So Many Layoffs - What do I do?

Intro

Seemingly every day for the past few months, a new company announces layoffs, hiring freezes, restructuring, or some form of ‘quit firing’.

• Netflix

• Salesforce

• Amazon

• Meta

• Disney

• Starbucks

• And many more…

Unfortunately, most people are taking a reactive approach when it comes to preparing for layoffs.

Take a look at social media, specifically LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, Blind, and Reddit. Forget the underperformers, you’re seeing people that have been with the company for years & people who’ve made strong contributions to the company being effected.

We’re slowly starting to learn the hard way that most of us (if not all) are just a number on a spreadsheet.

Story Time

Here are two people I know that were laid off last year. One is my brother, for anon reasons, let’s call him Chad. The other one is someone I placed years ago (but moved onto another company), let’s call her Sara.

Chad is a recruiter - both agency and in-house experience. So networking runs in his blood. He’s kept in touch with lot’s of key people he’s worked with in the past. All of his friends - college, high school - know what he does for a living. He networks with peers to try to upskill and potentially open doors for himself in the future.

Sara is a Product Manager. In the last 4 years she’s gained tons of experience. She has a great background - over 10+ years, and was a major player in managing a product for a large consumer bank that helps calculate loans for potential customers in their auto-loan division. That is one of their highest revenue generating products in the entire company, so obviously she’s an A-Player with value. However, she hasn’t kept in touch with past colleagues, her LinkedIn isn’t fully updated, and doesn’t take the time to network.

Both were laid off ~August. Who do you think got their job first?

Chad.

How long did it take Chad to get a new job?

~ 1 month (multiple offers. Declined the first 2. Took the 3rd).

How long did it take Sara to get a new job?

~3+ months (Took first offer she received)

Analysis

Sara is an all-star at her job. My brother is good, but not nearly as valuable as Sara is to her industry. My brother got a job relatively quickly because he was prepared.

He worked for a recently IPO’d company. If you follow the markets, not only is the tech industry getting crushed, but even more so newly minted IPOs and Private Companies.

He saw the trend and got out ahead of it. The thing is, he prepared for this without even knowing it for the past few years. Since he kept up with such and active network, it was very easy for him to tap into it and get immediate results.

People helped refer him to jobs, make warm introductions to other connections, helped him prep for his interviews, had a running list of accomplishments, and reviewed his resume.

Sara on the other hand started out behind the 8 ball. She didn’t have a network to tap into. She didn’t have any listed accomplishments, she had to take days to come up with them to write a good resume. She didn’t have anyone to help prep her interviews so she didn’t pass a good amount of them.

Call To Action

So, what can we learn from Chad and Sara?

1. Start Networking:

   1. Keep in touch with people, and make an effort to meet new people. If you’re laid off, you can end up like Chad and get multiple offers in a month.

   2. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that. But - you can also use this network to network with other industry experts and potentially open up new doors you never knew existed in your career.

   3. Tap into old colleagues; old classmates; people from old sports teams; friends; family.

   4. To build a new network, contact general alumni from school, company alumni, interact with content on social media, attend meetups and conferences.

   5. Use your network to help refer you into jobs, or make warm introductions to their other connections.

   6. Your network can help you prepare for interviews & review your resume since they have expertise in the same field

2. Running List of Accomplishments

   1. You’ll easily be able to tailor resumes for each job you’re applying to when you have this readily available to you

   2. Applying to a senior IC role? Pick out some of those accomplishments to paste on your resume

   3. Applying to a Manager role? Do the same thing.

   4. This will also come in handy when preparing STAR stories for interview prep

   5. If you’re feeling down still from any layoffs or just being in a bad position at your company, looking at this can help defeat imposter syndrome.

3. Resume

   1. Keep your resume updated at all times

   2. Utilize your list of accomplishments to do this

   3. Doesn’t have to be each day or week, but maybe 1-2 times a month take a look and see if there is something to add or subtract

   4. Have one for each skill you are looking for

      1. Full Stack vs. Backend developer

      2. IC vs Lead/Manager

4. Interview Prep

   1. Use your network to help prep you for interviews

   2. Video calls, phone calls, coffee dates, whatever works best

   3. If someone is referring you to a position at their company, the’ll also be able to give you the inside scoop to what the process (and potentially the types of questions & format)

So let’s aim to be prepared like Chad. Hopefully you don’t fall victim to layoffs. But fortune favors those who take initiative.

If you enjoyed this, let me know what you think. Gentlemen’s agreement, like, subscribe, share with a friend. And let me know what topics you want me to cover next.

-RR