Personal timeline

ImprovementWide8104's journey

Milestones, reflections, and progress updates connected as your layoff-to-next-step story unfolds.

  1. 2
    Applied to a Job Feeling Planning

    I recently experienced my third layoff in the past eight years, and I want to share some practical advice for anyone facing redundancy for the first time. My biggest takeaway is to pick up right where you are, update your CV, and start applying for jobs immediately. I've seen many people lose motivation and purpose after their first layoff, and it can lead to feelings of hopelessness. Some turn to LinkedIn to announce plans for entrepreneurship or expect job offers to come to them without actively applying. But I can assure you, applying for jobs works. It's essential to collect your emotions and start submitting applications. Once you begin receiving interview calls and have conversations, you'll get a clearer picture of where your experience fits in the job market. Don't stop applying; keep pushing forward. From my experience, it's often easier to land that first job after a layoff, but the real challenge can come weeks later when the initial excitement fades and the competition for roles increases. So, stay proactive and focus on moving forward.

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  2. 1
    Feeling Miscellaneous Thinking

    I’m 39 years old and have faced redundancy three times in the last eight years. It’s been eye-opening to realize that layoffs have been a part of corporate life for decades, but they’re only now making headlines as tech companies announce them publicly. In my experience, larger corporations, especially Fortune 100 companies, have been quietly laying off employees for a long time, sometimes in groups, sometimes individually, but it seems to happen regularly. I’ve come to understand the corporate structure as a pyramid, where there are many entry-level positions at the bottom, fewer middle management roles, and only a handful of top executives. If you can’t climb the ladder, you risk being cut. I believe this reality should be made clear to young graduates entering these companies; they need to know that they aren’t signing up for a guaranteed 40-year career path. Advancement in corporate roles depends on various factors, such as cultural fit, networking skills, and even aspects like ethnicity and gender. It’s disheartening to realize that not everyone can become a leader, and not all companies provide roles for individual contributors at every level of experience. I feel somewhat cheated because when I entered my career, I was unaware of these dynamics. I was confident in my abilities and assumed I would continue to grow. Now, discussions about having multiple income streams and side hustles are prevalent, and the notion that 48 is the new retirement age is unsettling. Meanwhile, professions like doctors, lawyers, and accountants seem to be less affected by these trends. I excelled in school and felt proud to start my career with a large financial services company, but experiencing my first redundancy was a humbling moment.

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