-negotiate payments or get interest waived, etc.
- Review any assets you can sell on eBay, etc. Would selling one of two cars eliminate monthly payments, insurance, etc.?
- Keep in mind that depending on your skills, the virus crisis may end in 1-3 months, but even with the positive actions taken by Trump, the economic recovery may be much longer. You need to clearly know if you have a skill in demand, or you have to move to Texas to find a new employer and plan for it. When I lived in Florida, I went through three recessions where employers merged and laid off staff. I found sales jobs in between finding another professional job (as an internal auditor). If your skill is rare, identify a more common and local job you can take if needed to get through several months. (Local schools, when they re-open, may need substitute teachers).
- Ignore much of the wailing by leftists about the sky is crashing. They always use a "crisis" to try and divide and frighten citizens to get more votes and then more control by the Government. We don't want to become Venezuela.
- Create a daily action plan for research, actual job hunting on the internet, networking with friends and local social media for work.
- Consider taking gig jobs that are short term. Identify some and try to get them to improve cash flow. Look for physical work you can do, or service jobs. Don't just wait for the magic, dream replacement job. Realistically, the more you were paid before, finding a similar job could take one-two years.
- Read newspapers and news to see where spending is increasing, whether an emergency grant to fund government projects to increase jobs, etc. and apply for them.
- Do you have some skills you can share in online training or YouTube channel? If so, research how to conduct online classes and vendors, and spend some time setting that up. However, spend time to learn how valued your advice may be, and how income is achieved so you are realistic. Find similar examples and review how they were created and exist. Some channels took 3-5 years to build enough audience to create advertising income, but some online classes may yield income very quickly due to the fees that are charged.
- If you are a specialized, degreed or certified professional, determine the chances you may only get offers from out of the area. Decide with your family if that is an option. Would you rather stay underemployed in Lake County, or move to Texas? Or wait 1-2 years until a similar position is found locally? Plan accordingly.
- Act as if your old employer or industry will not rehire you. Plan accordingly so you don't get surprised by wishful thinking. Upgrade your expectations as long as you are looking. Search for a better employer, location, title, etc. Being laid off due to a crisis like the WuFlu is understandable and should not be a negative.
- Don't get roped into spending time with headhunters or placement agencies that request fees. If you have a specific skill in demand, like an aerospace engineer, it might make sense to deal with a specialist who is PAID by the EMPLOYER to find certain skilled employees, but most jobs are now found via internet searches, so focus on conducting your own campaign. Headhunters are paid well to find people with very specific skills, and they hunt for what the employer wants. They usually won't waste time with you.
- While you are in job search mode, decide on a new skill that may be more employable and start taking classes to get degreed or certified. I have taken Real Estate license classes three times after layoffs and in all three times, I found desired work before I took the exams, but it was a good backup plan. Just by acting on a plan with a future gives you more confidence.
- Warning - Intuit is advertising for people to refinance their homes to 15 year loans. DON'T EVER DO IT. If you do, the payment is higher than you can rent the property for. If you get laid off, you can't refinance and the larger payments will use up your cash faster. Always get the longest term you can get, and then overpay to pay down the principal if you have the cash flow. But if you lose your job, the lower payments will be easier to deal with. (added Mar. 23, 2020)
Specific Job Sites to join and setup applicant profiles - check each out, decide and act on one at a time. Setup a profile and SIGNUP for job alerts from them on specific search terms including location:
- Indeed.com - This is a major site for professionals and certified specialists. Review their open jobs to see if they have the type, and location you are seeking. Setup a tailored profile and apply for some local jobs to see the market for your skills. Indeed.com has posted (March 24) a Career Guide about job hunting related to the Coronavirus crisis.
- LinkedIn.com - for professionals and managers. You should already have a profile on it. Now research how to use it to find employment. Join some groups related to your work area and post some white papers to get "discovered" by placement firms under contract.
- Google Jobs - they also have a site for jobs - just search on Google such as "find a job" and their page will show up. Then sign up for alerts for that job search from Google which will be sent to your email.
- Ziprecruiter https://www.ziprecruiter.com/ - They get employers to pay them for searches of resumes. So create a profile and upload a resume. If you have desirable skills, they brag about fast action in finding qualified applicants for employer HR departments.
- Glassdoor - https://www.glassdoor.com/index.htm - Glassdoor started out focused on finding jobs for women, but they probably find them for everyone now. So check them out and create an account.
- Specialized search: For your particular skill, try searches on Google AND Bing AND Facebook on a term like "Find draftsman job Florida" and see what pops up. There may be industry specialized job boards to check out. YOU should already know industry associations that would have job listings for you. Spend some time to find them. For instance, a blogging skills webinar firm in Australia has a listing for professional writers that I have used. They have much better contracts than others.
- SimplyHired.com - https://www.simplyhired.com/ - More listings - can be searched via a location like "Lake County, FL".
