I caught the flu late last week, so this week’s journal will be shorter than usual. Thankfully I saw it early enough to get the medicine to speed up the recovery, hopefully. There’s a good analogy here of proactive vs. reactive planning. I didn’t plan on being sick, so being proactive about it (aside from eating healthy, drinking water, and exercising, ~ whatever that is. ;) wasn’t part of the game. However, as soon as I realized I was sick, I could get to the doctor and get diagnosed, which allowed a more rapid response (and hopefully recovery.)
Indeed was particularly good at reactive planning. Looking back on the data-driven nature of Indeed a few weeks ago, I remembered just how much of our planning was in response to data that guided the next steps. The core measures of job seeker engagement, quality interactions, and more helped make decisions about what product features and products were built.
Thinking about this in the context of job searching, reactive work means being responsive to employers’ emails/requests, writing thank you follow-up letters promptly, and applying to new positions as they open up.
Looking Forward – Proactive Planning
I’m looking for organizations with strength in longer-term planning for my next role. It’s not a skill that I feel particularly adept in, given the short-term nature of Incubator projects. As I interview for positions, I want to understand where the company has been and is going. It helps me to know if I can help them along their growth journey.
Today’s Tip – More job search categories
Once you’ve saved a few jobs to LinkedIn, the jobs page is a perfect place to start your search. Looking through my jobs page today I saw jobs “Recommended for you”, “Similar to a job you saved one day ago”, “Jobs where you’re a top applicant”, “Remote opportunities”, “Still hiring”, “Hiring in your network”, and more. These are great jobs to review (and re-review) to see which would be a good fit.
Fun Stuff
Final Words
If I can help with your search, please get in touch with me. Please give me feedback on what you like or don’t care for in this newsletter, and I’ll adjust. For total transparency, I have no affiliation with any of the tools, companies, or resources I share. These are my impressions, not tainted by any outside influences.
First of all, welcome to ex-Facebook, ex-Amazon, ex-Dropbox, and others who joined our unfortunate ranks of the laid-off this week. It’s still a dark time in technology, and I hope you’re all leaning in to support those in need. More on that in a minute. First, we have to talk about online scams.
Layoff Journal Week 6 – Scams, PTO, & Retirement
A former Indeedian Tom tried to scam me this week. While I was at the dentist, he texted me to stop by CVS, pick up a $500 Apple gift card, and send it to him. Now, for those who know Tom, you know this was clearly out of character, and it’s also a pretty obvious scam. The scary part was that the scammer had not only my name but also Tom’s and knew we were connected. Be careful out there, folks. Even unemployed, you may still be the target of online scams, and with your personal information on various layoff lists, you may see an influx of requests. Thankfully this one ended with a frustrated scammer, not me losing $500.
I know talking about money while laid off may be a sore subject, but we have some business to take care of this week. Let’s dive in!
Looking Back – #TakeThePTO
I’ve worked for companies with open PTO (paid time off) policies for the last 16 years. It’s a double-edged sword. I enjoy the flexibility and the openness to take the time off I need, but always feel a twinge of regret about whether I’m taking enough vs. too much. Now with the layoff, I’m temporarily leaning into that feeling and enjoying the break from the typical eight-to-five work schedule. I encouraged keeping weekends last week, but if your budget allows, thinking of a portion of this layoff as an extended vacation can be a way to recharge your batteries and put some of the negative feelings behind you.
Also, if you were planning a summer vacation like me, do what you can to keep some portion of that trip. You may need to take a shorter or closer-to-home vacation than originally planned, but having that extended break, especially before diving into a new role, will help you jump in wholeheartedly.
