When you are fired or laid off, you are wounded. How do you tell when you are healed?
“Of one thing I am certain, the body is not the measure of healing, peace is the measure.” —Phyllis McGinley
You may need to take a week or two off before looking for a job. If you start searching for a job before your wounds have started to heal, you may keep yourself out of jobs because your interviewing is filled with raw pain. Over and over I have seen people totally botch phone and in-person interviews because they hadn’t healed enough from their job exit wounds.
As you notice peace again, your wounds are being healed.
If you are really having a hard time letting go of the hurt, unfairness, and pain you may want to try something I do. Go to a cemetery. Spend an hour there walking and thinking. Do it every day for a while until you start feeling peace. There is nothing like a cemetery to remind you of how important the way you were treated in your last job is in the long run. It reminds me that I will be judged on how I act, love, and forgive, not on what others do. It reminds me of the shortness of my life and that I don’t want to spend my time in bitterness. It is my choice.
You can do the same thing by sitting in a big old church. Pastors are happy to let you sit there even if the church is closed. If the door is open, go in and sit. Or knock on the rectory door (the house next door where the pastor lives) and ask for a favor. Or try going to a downtown church or homeless shelter to find a chapel to sit in. Hospitals have chapels open 24 hours each day. Evenings are a good time to find an open church. Many catholic churches have a morning mass and you can ask the Priest if you can just stay and sit.
Sometimes I just find a mountain trail and go for a hike for a few hours. Your local outdoor sports store and state parks department will have maps available.
It is much better to take a week off, than to apply for a job when you are bitter, upset, and still bleeding from a job wound. Take some time. Find some peace. You will get a better job.
During a job interview I have never heard someone complain of how badly they were treated and how horrible the boss was in a job 20 years ago. You will eventually stop complaining about your treatment. Why not stop now? You’ll be happier.