From here,
one thing at a time.

The company is paying two more months. Does that mean I leave in two months?

The email may mention a last working day, an official termination date and a pay schedule all at once. They answer different questions: when you stop working, when the employment relationship ends, which day your salary runs through, and when the last payment arrives. Separate them first, so that health insurance and immigration status do not get tangled up later.

For example, "eight weeks of severance" does not by itself tell you how long your health insurance continues, and it does not set your immigration timeline. Those answers come from the separation documents and from the people responsible for each. A date you cannot find yet can stay blank; send an email and ask.

Also ask both "which day is my salary paid through" and "which day is the final paycheck issued". A later payment date does not mean the employment relationship lasts until then. The field below records the payment date. Keep the pay-through date in HR's written reply.

Once your accounts are closed, can you still get your own records?

Ask yourself: if the company email stopped working tomorrow, where would you get a pay stub or an immigration document, or reset the password on your stock account? The answer tells you what to save first.

Find out when each system closes, then deal with the records that concern you. Follow company policy even when saving your own pay, benefits, immigration and equity documents. Project code, customer data and internal designs are the company's confidential information or intellectual property. On your résumé, describe your contribution and publicly shareable results in your own words.

If the account is already closed, write to HR, payroll or the benefits provider from a personal email, say which personal document you need, and ask how former employees can get it. You may still be sent tax forms or follow-up documents, so check that the personal email and mailing address they hold are correct.

The severance document is long. Where do I start?

Look for three answers first: what the company will pay you, when, and what you agree to by signing. Put amounts and payment dates in one list and clauses you do not understand in another. You do not have to resolve everything on the first read.

Final pay, expenses already incurred and severance are separate items. Do not look only at the total; check each against your pay stubs and the documents. Signing, revoking and benefit subsidies may each have their own deadline. Whether a given deadline applies depends on your documents and the rules that cover you.

For people on a work visa · skip if it does not apply

On a work visa: get your own timeline straight first

Start with your I-94 record, your approval notice and the termination date HR confirmed. "60 days", as people say in group chats, is a useful prompt to plan early. It does not replace checking your own documents.

For the classifications it covers, the rule is up to 60 consecutive days or the time left on your authorized stay, whichever is shorter, subject to conditions and to discretion. Continued salary or severance paid in instalments cannot by themselves be used to infer how long your status lasts.

Read the official policy first and list the options that may apply: a new employer, a change of status, becoming a dependent on a spouse's status, or leaving the country. If a green card process is under way, the timeline is unclear or you need to file something, check feasibility and filing requirements with a lawyer.

I have a doctor's appointment next month. Will my insurance still work?

First confirm the day your current coverage ends. Then compare what comes next against your own needs: whether your usual doctors are in the network, whether long-term prescriptions are covered, when the new plan starts and what it really costs per month.

COBRA lets you temporarily continue the company's group health plan if you qualify, often at a much higher cost. A spouse's employer plan and the state or federal health insurance marketplace are also worth comparing. Each has its own enrolment deadline, and one plan's deadline does not apply to another.

If you or a family member is in treatment, ask the insurer and the doctor first how to keep treatment and coverage continuous. You can collect quotes and dates before choosing. Writing down a deadline does not mean you are enrolled.

HSA and FSA sound alike. What happens to each when I leave?

Check the benefits site to see which accounts you actually have. An HSA is a health savings account. The money in it stays yours after you leave, and there is no need to rush to spend it. Confirm that you can sign in with a personal email afterwards and whether the account charges a fee. Whether you can keep contributing depends on whether you still meet the eligibility rules.

For an FSA, ask two things in particular: the latest date an expense can be incurred and still qualify, and the latest date a claim can be submitted. The two dates can differ. Being able to submit an old bill after leaving does not mean a new expense incurred after leaving is reimbursable.

If you only have an HSA, deal with the HSA. If you only have an FSA, ask about the FSA plan rules. A health FSA and a dependent care FSA may work differently, so confirm with the benefits team which one you are in.

Work out your monthly living costs first

Start with rent or mortgage, food, health insurance and what your family cannot do without, and estimate what a month really costs. List separately the cash you can use at any time and the income that is confirmed but not yet received.