While we’re on the topic of vacation, let’s talk about negotiating vacation. You can negotiate to take your planned vacations when joining a new company. You can ask how much vacation the average person is taking. And if it’s not a company with unlimited PTO, you can negotiate to start with more than the standard vacation offering. Get that time off and USE IT! This HBR article shares data on why you need it. (5 min read) #TakeThePTO
Looking Forward – Words of Affirmation
As we go through the valley of despair (or the estuary of ennui, or even the fjord of feelings – Thanks, Mandy!), it is essential to continue speaking and hearing words of affirmation. Hopefully, this newsletter is a bit of that for you, but when you meet others who’ve been laid off (or others going through hard times,) brightening their day with some words of encouragement will help lift their spirits. Here are 55 examples to get you started on lifting those around you. (8 min read)
Today’s Tip – Rolling Over Your Money
This week I’ve got another timely tip. Hopefully, you were investing in the company 401k (if not, get started on your 401k immediately at your next job, it’s a great habit and way to build wealth.) If so, you need to decide what to do with those funds. This article summarizes a number of things you could, should, and should not do with that investment. (8 min read)
For those with a Fidelity 401k, the process is quick and simple. It only took me 13 minutes on the phone to get everything rolling (I already had an existing IRA to roll over into, so I got to skip those steps), which has got to be a record time for getting anything meaningful done with a financial institution.
If I can help with your search, please get in touch with me. Please give me feedback on what you like or don’t care for in this newsletter, and I’ll adjust. For total transparency, I have no affiliation with any of the tools, companies, or resources I share. These are my impressions, not tainted by any outside influences.
It’s been a long year this past month. I’m sure many of you are feeling it, but here we are, starting month two of post-employment. Energy has been up and down throughout the month. Last week I received two rejections from companies I was speaking with. It was a bit of a gut punch to be eliminated before they completed the full slate of interviews, but it pushed me to look for roles I’d love to have and to expand my search. I returned to LinkedIn and added more job titles and roles to my set of searches, and now have more saved jobs to research this week.
Indeed was one of the most data-driven companies I’ve ever worked for. The tracking data on everything necessary, the focus on quality metrics, and the infrastructure to manage all that data made Indeed a unique workplace. It’s a quality I plan to bring to my future roles and hope to find in the culture of any team I join. It’s also a beneficial quality in your job search.
We talked in week one about having a system for tracking applications. Most of these systems see the job search process as a funnel from awareness & application, through interviews, to offer and acceptance (not unlike how we thought about the job seeker experience at Indeed.) But with any funnel approach, you must regularly add to the top of the funnel to keep the process moving forward. This quick read shows one individual’s funnel metrics and emphasizes the importance of having a variety of sources for your top of the funnel (4 min read). For each job that fails to reach the end of the funnel, going back and adding several new prospects to the top will keep your search flowing.
Looking Forward – Funneling Your Energy
The same author, in the next part of his series, describes the “valley of despair” that comes in weeks four to 12 of the job search process, and of course, your mileage may vary on which weeks are up or down. (3 min read) The key here is to remember that during this difficult time, you have to work even harder to keep your energy up. Those in-person meetings with friends, family, former co-workers, and others will give you energy, expose you to more opportunities, and keep your momentum up.
I took this weekend off from job searching. It was a nice mental break from the constant refreshing of LinkedIn, email inbox, Slack, and many other things on my job search to-do list.
Of course, it didn’t have to be Saturday and Sunday, but with my family still in school mode, that made the most sense for me. It would be easy to stay full-time, seven days a week, on the job search process, but without a bit of time to rest and recharge, my energy level would drop each week. I’m re-energizing today to dig into the new roles I found late last week and see if they’d fit me well. I hope you take some time for yourself this week, but for me, it’s time to get back to work!
Fun(nel) Stuff
Using that funnel the way it’s intended!
Final Words
If I can help with your search, please get in touch with me. Please give me feedback on what you like or don’t care for in this newsletter, and I’ll adjust. For total transparency, I have no affiliation with any of the tools, companies, or resources I share. These are my impressions, not tainted by any outside influences.
I’ve been thinking a lot about friends this week. So many of my friends have reached out to support me and others in this layoff that I’m humbled to have so many great people in my network. Beyond just the network, having friends reach out provides a great support system for this challenging time. These people have met me for coffee, lunch, and beers or even dropped off dinner for my family one evening to show their love and support. I hope that everyone affected by layoffs is getting similar support.
However, I was challenged this week as I realized that I have so many friends, and yet for the last (nearly) seven years, I have never been this intentional about spending quality time with them. I have been very focused on my team, my career, my family, and more, and friends were a distant afterthought. Sure, I wanted to have more time with them, but when they didn’t call and I was super busy, time just got away from us both. I was intentionally scheduling time with friends during the first year of the pandemic, but that slowed down dramatically in 2022 and 2023. I’m bringing back that intentionality with a plan to maintain and grow my friendships even after I find another role, and I encourage you all to do the same.
