Severance and unemployment, do they overlap?

I was offered severance of 12 weeks after being let go as a welding apprentice and I am unsure how it affects benefits. I would rather hear the honest version than the polite one. I also wonder about the job-search requirement. Did you file straight away?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 10 months ago, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.