After 26 years, Tim Helmer thought he had a pretty safe job. Then came 2005 and the closing of Modine.
“I don’t know if I just didn’t want to believe it, but I didn’t think that plant would ever close,” Helmer said. “I thought that they’d change the target and lay some people off, but I never though it would be closing. I was shocked.”
After the closing, Helmer got back on his feet and back to school. Now a full-time student at Emporia State University, he’s preparing to graduate in May with an integrated studies degree, concentrating on business and communications.
It’s proof that the end of a job doesn’t have to be the end of the road — though there may well be some bumpy patches.
Blindsided
It would be nice if Modine had been the last business to ever close in Emporia. Unfortunately, life hasn’t worked that way. Some have been small businesses, like Godfather’s Pizza. Others have been on a larger scale like Lenze Corp., which will lay off 30 people when it closes at the end of April.
Either way, when the end comes, it hits hard. Betty Senn of the Emporia Workforce Center described it as being almost like a death — first comes shock, then anger, then mourning. And it doesn’t lift right away.
“Two to three weeks is pretty normal,” she said.
There’s plenty of company out there. Over the past 20 years, Senn said, there are about 50,000 jobs lost in the U.S. every month.
In the booklet “Surviving a Layoff,,” author Harry Dalstrom encourages workers not to blame themselves.
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Dalstrom wrote. “...Losing your job is stressful. It’s right up there with learning that you have a serious illness. Most of us will need a few weeks to heal and get back on our feet.”
Plan of attack
Which brings up the hard part. The time in which you may least feel like doing anything is also the time in which it’s most important to do something.
“Now is the time for them to make a decision about what they want to do,” Senn said. “Getting them in the right direction is critical at this point.”
“The first thing you have to do is develop a strategy,” Helmer agreed. “The second thing is, you have to get your insurance and financials in line.”
Helmer was lucky. He was already taking classes at ESU part-time when the layoff hit. He did try for a couple of other industrial jobs in town — discovering in the process how rusty his resumé-building skills were — but ultimately decided to go to class full-time.
It wasn’t an easy choice. While his wife, Mary, made a good salary, going to one income cut their family pay to about 55 percent of what it had been. That meant making some tight choices, especially with two sons at home.
Having to deal with that tight budget isn’t unusual, even if another job comes up right away. In many cases, Senn said, the first job taken after a layoff pays about 30 percent of the former salary. And even that job’s not guaranteed — some Modine workers landed jobs with Lenze only to find themselves job-hunting again.
But whether a person wants to go back to work or back to school, the first thing they should do is register with the Emporia Workforce Center, Senn said. Then the office can help them find a job, or apply for a job, or get the education to train for a job. Money may be available to help pay for school through the Workforce Investment Act or, if the company participates, the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which helps workers who lost jobs or pay because of increased imports.
That retraining can be vital, Senn said.
“A lot of these folks have never had another job,” she said.
Back on track
One thing the center does is help laid-off workers learn the basics: how to build a resumé, how to write a cover letter, how to handle a job interview. When it’s been 20 or 30 years since you last looked for a job, she said, those skills will need refreshing.
Some of the things that Dahlstrom stresses in finding another job include:
F Show that you can do the job, that you will do the work and that you can cooperate.
F Talk to friends, send letters, check the Internet and in general do everything you can to get your resumé into as many hands as possible. Follow up with phone calls as often as you can. Looking for work is a full-time job, treat it like one.
F When you interview, be enthusiastic and courteous, dress as you would on the job, and show curiosity and interest in the company.
Unemployment insurance should be applied for as soon as possible, Senn said, either by phone (1-800-292-6333) or over the Web at www.uibenefits.dol.ks.gov. Online is probably easier, Senn said.
“If you’re on the phone, be prepared to wait for a long time,” she said. “It’s all press-this, press-that. It’s difficult. It’s frustrating.”
Once on unemployment, a person has to call in or check in on the Web weekly and has to be actively searching for a job. Right now, the maximum period for unemployment benefits is 26 weeks.
One critical thing to remember, Senn said, is not to apply for a job you’re not willing to live with.
“If you take it and quit, there’s a chance your unemployment will not be reinstated.”
Helmer said it’s important to be both positive and realistic. On the one hand, he said, it’s going to be hard to find a job that pays what you made before. On the other, if you stay close to friends and family and have someone to talk to, it can be survivable.
“I’ve kept in touch with two or three people on a regular basis,” he said. “We always talk about how we’re doing and encouraging each other to keep going.”