Looking Back – On Mission With Friends
Indeed inspired me with its mission (“We help people get jobs”) even before I joined the company in 2016. I loved working on products to help job seekers find new roles and others for employers to find the right hire. In the first month, I saw firsthand how the mission would be used to gauge product success as a feature that was good for revenue but bad for job seekers was shuttered to protect the experience.
I’ve been a big believer in intrinsic value for a long time and always tried to help my teams understand the value they were creating, not just the revenue they extracted. Our User Experience teams were also instrumental in regularly refocusing the team on the customer experience, problems we were solving, and how we could help job seekers. Rallying around these problems with coworkers made them much more than peers; it grew so many new friendships. This article in Forbes on the importance of a mission-driven company shows the data behind that intrinsic motivation and a few questions you can ask to understand company culture around motivation/mission. (4 min read)
Looking Forward – Leadership & Worry
Another great article I read this week was on worry by RandsInRepose. (4 min read) Rands lays out that worrying/pessimism may seem engaged, helpful, or even essential but is doing more damage than good. Good leadership is the counter to worry: listening, understanding, staying curious, hoping, and more. I want to work with friends who exhibit this kind of leadership in my next role.
It’s easy in a layoff to move to a place of worry. Will I get another job? Will my budget work out? Will the market continue to get worse before it gets better? If we instead focus on listening to the feedback we’re getting, growing our skills during this downtime, we’ve been given, and most importantly, never losing hope, we will see brighter days.
We were laid off because the company made a mistake. Hiring you was a good decision, not a mistake. The mistake was not aligning hiring to the business needs. Your skills are valuable and are in demand somewhere. You have something unique to give. I hope you find that spot this week!
Today’s Tip – Negotiating
I’ve heard some folks have already gotten offers and are deliberating which to accept (and some have already accepted new roles, congratulations to everyone who’s seeing progress). Let me share a tip I’ve used in previous job searches with those closing in on a decision. Recruiters or hiring managers will ask you what your salary expectations are (where that practice is still allowed, here’s a list of places it is not.)
Preparing for this requires a bit of thinking about your budget, growth, and the longer-term opportunities in this role. My tip (I’ve lost the source for where I originally started this) is to develop three numbers: 1) your must-have salary, e.g., the take-home pay you have to get to make your budget work; 2) your desired salary, a reasonable balance of what you need and some extra to make things more comfortable, and; 3) your “happy place” salary, the amount you’d be very happy to get and would make you stop searching anywhere else.
When you share your desired salary (if you choose to share), share your mid and high numbers as a range. If the company comes within that range, you’ll be able to accept it comfortably. If they come in under your mid-point but above your must-have, you’ll know that the budget works and determine whether you want to negotiate. And, if the offer comes in below your must-have salary, you’re armed to push back and potentially walk away from an offer that won’t work for you.
Fun Stuff
Final Words
If I can help with your search, please get in touch with me. Please give me feedback on what you like or don’t care for in this newsletter, and I’ll adjust. For full transparency, I have no affiliation with any of the tools, companies, or resources I share. These are my impressions, not tainted by any outside influences.
Happy Easter, everyone. I hope you all had a great Easter weekend with your family and friends. It was a beautiful weekend to celebrate, and amazing to see the confluence of Easter, Passover, and Ramadan. I hope all of your celebrations have been equally blessed. This time of year, the grass is starting to grow, the trees are putting out their leaves, and flowers are blooming. It’s a time of rebirth, which seems very apropos, given we’re three weeks into a new start of our own. New growth builds on previous expertise and experiences, so let’s start by looking back at where we’ve been.
Another characteristic I appreciated about Indeed was the autonomy in the Engineering organization. I regularly saw teams given the leeway to set their goals, the measures of success, and the methods to accomplish their plans. I know this isn’t the case everywhere within Indeed and isn’t common in other companies I’ve worked at, but it was something I found impressive about Indeed.
We have autonomy in spades now that we’re laid off, but it’s a double-edged sword. We have the freedom to do everything and the opportunity to do nothing. We have to provide the structure for ourselves on how we utilize our time. As for me, I’m trying to balance time spent networking with time spent in self-development. Networking with those laid off and in the workforce rekindles old friendships and opens new opportunities. Self-development means journaling about what’s next in my career and “sharpening the saw” by writing some code again.