A simplified example: with $30,000 in available cash and $5,000 a month in necessary spending, and nothing else coming in or going out, you are covered for about six months. A move or a one-off expense changes the answer. Severance whose amount is not confirmed and benefits not yet approved do not count as money in hand.

This number sets your pace. Which expenses to cut or pause, and when to widen the search, are easier to decide from it than from staring at a bank balance.

For people with RSUs, options, ESPP or a 401(k) · skip if it does not apply

Company equity and the 401(k): what happens after you leave?

Start with what the account calls each item. RSUs usually vest in stages under set conditions. Stock options give you the right to buy shares at a set price. An ESPP is an employee stock purchase plan. Each is treated differently when you leave.

Confirm what has vested and what stops vesting. If you hold options, find the post-termination exercise period: the last date you can buy at the set price. Once you have the deadline, look at the cash needed, the tax and the risk. Having a deadline does not mean you should exercise right away.

Treat the 401(k) separately. Record the account and plan details and understand what leaving it, rolling it over or withdrawing would mean. If you have a loan against it, confirm what happens to it when you leave. Once you know the plan rules, you can also leave the account where it is and decide later.

I am getting severance. Is unemployment insurance still worth looking into?

Unemployment insurance is an option worth checking, but not everyone qualifies. Do not count it in your cash flow just because you were laid off, and do not rule yourself out just because you received severance or do not hold a green card. Each state reviews the reason you left, your wage record, your current income and your work authorization.

Take California. The California EDD requires enough wages in the base period, unemployment through no fault of your own, and, for every week you claim, being able to work, available for work, actively looking and ready to start immediately. A non-citizen must also show that the wages used to establish the claim were earned with lawful status and work authorization, and that status and work authorization are still valid in each week claimed. The EDD verifies this with the Department of Homeland Security.

So for someone on H-1B or another employer-tied status, the grace period after a layoff is not automatically authorization to work for a new employer, and they may not meet California's requirements. The EDD decides from each person's documents. Separately, the public charge rules changed on September 18, 2026: DHS rescinded the 2022 regulation and returned to case-by-case judgment by officers, who may consider any means-tested public benefit. Unemployment insurance is generally not in that category, because it is paid from your past wage record and not on the basis of household income and assets. But the new rule does not list which benefits count, and the old rule's explicit statement that unemployment insurance is an earned benefit and is not considered no longer applies. If you are applying for a green card or plan to, check with an immigration lawyer before you claim. (Checked October 5, 2026.)

Other states have their own programs and standards. Start with the state where you worked. If you now live elsewhere or worked in several states, ask the state agency where to file.

Turn "I worked on the project" into something people can follow

Answer in your own words: what was the problem? Which part was yours? Why did you do it that way? What changed afterwards? Write the answers down, then put the parts most relevant to the role you want on your résumé.

Example: "Contributed to order system optimization" says very little. It can become: "Order lookups were slow at peak. I tracked down the database bottleneck, compared indexing against caching, made the change, and compared the same metrics before and after launch to see how much it improved." Only fill in results you actually know and are allowed to share.

The same material prepares you for interviews. For examples involving conflict, failure or uncertainty, write mostly about how you judged the situation and adjusted. You do not need to build several document libraries first. One set of notes on your own projects is enough to begin.

Make it obvious how someone can help you

When you contact a former colleague or ask for a referral, what they most need to know is what you do, what you are looking for and what exactly they can do. Mention the layoff briefly. Spend the words on the role you want and the experience behind it.

Use the message below as a starting point and rewrite it the way you normally talk. If you have found a suitable opening, attach the job link and your résumé. If you need visa sponsorship or have location constraints, say so.

Do one practice run, then decide how to prepare

You may have solved plenty of problems without ever explaining your thinking while you write. One mock interview shows whether the gap is knowledge, communication or time management. Pick two or three things from the feedback as next week's focus.

For coding interviews, practise your reasoning, correctness and communication. For system design, start with clarifying requirements and explaining choices. For behavioral interviews, start with the project from the previous section. You do not have to be ready in every area before booking your first practice.

Set fixed time aside for the search, and time to eat properly, sleep and see friends. Keep reading layoff news to one or two slots, used for finding openings and information. If after a week it has only added anxiety, change how you get your information.