One week on, what I have learned after being laid off
Unfortunately a lot of people have recently lost their jobs and are going through a period of change and difficulty. So after being officially unemployed for a week I thought I’d share a few self observations and adjustments I’ve made. I should preface this by stating that while many folks are going through an extremely hard time, I am extremely fortunate to not be in a precarious financial or health position. Basically, this is not meant to be a sympathy piece, feel free to judge the shit out of me but keep your damn pity.
So this all started in late March (a.k.a one week ago) when I, along with many others were laid off. After the initial shock of losing my job my immediate reaction was to apply for jobs like a man possessed. I visualised myself needing to get ahead of the stampede of candidates that would undeniably be growing each day. This turned out not exactly to be the case and in this time I learned some key lessons that I thought I’d share with y’all.
1. Reflect on your time
First before I could apply to any job I knew I had to update my resume. As I started to update it something didn’t feel right. Almost like I had unfinished business weighing on my shoulders. I realised I was still in denial. A chapter of my life was over, and I needed to accept it. But before I could move on I needed to sit and reflect on the past one and a half years. This period was extremely formative for me and it wouldn’t be just to quickly brush over it. I started to write down some basic notes, specifically:
- What did I come into the job knowing?
- What did I come out of the job knowing?
- What did I accomplish that I should be proud of?
- What are key lessons I should remember?
- What are some great moments I should cherish?
- Who are the friends I made?
- Who are some other folks I shouldn’t easily forget?
While my notes were pretty basic I found this activity extremely cathartic and therapeutic. Not to mention it also qualified how much I learned and the lasting impact this part of my life will have on me. Finally it also helped me identify what I wanted for my next opportunity and the growth areas I should work on.
2. Get eyes on that resume
Now it was time to get back to my resume. I went on to update my resume using Canva. As I read my resume I was immediately thrown back to all the emotions I experienced in my prior job searches. Insecurities ravaged my mind about my grammar, wording and formatting. Not to mention the awkwardness devising a one page document to sell yourself. It’s strange how these don’t exist when you are simply updating your resume with a job! Luckily I have some great friends who I shared my resume with and provided me with some great feedback. After receiving the initial feedback, I wondered how I had not seen my convoluted phrasing and cramped formatting? Therein lies my second learning, get as much feedback on your resume as you can!
3. Applying for jobs is f**king addictive
Okay first, I just want to congratulate LinkedIn. Your product is really damn addictive. I realised this a while ago when I deleted the app after finding myself all too often on the LI feed being sucked in from the unrelenting barrage of badge notifications.
Now ready to apply for jobs, LI was my first port of call. I told myself that I would use this period of ‘freedom’ for much more than applying for jobs. I wanted to upskill with some online courses, read more and practice yoga (inside and alone, thanks Covid-19!). However after two days I realised I wasn’t accomplishing any of this.
I noticed that I was constantly being brought back to that bloody LI feed. Even when I wasn’t on LI, I found myself on edge waiting for a notification, email or any excuse to get right back. I was even venturing back on my own accord as I procrastinated.
Before I knew it two days had flown by #funemployed. While these days went quickly they really didn’t feel productive at all. I knew I had to get some greater structure into my days. I spoke to a friend who gave me some great advice. He told me to treat my calendar like a normal work day.
Critically I knew I had to timebox ‘job application’ time. This meant only looking at LI and other jobs boards, as well as emails for a period in the morning and another shorter period in the afternoon, leaving the rest of the day to do productive work. After one day I immediately noticed my productivity increase. I finally got to starting that online course and doing that yoga session (okay half session)!
4. Maintain those habits
Now we all know this is not a normal time to be laid off. I feel like I only heard the term ‘stir crazy’ a few weeks ago and since then it’s become a daily conversation point. One thing I’ve tried to do is maintain my daily routines to retain some sense of sanity and minimise the sense of change.
This ensures I am still getting up at the same time (okay maybe 30 min later…), I am still doing exercise before ‘work’, eating the same prepared meals and I am trying to end the day at a normal hour.
I should call out that I am a bit of a routine lover. For example I have been eating the same lunch for the last 5 years 😬.
5. Ingrain some new habits
This has also been a great opportunity for me to engrain some new habits into my daily routine. Especially for all those things that have been on my to do list for all too long. Some things I’ve added to my daily routine:
- Making the bed. Sorry mum
- Daily journaling, especially pointing to this I am grateful for
- Meditating. Yeah…. still haven’t got this one down, let’s call it a stretch goal.
6. Reach out
One final thing that I have realised is that in this time of isolation this is a great time to use some of your days reconnecting with family, friends, ex-colleagues or whoever. Initially I felt some concern and shame about telling people of my predicament. However these feelings couldn’t have been any less justified. Over the week I haven’t had one interaction that was even remotely judgmental. On the contrary most calls ended with friends all too eager to help me land my next job.
Overall, I hope whoever reads this gets some value from my experience. I would love to hear if others have gone through a similar experience.
My socials:
gppollak@gmail.com