Even after you find your next job, this sense of and desire for autonomy will not immediately disappear. In fact, according to this HBR article, autonomy is now a key driver in selecting jobs and staying with companies. I appreciated the suggestion to focus on principles over policies and the breakdown of self-determination into autonomy, competence, and relatedness. (12 min read)
Looking forward
I’m hearing some stories of laid-off employees finding their next role and want to say “Congratulations!” to each of you. I know some roles will take longer, so some will be searching for some time. For you, my advice is “keep your hopes up.” Opportunities are out there even in hard times; they’re harder to find.
When you’re interviewing, most companies will give you several opportunities to ask questions (if they don’t, it’s a pretty big red flag for me.) While this article is specifically about interviewing for a VP of Engineering role, this set of questions to ask when interviewing should be a valuable resource. (8 min read)
Today’s Tip
After two weeks in a row of LinkedIn tips, I wanted to branch out and suggest some new tools. I realized a little too late that with our health insurance expiring at the end of the month last month, I should have decided earlier which insurance to get for this month. I knew I had the fallback option of COBRA coverage which could be reinstated retroactively, but I did not connect the dots that many open-market insurance plans don’t take effect until the start of the next month. It’s not a huge issue to have a one-month gap in insurance; however, since we had several appointments scheduled this month, it is a challenge. So, for those who’ve been putting off this work, if you’re considering a non-COBRA plan and you want coverage next month, be sure you get the selection made before the end of this month.
Fun Stuff
Sorry for the bit of language in this week’s fun stuff, but these are pretty tame and all too appropriate right now.
Editing your resume and …
Finally, getting back to the gym like:
Final Words
If I can help with your search, please get in touch with me. Please give me feedback on what you like or don’t care for in this newsletter, and I’ll adjust. For full transparency, I have no affiliation with any of the tools, companies, or resources I share. These are my impressions, not tainted by any outside influences. https://onlynewmistakes.com/
I’m blaming myself for this layoff. Let me tell you why by telling you a story.
In February 2020, I signed up for StitchFix’s Style Pass (one year of unlimited “fixes,” e.g., boxes of clothes to buy or return.) That was just a bit more than a month before Indeed went fully remote for the COVID-19 pandemic. I might have been the only person to get more and more dressy throughout the first year of the pandemic.
Here’s the thing. Last month I signed up for the Style Pass again. I needed some new jeans and a few replacement shirts. I had no idea that a StitchFix subscription could trigger another significant shift in my life, let alone for many others who had no idea it was coming. I’m sorry y’all.
Now, obviously, my purchase of Style Pass didn’t cause the layoff. Still, I tell this story to remind us that our brains will take the easiest path to explain a situation. It’s not healthy to only ruminate on what you did that caused you to be included in the layoff. So let’s look back and learn, look forward at what’s to come, make the time to laugh a little, and make a plan for our next step.
At Indeed, we often talked about the flywheel effect. Maybe you’re thinking of the Job Seeker flywheel, the Performance Management flywheel, or some other flywheel within the business. The flywheel effect is one of my biggest takeaways from Indeed. Looking for ways to create flywheels/feedback loops/virtuous cycles to get to where we want to go. (4 min read)
The same concept applies to your job search right now. Doing the next right thing, even if it’s small but moves the ball forward, builds momentum. Set a routine. Take a call. Practice interviews with peers. Take interviews with a company to get back out there. Whatever it is, a little momentum will help you through this tough time. Even rejections help move you forward. They tell you a place where the door is closed and help you refine your process of explaining the value you bring.
Looking forward
OK, it’s been over a week since we were laid off. Hopefully, you’ve taken some time to reflect on what you learned and what you want to do next. This week, even without a full-time job, I still found myself very busy. Coffee with old friends and former coworkers. Lunch with potential teams I could interview to join. It all added up to a lot of time on the road and away from my desk. This article on managing your time was a good reminder to pay attention to where my time is going. (8 min read)
In terms of things to get rolling this week, it was time to do a number of boring procedural things too. Investigating and filing for unemployment. Looking for replacement insurance to compare against the COBRA coverage. Making sure I got all the last bits of data (payroll stubs, performance data, legal documents, etc.) from Indeed.
