The Layoff Confidence Drain
Last week I received a text from a mentee sharing her frustration and disappointment in her ongoing job search, leading to sadness and a strong lack of confidence. She said, "I have never had a problem finding a job." She’s not the first to share this sentiment with me, and she will likely, and sadly, not be the last.
A Director-level manager in tech, my mentee excelled in leadership, exuded confidence and enthusiasm for her work, and was on track for her next promotion. And then layoffs happened, an unexpected and altering experience. Days that were full of Zoom meetings, planning, strategizing, collaborating and traveling were no more.
Struggling to find a new daily rhythm that is incredibly different from a typical workday is hard. The well-meaning encouragement that is poured into you at this time from friends, family, coaches and mentors is difficult to hear when no regular paychecks and blank space on your resume is your current reality. Add to that, the rejection that comes in waves after you submit your resume for the 100th time and receive nothing in return. And while the occasional interview with a recruiter or hiring manager seems promising, when you get an email or call that you are not advancing into the next round of interviews, it’s another blow to your head, heart and gut. Why? Because you have never had a problem finding a job!
No one needs to tell you how tough it is to find a job. Last week, LinkedIn News reported the latest findings of their Workforce Confidence survey and found that active job seekers in the U.S. are feeling less confident about their chances of finding or keeping a job than in any prior time period. This survey began during the pandemic and in April 2020 the confidence score was at a low of +9 on a scale of -100 to +100. Today that same score is +15 and has been trending downward since April 2022.
With confidence at an all-time low, here are a few things to help move you along to your next.
Remember that a layoff is not about you. It’s about decisions made way up top in your organization to reduce expenses, minimize redundancies or gain efficiency. Or, in recent months, some have experienced politically motivated. Whatever the reason, it’s not about you.
Give yourself grace. Being without a job is jarring. Everything seems off and in the silence of your day it is easy to let the situation chip away at your confidence. You find yourself making up reasons why it happened to you. Don’t. It may have happened to you, but it didn’t happen because of you.
Use this down time wisely. It will take a few days to settle into the fact that you’re not starting your day going through your work inbox or fielding texts and phone calls. After these uneasy transition days, set yourself on a new schedule. A routine of daily tasks will help keep you focused, and focus is exactly what you need right now.
If you go to the gym daily or complete other types of exercise, keep doing it. If you are not physically active, start doing something. Take a morning or afternoon walk. Get outside and breathe in some fresh air. Consider starting a class that moves your body. Maybe something you’ve put off because you didn’t have time. Invest in self care – mind, body and soul.
Do not fill your days sitting in front of your television binge watching all of those recordings you haven’t had time for. A little of that is good and fun. A lot of that is a waste of time that could be used for creative thinking that sets you on your intentional employment path.
You will have a sense of urgency to update your resume. It may be that you haven’t looked at it in a while. Maybe a long while! Ask a few trusted people to take a look. Don’t have them focus on the layout but the content. Layouts are subjective and if you listen to everyone, you’ll never finish refreshing it.
That said, browse through some new resume templates and ask some folx for theirs. Don’t settle on one right now; grab a few that you like. You will surely be able to use some of the newness you find as you work toward your new one. BUT do not get bogged down in the details now. Look around to see what you find appealing. It’s like shopping for shoes. Some may look good until you try them on.
Think of yourself as a brand. Take time to think about and write down what you do really well. Not what you're good at, but what you're excellent at. What would you stand on the top of a mountain and confidently claim as being the best things about yourself? Don’t worry if they are specifically work-related. Be brave and proud in this moment and list everything that comes to mind.
Now, listen to what/who you "sound" like. What is all this goodness telling you? What does this mean about you? Answering these questions should refine how you define yourself in the workplace – what your attributes are.
Next, write down what you really WANT to do, not what you've been asked to do, which is often beyond the scope of the job you had. Describe the work that makes you happy to roll out of bed in the morning and get busy with.
Start shaping your new narrative. You may not have had to share this story in a long while. Consider how you got from "here to there" in a way that is compelling to the listener/reader. This is YOUR story. Make it make sense and practice it until it is crisp so when you talk to people, or write your cover letter, it makes people want to know more.
Most important, don’t take this layoff personally. Use the early days to remind yourself that you’re a badass and all the reasons why! Heck, whose around to tell you differently, right?
Check out next week’s blog for more about navigating your layoff.