Contact your state’s unemployment program promptly.
The U.S. Department of Labor advises contacting your state’s unemployment insurance program as soon as possible after becoming unemployed.
Department of Labor: unemployment insurance →Get Hired
Start with what cannot wait.
Two situations need different help: losing a job creates deadlines; a long search creates a diagnostic problem. Begin with the one that sounds like you.
I just lost my job
Handle the deadlines before the search.
Write down when your health coverage ends.
That date controls when you need to compare COBRA, a Marketplace plan, or other coverage available to you.
HealthCare.gov: losing job-based coverage →Get your final-pay details in writing.
Record the final pay date, unused paid time, severance terms, and benefits contacts while you can still reach the right people.
If food, rent, utilities, or medicine are urgent, call 211.
Stabilize the immediate problem before it becomes a crisis.
Find local help through 211 →Benefits rules and deadlines vary. These links are starting points, not individualized legal or financial advice.
I have been looking for months
Find the stage where the search breaks down.
Few or no screening calls
Start with role fit, resume clarity, and whether the posting is still active—not an automatic assumption that an ATS rejected you.
Screens stop after the first call
Practice a concise introduction, explain your recent work without bitterness, and ask about the next step and timeline.
Interviews but no offers
Use specific evidence: actions, decisions, and outcomes. General answers often lose to concrete ones.
Applications · Interviews · Work
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