Dealing with Being Laid Off

The Beginning

I wanted to start here, because this seems to be the biggest issue I am having since I was let go. I was part of only 3 members of my team to be cut, but it was a terrible time to be let go in the Technology sector. Meta had just cut 11,000 jobs, Google cut 10,000, Twitter another 3,700, Microsoft around 1,000 and overall, more than 120,000 people were let go in a short time frame.

There were a lot of reasons given for why tech companies were doing this, most of which revolved around the bottom line. Cutting costs so these companies look better on paper and management can get higher bonuses is a big thing right around the holidays. I do wonder if these executives are thinking about the lives they have destroyed when they are depositing those checks, literally in some cases; there is evidence that links being laid off to suicide rates. 

In my case, I don't believe the motivation was financial, it was a change in the direction my employer was heading and how they wanted to achieve their plans. I was no longer really needed under the new paradigm, and it made sense to cut me loose. They provided me with a generous severance package, and I was sent on my merry way. Since then, I have submitted hundreds of resumes, had a few interviews, but so far not landed anywhere. [Update: I am now working for Sundance Catalog and couldn't be happier!]

So Many Fish in the Sea

Finding myself in this situation, I immediately started sending out resumes and reaching out to contacts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and anywhere else I could think of. I will admit that I had what I felt was a pretty "sure thing" offered to me by a former colleague, so I wasn't as diligent as I could have been in sending them out at first. Only when that position fell through did I really begin to take my precarious position seriously. It didn't help that the company I was hoping to join took several months to go through the application and interview process. Not to disparage them, that is their process, it just meant I had little time to recover. 

This has been the case for a lot of the positions I have applied to or where I have interviewed. With so many candidates out there, they have a lot of resumes to sort and rate, which means time. In a situation like I found myself in, I should have been applying to every job I could find, instead I took my time and didn't take it seriously. 

Takeaway 1: Take this seriously, even if you feel like you have things lined up. This universe is crazy, and you have to be actively engaged in looking for a job from day 1. 

Dealing with Rejection

When you are applying for a lot of jobs, you have to know that you won't get a call back from everyone. In some cases, you might not even get an email response thanking you for applying, and if you do, that may be the last you hear from that company about the process. What was more frustrating to me was that I would get through the HR or recruiting phone interview and then be completely ghosted. Employers, I get it, there are a lot of people you are dealing with, and I have done this as well. I can say that being on the other side of being ghosted is the most demoralizing thing there is.

The other side of that coin is when you have gone through many rounds of interviews, with different teams and people and you are feeling like you might have an offer coming, only to either get a "Thanks, but we went with someone else" email, or worse, nothing at all. It is very hard not to take these rejections personally but remember that you are one of possible hundreds of applicants for that position. This might not be the best fit but keep trying until you find that perfect position that matches your skills and your why.

Finding a way to overcome the constant rejection has been difficult for me. I spend a lot of time in my car, going for drives through the beautiful canyons of Utah. I find the time alone to be mind clearing. I also try and vent my frustrations to my wife, my parents, and some of my closest friends. The difficult part is finding a balance between venting and being a burden. Another thing that has helped me is taking some time to go to the gym in the mornings. I will admit that I was not the healthiest person when this all started, but since I was let go, I have lost almost 50 pounds. 

Takeaway 2: Find a healthy way to deal with the stress. Go to the gym, go for a walk, or take a short drive. 

Increasing Your Value

Another thing that has helped me deal with the stress is taking online courses to refresh skills I already have, or to get new skills. We live in the third millennium of the common era, and we have this amazing thing called the internet that is full of all kinds of information. Some of the information is free, other information comes at a cost, and I can recommend both.

Free for the Interview

To start, head on over to YouTube. A quick search about the topic that interests you will return a plethora of results. A good example of this is a search I did to come up to speed on Blazor, a framework from Microsoft that one employer used. I had some experience with C# but had never heard of Blazor. A quick search and I had all the information I needed to nail the interview at least. That is about the level you will find, for the most part, on YouTube, enough information to get you through the first few interviews, but not enough to really teach you how to use the product. This might be enough, however, if you already have a good foundation in the product or process. 

Paid for the Job

Once you get to the offer stage, I would recommend picking up a bootcamp from a site like Udemy, with one caveat: Prices can and do change drastically on these sites. One day a course will cost $14.99 and the next $99.00. This is one of the reasons I like to wait until I have an offer from a company before I spend the money on something with which I don't have a lot of experience. For things I already know and I just need a refresher, I will grab a $14 bootcamp or course and speed through it at 1.5x speed just to refresh my memory. 

Takeaway 3: Spend your spare time learning new skills or refreshing old skills. You never know what an employer will need. 

Finally, Be Patient

This is a hard one, I know. I am still out of work, and it isn't looking like there is anything promising on the horizon. I am trying to trust in the process, knowing that I have the education, experience, and skills that make me a good fit in a lot of different roles and in a lot of different industries. Be patient with yourself, your family, and the employers that are doing their best to fill vacancies with so many available candidates. 

If you are in the same boat as I am, I wish you all the luck in the world. It is difficult, but have faith in yourself and keep moving forward. Things will get better.

Enjoy some more Simon Sinek: