Jaime Zimmerman was put on leave in March. In July, the Bethesda mother of three teens officially lost her job working for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Rockville. She had spent 20 years as a federal worker.

Now Zimmerman, 48, is job hunting — and trying to figure out what’s next for her career. She has plenty of company — more than 15,000 Maryland federal workers have been laid off since President Donald Trump took office in January. And she knows more could soon join the club.

Trump threatened additional federal layoffs if Congress could not avert a federal shutdown by midnight Wednesday. It couldn’t, and now tens of thousands of furloughed federal workers are wondering if they’ll ever get back to work.

Zimmerman’s family is now living on her husband’s private sector salary and her severance, which she fears she may temporarily lose during the shutdown. But the repercussions of her job loss are not just financial. It’s changed the way she thinks about her future, she said.

We asked Zimmerman, who worked as a program analyst and senior advisor in the health department’s Office of the Director at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, to offer her best coping strategies for federal workers who fear they may be next to get a pink slip.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How can federal workers take care of their mental health, especially in the immediate aftermath of a layoff?

Zimmerman: Knowing that I had severance for a while, I really took the time to take a break and rethink. At first, I literally just didn’t do anything. I did a lot of hiking. I spent a lot of time with my dogs, Gryffin and Raven. I spent a lot of time with my kids. I explored a lot of different parks in our community, which are beautiful.

Take a break and mourn the loss and accept that this is not normal. This is not normal compared with what we as federal employees agreed to when we committed to federal service. I can’t speak for everybody’s monetary situations, but take a break if you can.

What’s your approach to the job search?

Some of my colleagues have applied to more than a hundred jobs in a competitive job market. I’ve been a bit more selective and applied to about 15. I’ve had three interviews and for one job I made it to the third round. I’m still looking for a job but am also launching a consulting LLC.

You have some advice about collecting paperwork.

There are some quick things you need to do. Make sure you have your current eOPF — the electronic official personnel folder. Get three-years’ worth of performance reviews and your recent earning and leave statements. You’ll need those for various things, like filing an appeal after losing the job. You might need this information if you’re rehired.

What else have you done right since you lost your job?

I spent a lot of time crafting that résumé, and made it and my cover letters reflect the specific job I’m applying for. One of the biggest challenges was realizing that in the world outside of federal government, résumés are expected to be no longer than two pages.

I also talked to friends who are HR professionals. I really use my network. I listened to a lot of seminars on job hunting and federal employee rights. I also recommend joining an encrypted messenger app with other former federal workers. It can be useful for brainstorming and gathering resources. It’s also important to find organizations that help get federal workers back into the workforce.

Some of my fellow laid-off colleagues are also pursuing additional certifications — for example, in project management and AI expertise — to help them find jobs.

What did you do wrong?

I could have done a better job preparing for interviews. I learned that it’s really helpful to have an outside person practice with you. You need to be succinct and have your answers ready. You only have a short window to say what you need to say in an interview. There also has to be a balance between being scripted and sounding candid.

What message do you want to leave federal workers with?

Try to find positivity in all of this. I know that is really hard when you can’t put food on the table. I try to look at everything in my life as an opportunity. This wasn’t what I had planned, but I’m trying to take the time to see what else is out there.