Layoffs: Getting Hired After a Career Emergency

Layoffs are brutal.

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Throughout the past year, many companies have been conducting layoffs. Ranging from large corporations such as Tesla, Twitter, and Stripe to smaller businesses, 2022 has been deemed the “layoff season."

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If you’ve been laid off or furloughed, this article is for you. 

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In this article, I’ll go over strategies that I’ve personally used when I was laid off at Snapchat. 

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‍These strategies got me 10 interviews and my dream offer at Google in a month's span. 

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Also, I will go over more tips for you to turn your layoff into something better.

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EXCLUSIVE DEAL: If you’ve been laid off, sign-up for our Wonsulting Online Course before 11/11/22 and get 75% off (Use code 75LAYOFF).

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Step 1: When you hear layoff rumors at your company, don’t panic. Do this.

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When layoffs occur, we tend to become anxious and worried; this is totally normal. However, one way to combat this is to instead get ready for the worst but prepare to make the BEST resume.

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First, identify 5 job descriptions that you’re interested in that fit your background. For example, let’s say you want to work as an operations analyst in tech. 

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Just go on a careers website like LinkedIn Jobs or Indeed and find roles that are specifically for operations analysts in tech companies. By doing this, you’ll be able to identify all the skills and qualifications you need to make your resume the best it can be!

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Next, get your resume fixed and ready to go. Do the following:

• Write down all of the hard skills/tools you used in your current role
• Go on ResumAI and create a profile to generate your bullet points for FREE
• Create a resume and add your bullets into ResumAI’s bullet generator
• Download your resume and you’re ready to apply for roles!

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Step 2: When you are officially laid off, use LinkedIn.

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When you’re laid off, there’s a roller coaster of emotions. When I experienced my first layoff at Snapchat, I was surprised because it was my first role out of college and I didn’t expect it. However, I always saw setbacks like these as comebacks, and I hope you will too!

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After the layoff goes into effect, do this on LinkedIn:

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• Start to reach out to your connections on LinkedIn who 1) work as recruiters/hiring managers and 2) are in positions you’re interested in. Let them know the news of what happened and see if they know of any roles that are hiring either for their company or in their connections!
• Make a LinkedIn post about your layoff. Since LinkedIn News prioritizes content that is trending, you will 1) be featured on LinkedIn News or 2) your post may potentially go viral. For example, when I created my post about getting laid off at Snapchat in 2018, it went viral with almost 1,000 likes but the most important part: the comments. I had several professionals and recruiters commenting that they were willing to give me referrals and interviews. 

This led to one of the hiring managers reaching out to me via message for a role at Google!

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Step 3: After using LinkedIn, reach out to contacts via email and land those interviews!

After networking on LinkedIn and creating a LinkedIn post, plan to reach out to people who previously helped you throughout your journey by sending them an update via email. Here’s an example of what you can send to them as an update:

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Hi (Name), 

Hope you’ve been well since we last spoke! Thanks again for all your help throughout my career.

A few updates on my end: 

• (Update 1: Make it positive! Maybe you visited a new country, had a positive life event, etc.!).
• (Update 2: I was working at (name) as a (position) but unfortunately was affected by layoffs; although this has occurred, I remain optimistic for the future!
  
  

How have you been since we last spoke? I’d love to catch up sometime, and if you know of anyone hiring for (role), please let me know! Have a great day and talk soon.

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When you send your previous connections this, then add them to a Networking Tracker so you can keep track of who responds and who doesn’t. If you’re able to land a call with your connections, great! 

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Conclusion

Layoffs are scary, but remember this: it’s not the end of the world, it’s only the beginning. A layoff is just a setback for a comeback, and there are many success stories out there, especially with us at Wonsulting. If you want us to help you get back on your feet, definitely check out our Wonsulting Services Bundles and Wonsulting Online Course which goes over the entire recruiting cycle, ranging from creating the perfect resume to interview prep!