- CareerBuilder.com - https://www.careerbuilder.com/ - Long time site used by major newspapers like Orlando Sentinel as an alternative to printed employment ads.
- SnagaJob.com - https://www.snagajob.com/search?w=32778&radius=20 - This search is for 20 miles around Tavares, FL. They list a lot of local retail jobs like SubWay, Ace Hardware, etc.
- USAjobs.gov - This is the main site for Federal government jobs. Check it out. There may even be openings for your type of skills in some local Federal office you don't even know exists.
- Jobs for Veterans - There are several websites focused just on jobs for veterans, so search on "jobs for veterans" to find them. Some major employers like Walmart actively seek veterans for jobs.
- Government jobs - don't ignore them - they may have grant funding for some position you may like. Check HR pages in each local government agency, city, county, college, etc. Then check broader sites like https://agency.governmentjobs.com/lakecountyca/default.cfm .
Local Lake County, FL physical offices with positions:
- College Job Placement Offices: If you are a graduate, local colleges have placement centers with many listings, even for part-time work. Alumni probably can use them, but ask if you can use their placement system even if you are not a student or alumni. They may grant you access to job hunting materials. They also have information on tests you can take to determine what new type of job may be good for you.
- Goodwill Job Connection Centers located at their stores have employment offices for employer listings, but mostly for blue-collar work. But check them out and their listings to see if there are some temp jobs you can do. They MAY be closed during the crisis. Read the job cards on the wall. https://www.goodwillcfl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/JCCs.pdf
- CareerSource - Leesburg, FL - a State-funded employment office now located in the same Leesburg building as the Lake Sumter State College Foundation on HWY 441. Lake-Sumter State College, 9909 U.S. Hwy 441, Building M#29, Leesburg, FL 34788. NOTE: Their website says the physical office is closed dut to the virus crisis, but you can call a phone or visit a website for help. https://www.careersourcecentralflorida.com/
- Staffing agencies in Lake County, FL - you would have to search for them. Mostly for blue-collar or technical positions. I will add them here when I find them. Many times, these firms have a contract with an employer to handle recruiting, but they place ads on the major websites described above.
Job and Income Scams to Avoid
Whenever a crisis occurs, the scammers come out of the woodwork, so you need to avoid questionable schemes to earn money that end up costing your time or wasting time. Here are a few:
- Party plans where you are enticed to join a network of sellers of products of any type. Once they tell you that you earn big bucks by signing up others to report to you, that is a scam. If they ask you to buy a package of inventory (like survival food packs, etc.) upfront, but then always push the idea you can build a "downline" of subordinate sellers to earn REAL MONEY, avoid it like the plague. They will have shills in the audience building up the emotional sell with "only today" prices. Avoid them.
- Staffing or job hunting advisors who promise to find you work after you pay a fee. Avoid them.
- Controlled tours of sales opportunities like land sales, etc. where there is a hard sell with lots of glowing facts and you have no way to research the real truth. I still remember that bus ride to Salton Sea, outside of Los Angeles, when I was at UCLA, and they had a sales room selling land to other riders on the bus. Then, if you said you didn't want the job, they immediately switched to selling you land. Salton Sea is famous in land development schemes, and no, I did not buy any.
- Sales rooms for products like timeshares, etc. Same type of scheme. They burn out the ethical employees really fast. They use standardized sales scripts designed to sell without disclosing negatives of the scheme.
- Schemes to get you pay outrageous funds for a training course with promised big income afterwards. Think web design, import export businesses, etc. Avoid them. ALWAYS seek independent sources to verify claims of success. My favorite in this category is law schools or technical schools (airplane engine repair) that have terrible track records in passing the BAR exam or other certifications. Certificates from such schools are known by reputable employers and avoided. When the "college" claims they are accredited, research the accreditation agency and if credits can be transferred to state universities or allowed for Federal jobs. Many times the "accreditation" source is a bogus one similar to diploma mills. I once interviewed "degreed" applicants for the County of Los Angeles, and found many Egyptian applicants could not speak English and all had the same certificate. I have even seen where the same Social Security number was used by many immigrants to get jobs at the same employer who didn't test for duplicates. To verify the value of any such training certificates or degrees, ask the HR department of a firm you want to work for if they are acceptable. These training or "college" scams are a big reason for high student loan debts.
- More will be added here as I remember them.
Resume writing and Interviewing advice
I won't spend time on that here. Do an internet search or find white papers on the above websites and follow their advice.
Reference Articles:
March 23, 2020 - The new editor of the Lake Sentinel, John Cutter, wrote an article about living with the virus restrictions in Lake County, FL and shared examples of personal friends who have already been laid off.
More to be added later. Act now on the above to preserve your lifestyle and family income during this crisis. The virus may disappear, but the economy may take longer to rebound.
Vance Jochim
FiscalRangers.com
Vance Jochim
[email protected]
YouTube Channel "FiscalRangersFlorida"
