#024 - What To Do When You Get Laid Off: The Ultimate Guide

If you’ve been laid off, it’s hard not to take it personally. It’s kind of like when you interview and get rejected. “But surely there's something I could’ve done?”

No. A lot of the time, there’s nothing you could’ve done.

(I know. But breathe. We’ll get through this.)

Saying that, I get it. We’ve all seen and heard and read content that tells us, “You’re more than your job.” And while we all know that, do we really know that?

For example - and allow me to get slightly morbid for a second - when a famous person dies, the news doesn’t say, “Kobe Bryant, great father and husband, has died.” They say, “Kobe Bryant, 18-time all-star and 5-time NBA Champion, has died.”

My point is that it’s kind of drummed into us that we are our jobs and it’s not so easy to come to terms with the fact that we’re so much more. But you are. Even if you have to remind yourself time and time again.

So, what should you do when you get laid off? Like me on Christmas Day roughly 0.19 seconds after dinner is placed on the table, let’s get into it:

1. I’d make sure my LinkedIn and CV were up-to-date with all my relevant achievements and results.

Us recruiters use LinkedIn to source candidates. (A bombshell, I know.) If your LinkedIn profile isn’t properly filled out, it’s tough to know if you’re qualified for our role. And if we can’t tell if you’re qualified, we’ll probably move onto the next candidate. So, please do yourself a massive favour and after you’ve updated your CV, copy and paste it into your LinkedIn profile. Help us help you.

I’d also suggest adding your skills to the Skills section because we can filter by Skills when searching, and that can come in very handy. So when I say “I’d also suggest” I mean “please do this.”

When it comes to relevant achievements, if you’ve just been laid off then you might not have access to these. I’m never going to advocate lying but I’m sure you have some idea of some of your achievements and results. You’ll have to use your best guess.

If you haven’t been laid off but are looking for a new job, take this as a sign to make a note of all your achievements and results. You never know when you might need them.

2. I’d get in touch with all my friends and let them know I’d been laid off and tell them to introduce me to some hiring managers and decision-makers.

They’re my friends so they have to do it. I jest, but it’s true. Your friends and loved ones will want to help you but they can’t help you if they don’t know you need help. (As I learned in therapy, being in a mindset of “well they should just know” isn’t helpful to anyone.)

If you’re feeling anxious or full of pride about doing this, I understand. But put the shoe on the other foot. If your friends, your loved ones, the people you care about the most in the world, if they asked for your help in getting a new job you’d jump at the chance wouldn’t you?

Also, you have no idea who they might know. They might be able to introduce you to the exact person you want to speak with. Please ask them.

Oh, also: please ask them.

3. Watch an emotional movie.

Here are some I’d choose from: Coach Carter, Remember The Titans, The Pursuit of Happyness, Good Will Hunting, Interstellar, The Theory of Everything, The Lion King, and Armageddon. Saying that, my girlfriend will attest to me crying at almost any film.

In all seriousness, you might want to take time to process what’s just happened. Being laid off is a classic case of “I just never thought it would happen to me” so it can be quite a shock.

When I posted about this on LinkedIn the other day, my friend, Tolu, commented the below:

“There’s a book called “the power of writing it down” it talks about a study where they took two groups of people that had been laid off. One group journaled and processed their feelings through writing. The other didn’t. The ones that wrote things down and processed it were getting jobs significantly quicker than the ones that didn’t.”

Fascinating, isn’t it? And it makes total sense. If you’ve ever tried to swim while holding weights, you’ll know what I mean. It’s almost impossible to move forward when you’re buoyed down.

4. I’d reach out and re-connect with my current network. (Too corporate a sentence, I know.)

I’ve said this before. Probably around 408 times (it was 407 when I said it on LinkedIn the other day). And now I’ll say it again: the biggest ROI from ‘networking’ is going to come from your current network. Or, in non-corporate speak, people you already know. And by people you already know, I mean the following:

• Former managers

• Former colleagues

• LinkedIn connections you’ve forgotten about

• Recruiters you’ve spoken with before

• Interviewers you’ve interviewed with before

• Hiring managers you’ve interviewed with before 

• Anyone in your phone contacts you haven’t spoken to in a while 

• Anyone whose email address you have and you haven’t spoken to in a while

• Not your ex

Let them know you’re looking for a new job. You’d be willing to help someone you knew if they asked the same, right? Yes. Let that ease your anxiety about ‘bothering’ them.

If you want some idea of what to say:

• “Hi [name]. Been a while! What’s new with you? Would love to hear from you but no rush. Take care and talk soon!”

• “Hi [name]. Been a while! What’s happening with you? I’m on the job hunt myself and reaching out to a few chosen people I haven’t spoken to in a while. Anyway, would love to hear about what’s going on with you. No rush, talk soon.”

5. I'd consider working in companies and industries outside of my 'dream' ones.

The ‘unsexy’ ones, if you will. You might not love the idea of this initially but here's the good news: you don’t have to stay there forever, and your mortgage and bills don't care about the industry you work in.

Also, as we’ve discussed before, your dream job might not be everything it’s cracked up to be. What if the workload is unmanageable? What if your manager is a micromanaging control freak? What if the culture sucks? What if the pay is below the market rate?

Is it your dream job then?