Today’s Tip
Last week I mentioned how important using your network was. This week I’ll share a really tactical tip on using LinkedIn introductions. When you introduce yourself via LinkedIn (or when someone else introduces you), you can remove individuals from that conversation, much like moving someone to BCC when using email.
Clicking the … at the top of the conversation gives you the option to leave or remove people from the conversation reducing it to just the people who will be conversing post-introduction.
Fun Stuff
You made it this far. Here are a few fun cracks at the layoff market and one cat gif to cleanse the timeline until next week.
(hat tip to Cassie Lebauer for sharing this)
Workday job application wants him to re-enter everything from his resume.
Final Words
If I can help with your search, please contact me. Please give me feedback on what you like or don’t care for in this newsletter, and I’ll adjust. For full transparency, I have no affiliation with any of the tools, companies, or resources I share. These are just my impressions, not tainted by any outside influences. https://onlynewmistakes.com/
Today starts my first full week of “funemployment” after nearly seven years at Indeed.com due to their recent layoff. I’m starting a weekly newsletter (hat tip to Brendan Sterne for his amazing newsletter when he was at Indeed) for a while to document progress, share tips, and keep my mind a bit busier while I find the right next role. I’m no expert on this space, just sharing my notes in the hope that they help someone out there searching. If I can help your search in any way, please reach out to me. I’ll probably vary the format of this newsletter for the first few weeks, so give me feedback on what you like or don’t care for and I’ll adjust. For full transparency, I have no affiliation with any of the tools, companies, or resources I’ll be sharing. These are just my impressions not tainted by any outside influences.
I’ve talked with a number of people who were very hurt by the layoff and I completely understand where they’re coming from. Personally, I’m mostly just feeling disappointed. I’ve definitely had moments where I’m deeply sad that my time in the Incubator is over, and been very upset about the stories of folks who are far more negatively impacted by the layoff timing (those with children on the way in particular.)
The best advice I can give and have seen repeated elsewhere is to spend some time reflecting. I couldn’t sleep the other night and took out my Remarkable (that’s another post for another time, but I highly recommend them for those who are curious) and jotted down a number of things I loved about my role, things I felt could have been better, what I wanted to do next, and people I should reconnect with. Unloading those things from my brain helped a ton and I was able to crash. Well, that and a healthy dose of melatonin. ;)
Forbes had a pretty straightforward article on coping with a layoff that I’d recommend. There are some good tips for getting yourself into a good place, and then taking on the immediate tasks of looking at your finances and healthcare to make sure you’ve got a good stable place to start. (4 min read)
Looking Forward
I’m fortunate to have several opportunities opening up, but I know that’s not the case for everyone. This read by Morgan Luce was a super short one, but very dense with tools and based on their search after their layoff. (2 min read)
This week my goal is to set up a system for tracking my next steps and to start filling it in with various opportunities that have already presented themselves. I’m planning to use Notion. I’ve only ever had a chance to dabble with it and wanted to learn more about it. Additionally, I’ll start looking through my network to see who’s hiring engineering leaders (more on that later.)
Additionally, I’m still trying to live the mission of “I help people get jobs.” I have time, resources, and a network, and I’ll be using them to help my fellow former Indeedians find their next good role. Reach out to me if I can help. My network is deepest here in Austin, but I do have connections across the globe as well.
Today’s Tip
Nothing revolutionary here: use your network. I dug into LinkedIn in earnest this morning and was able to pretty quickly find a number of roles in my network for former Indeedians. Mastering the quite powerful search functionality in LinkedIn is a great skill. I was able to filter to particular roles/titles, in my network, in Austin within just a few clicks and see exactly how I’m connected to those opportunities. (1 min video)
Several people in my network have already reached out to me and I’m looking at a number of opportunities in a number of different industries. It may not be my next “forever” job, but in this challenging market, I’m thankful that there are some great companies looking to pick up the amazing talent that’s being laid off from big tech. I know that’s one of my favorite parts of the job and I look forward to being back in those trenches soon.
Fun Stuff
You made it this far. Here are a few fun cracks at the layoff market and one cat gif to cleanse the timeline until next week.
