Being fired or made redundant can be an upsetting and worrying experience. After all, it puts a roadblock in the way of your career, takes away a major element of your life and daily routine and stops money coming in. So, what are the steps you should take in order to pick yourself up and keep going after your contract has been terminated? Here are some tips that might help you.

If you can afford to, it’s a good idea to give yourself the opportunity to recover from the shock of losing your job. You need a plan and a clear head before you make your next move. Give yourself a set amount of time, say a week, to get everything straight in your mind, and then start taking action.

In most cases, it is a legal requirement for an employee to receive redundancy pay if they have been working for an employer for over two years. However, if you haven’t reached that milestone yet, for example if your company has taken a first in, last out approach, that payout may not materialize. If your job search is likely to take a while, and you’re getting to the end of your savings, you might consider applying for unemployment benefits to tide you over. If you have some considerable expenses coming up, you may even think about taking out a short term or payday loan. This may be the best option to get quick access to the cash you need. Make sure you’re confident that you’ll be able to repay the amount you’ve borrowed.

If you’ve been fired or made redundant, you may feel as if you’re under pressure to take on a new job, any job. However, try not to let desperation set in. You need to look for work that you can see yourself doing for years to come, so applying for a position to which you are not suited is not a great idea. Revise and refresh your CV and weigh up the pros and cons of every position you see advertised. Think about how you would benefit from taking on each particular job, besides money. Consider the commute, the skills required, the working environment and everything else besides. Try not to take a step down in terms of career progression; try to see this as an opportunity to find a better position.

One thing that troubles many people who have lost their jobs, particularly if they’ve been fired, is the thought of how they’ll explain the situation to interviewers when looking for a new position. You should carefully plan your responses to any questions about why you left your previous role. If your answers are strong enough, it’s likely that you’ll still be able to win your potential employers over. It’s best to be honest and simply say you were let go. Briefly explain the situation without getting upset or angry, and without using emotive words. If you were fired, it’s best that you admit fault instead of laying the blame on others, then detail what you learned from the experience and how it has made you a more well-rounded person and better employee. A good interviewer will appreciate the honesty and approve of your interpretation of the matter as a learning experience.