Apply the first day you are unemployed. In my state, I could do it all on-line. There was a 1 week waiting period, then I got my first check electronically deposited 2 weeks later. Each week on Monday I had to enter data into the system saying I looked for work but was still unemployed--I then got paid each Wednesday.
Each state pays different and my state looked at your previous 12-month rolling salary to determine your payout. At least I got paid the max in my state--$585 gross. I did not have taxes withheld either--my spouse works too--and with our kids/deductions we actually got $5400 dollars back--and my spouse makes more than me! Oh well. At least I got re-hired on another Quintiles contract.
Good luck!