What to Do If You’re Laid Off
Take some time to process the emotions and evaluate your career goals - before starting your job hunt.
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If you are laid off, take some time to process the emotions and evaluate your career goals - before starting your job hunt.
If you are not laid off, plan ahead to save enough to cover 6 months of your expenses and evaluate your career goals annually.
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Being laid off is one of the extreme forms of rejection that many of us will ever face. As social animals, we hate rejection. But we are capable of pulling through hard things, especially if we have a process to follow1. A layoff is a personal event and each of us will have slightly different responses to it. Let us take a look at some of the necessary phases post-layoff.
Take some time
Take some time to process the rejection and make peace with it2. This will give you time to regain your confidence and more importantly make peace with the company that let you go. Being your confident self will help you in your interviews. And making peace with the company will help you develop an unemotional response to the ‘Why were you let go?’ question. Maybe you were let go because the company’s focus changed or because the company overestimated its growth trajectory etc.
Evaluate your career goals
Consider this an involuntary opportunity to evaluate what you want out of your career. Ideally, you are looking for a similar role. Maybe you would like to try something new.
Job hunt
Now you can get started with your job hunt. Update your resume with key wins from the last position and talk to people in your network. There are a lot of interview preparation resources out there like this one from the head of finance at Google. For junior roles, job boards are a good place to explore your options. There are some niche job boards that you may find useful. For senior roles, you may want to work with headhunters. Darren Herman, a partner at Bain Capital, shared some head-hunter recommendations3.
What can you do if the current layoffs have not affected you? You can Plan ahead.
Plan ahead
Plan to save enough money to cover 6 months of your expenses in liquid assets - checking, savings, stocks, etc. This will allow the necessary financial freedom to take the necessary time if you are ever let go.
Review your career annually. Just like companies have OKRs(Objectives, Key Results), you could have OKRs for your career. Nothing stopping you from having one for your personal life as well4.
Update your resume annually when you do your annual career review.
Actively look out for opportunities to learn new and interesting things - technologies and tools. Learning does not have to stop with your graduation. Do some side projects. Future proof your career.
Go ahead and dazzle your interviewer and get multiple offers.
What to Do After Being Laid Off from Harvard Business Review
Here is a long-term question to think about - what can you do that your grandkid will thank you for?
Output from ChatGPT(https://chat.openai.com/chat) for the prompt
"What to Do If You’re Laid Off
Take some time to process the emotions and evaluate your career goals - before starting your job hunt."
Not bad, not bad at all.
If you are laid off, it can be a difficult and emotional time. However, there are steps you can take to help you cope and move forward with your career. Here are some things to consider:
Take some time to process your emotions. Losing a job can be a major life change and it is natural to feel a range of emotions, such as shock, anger, sadness, and fear. Give yourself permission to feel these emotions and talk about them with someone you trust, such as a friend or family member.
Evaluate your career goals. Losing a job can be a good opportunity to reassess your career goals and decide what you really want to do. Take some time to think about your interests, skills, and values, and how they align with different careers. You may want to explore new industries or job roles that you hadn't considered before.
Update your resume and online profiles. Once you have a clear idea of your career goals, update your resume and online profiles, such as LinkedIn, to reflect your skills and experience. This will make it easier for potential employers to see what you have to offer.
Network and reach out to contacts. Networking can be an effective way to find new job opportunities. Reach out to your professional contacts, such as former colleagues and industry connections, and let them know you are looking for a new job. They may be able to provide advice or refer you to potential job opportunities.
Consider retraining or upskilling. Losing a job can also be a good opportunity to acquire new skills or qualifications that will make you more competitive in the job market. Consider enrolling in a course or training program to learn new skills or update your existing ones.
Overall, if you are laid off, it is important to take some time to process your emotions and evaluate your career goals. This will help you move forward with your career and find a new job that aligns with your interests, skills, and values.