So much more than role and industry go into a dream job. If the job gives you autonomy and challenge and the chance to work on your craft, if your manager is nothing but supportive, if your colleagues are friendly and helpful, if the hours are reasonable, if you get paid a great salary, would you really care it’s not in your ‘dream’ industry?

No. You would not.

6. I’d sign up for LinkedIn job alerts and I’d use all possible job titles.

For a recruiter, it might look something like this: Senior Recruiter, Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist, Talent Partner, Talent Acquisition Partner, Recruiter, Talent Acquisition Specialist, Lead Recruiter, Principal Recruiter, Recruitment Ninja (just kidding) (I hope), and any other titles I could think of.

Don’t miss out on a great job because of a weird title.

7. I’d apply for relevant roles as soon as they came up and I’d tailor my CV to each role.

If you’re applying for similar roles you’re very qualified for - which you probably should be, especially in this market - this shouldn’t take a huge amount of work.

10 minutes of tailoring your CV could be the difference between getting rejected and getting an interview. A pretty easy decision if you ask me.

8. I’d do my best to find recruiters and hiring managers at the company I’d just applied for.

I’d reach out and say something like, “Hi [name]. Just applied for the [x] role. My CV and LinkedIn should give you everything you need but please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, and hopefully we can chat soon!”

If you can’t find them on LinkedIn, do the below:

• Go to Google. Or Bing. Or DuckDuckGo. Whichever search engine you use is fine by me. 

• Use the following formula: “[company name] [job title] [location] LinkedIn”

• It might look something like this: “Nike Head of Recruitment London LinkedIn”

• They should come up. Boom. If you’re on desktop, click “Connect” and then “Add a note” and write something like the above. 

• If you’re on mobile, go to their profile, click on the three little dots, then click on “Personalise invite.

Voilà.

And no, there are no guarantees. But you never know.

9. I’d remind myself that my new job is looking for a new job.

I’d probably need to do this a few times a day (or hour) because it is, after all, an unpaid “job.” And not an easy one at that. 

10. I’d keep posting and commenting on LinkedIn.

In fact, I'd up it. Massively. Putting value out into the world is a great way to get it back. (Nope, not a life coach.)

If you are going to post content, I highly recommend posting content that will resonate with and be useful to potential hiring managers. I’m not saying to never post about your job search but if that’s all you post about, there’s not much use in that for hiring managers.

We talked about this in last week’s newsletter. If you’re in social media, post stuff that’s will be useful to social media hiring managers. If you’re in [x], post stuff that’s going to be useful to [x] managers. Simple? Yes. But most people don’t do this so you’ll have a chance to stand out.

At the very least, comment on posts. Demonstrate your knowledge. Share your insights. Get more eyeballs on your profile. Even if you ‘just’ comment, you’ll separate yourself from other candidates.

Oh, and if you’re going to do this - and please do this - make sure your profile is properly filled out. You want a recruiter or hiring manager looking at your profile to lead to a DM, not to them being disappointed they can’t tell what experience you have.

11. I’d take out any anger and frustration I was feeling by lifting heavy weights.

I suppose what I’m saying here is you don’t have to give up on your life outside the job search.

I know it can feel all-consuming. I know it can feel like you’re never doing enough. I know it seems like there’s always more to do - more jobs to apply for, more people to ‘network’ with, more LinkedIn to scroll.

That’s where the next point comes in. What a segue.

14. Set - and maintain - boundaries.

With the people you follow and take advice from, with the jobs you apply for, with how much time and energy you spend daily on the job search, with what times are best for you to interview (you don’t have to be available 24/7), with the salary or package you’ll accept. Your job search will certainly test your boundaries. Prepare yourself for that.

You could also set a daily or weekly job-search schedule. There’s only one result that truly matters when you’re looking for a new job - getting a new job - but what does success look like on all the other days when you’re not busy accepting an offer?

Maybe it’s that you apply for 3 roles a day, you reach out to 3 people in your network or that you’re connected with on LinkedIn, you reach out to 3 people you don’t know, and you leave 10 comments on LinkedIn posts. Or maybe you do it weekly and focus on applications one day, networking the next, and interview prep the next. Whatever you choose, it might help to measure and track it.

13. If you get an interview, for goodness sake, prep.

We talked about interview prep in edition #006, edition #019, and edition #020. Why? Because it’s very important, that’s why.

Someone I know is currently interviewing. They told me the other day they’d done a couple of hours of prep for their interview. Do you know what they said after?

“I felt so good going into that interview because I knew I’d done all the prep I could.”

Isn’t feeling good going into an interview enough of a reason to prep? Forget the fact you’ll give better answers and ask better questions. Isn’t simply feeling confident and ready and eager going into the interview worth the prep time and energy? Why would you not want that for yourself?

And yes, this person went through to the next stage.

I wonder why.

14. Remember your worth.

I’m not talking about your inherent human worth. That just is. I mean remember your worth in the market. You have skills, you have experience, you have knowledge. You have achievements. You have results. You have evidence - and evidence gives you the right to be confident about what you can bring to a role and a company.

Keep doing the right things and your time will come.

It’s impossible for it not to.

PS Here’s last week’s newsletter in case you missed it: 4 Quotes from ‘So Good They Can’t Ignore You’ To Help You On Your Job Search

PPS Want to book your 1:1 job search strategy session? Click here.