Find a Better Job. Michael Dolan
interested.
Use the Internet, where you can find websites that offer both job openings and job-finding tips.
To hook up with others in your field, you can attend job fairs, and find and use resources such as networking groups and professional seminars. To locate these sources, check your telephone directory and the events calendar in the current issue of National Business Employment Weekly at your library. You can also contact your local Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Administration, community college career placement center, your college alumni association, and any professional organizations to which you belong.
Attend resume-writing workshops.
Establish a mass mailing campaign. Make a list of possible employers, send them a cover letter and your resume and follow up with a phone call.
Let Others Know You’re Looking
While you’ll want to conduct your job search quietly, you will have to let prospective employers know you’re looking. Put the word out among friends, family and fellow members of professional organizations. Most people prefer to hire someone personally recommended or known by someone they trust and respect. And if you’re persistent, when a spot opens up or a new one is created, your name may come to mind.
If You Leave…
Get What You Have Coming
When your job hunt pays off, be sure to schedule an appointment with your company’s benefits coordinator. If you’re moving into another department within the same company, you’ll likely have no interruption of benefits.
Arrange Insurance Coverage
But if you’re moving to a new company, you’ll want to make sure that you’re covered by health insurance until your new company’s policy takes effect, that you receive payment to which you may be entitled for any unused vacation, and that you receive any retirement funds to your tax advantage. Be sure to take advantage of any “use it or lose it” benefits that are still available, such as tuition assistance programs, legal benefits or other employer-specific offerings.
Under a federal law called COBRA-Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act-your employer is required to extend your health and dental insurance, for up to 18 months. Find out whether you are covered by your new employer’s health insurance right away, or if you have a waiting period. If necessary, you may be able to continue your health and insurance benefits from your previous employer until you’re covered by the new employer.
You’ll also want to make sure you continue to have life, disability, and long-term care insurance coverage, since these benefits may also be lost in the job change.
Usually your health insurance coverage ceases on the day you quit working. However, there is a chance it may vary from employer to employer. You should check with your employer or personnel office about the exact date your health care coverage ends.
If you will have to pay for your own health insurance under COBRA for a while, you will need to know the date when you are no longer covered by your former employer’s health plan. In most cases, you have 60 days from the last day of work at your old job to elect COBRA and an additional 45 days before you must pay a health insurance premium. While you may have to pay for Cobra coverage, it can prove valuable while you are unemployed or until you are covered under a new employer’s health plan.
You Can Take It With You
When you leave a company, you may be entitled to money from the employer’s pension, 401(k) or some other form of employer-sponsored retirement savings plan. That distribution, paid in one taxable year, is called a lump sum distribution.
But be careful: When you receive a lump-sum distribution from your 401(k), for example, all of the money you receive from the plan will be immediately taxable unless handled properly.
Your 401(k) options include:
1.Transferring or “rolling over” your 401(k) money to an Individual Retirement Account or annuity (IRA). The money can be transferred directly to the IRA to avoid penalties and continue the tax-deferred status. This means your hands never touch the money. Instead, it is transferred directly into the IRA by your current employer. You can also take receipt of the lump sum and then deposit it yourself within 60 days to another qualified new retirement plan. This gives you short-term access to the money—but there is a catch. Your employer must withhold 20 percent for federal income taxes from your taxable distribution, so you may only receive 80 percent of your money. To illustrate, consider these tax consequences for a moment: If you withdrew a $50,000 lump-sum distribution from your 401(k) before age 59 ½, all of which is taxable, $10,000-or 20 percent-would be withheld for federal taxes. The distribution would be subject to ordinary income taxes as well as a 10 percent penalty, which in this case could be an additional $5,000. But, if you roll the money over into one or more IRAs, be sure you have established special “conduit” IRAs. In these IRAs, if the money from your lump-sum distribution is not mixed with any other funds, you may be able to transfer the money to another employer’s 401(k) plan, if you choose.
2.Move the money to your new employer’s 401(k) plan, if permitted. After all, the 401(k) is a savings plan of choice for so many workers because it not only offers tax advantages, but also often includes a matching contribution from the worker’s employer-say, 50 cents for every dollar that the employee invests, to a certain limit. Also, people who participate in a 401(k)-or a 403(b) plan for employees of hospitals, schools, colleges and non-profit organizations-can often borrow from their retirement accounts. That option usually is not available with an IRA. Keep in mind there is usually a waiting period of months or a year before you can enroll in your new employer’s plan.
3.Leave the money where it is, with your current employer’s 401(k) plan. The decision may come down to who offers the best investment choices for your-your old company’s plan or the new one.
4.Take a partial withdrawal.
Embracing Change
Changing jobs does not have to be a traumatic experience. In today’s world, it is a commonplace event. In fact, it’s a good idea always to be improving your skills so that you will be an attractive candidate for a new job, whether it’s within your company or with a different employer. That way, you’ll be in a position to make exciting and advantageous career moves in the future because you want to-not because you have to.
REFERENCE MATERIALS
For more information on looking for a job, visit the website maintained by the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (www.doleta.gov). To find a certified financial planner in your area, call the International Association for Financial Planning toll-free at 1(888) 806-7526.
ORGANIZATIONS
Several other national organizations that might be able to help in your job search:
Employment and Training Administration
U.S. Dept. of Labor
200 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20210
202-219-6871
Wider Opportunities for Women
1325 G Street NW, Lower Level
Washington, DC 20005
202-638-3143
National Assoc. for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
Attn: Job Services
4805 Mt. Hope Drive
Baltimore, MD 21215-3197
410-358-8900
Job Opportunities for the Blind Program
National