Just Laid Off: What Steps Should Developers Take To Get Back Into It?

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Hey folks, I'm just leaving the gas station after CrossFit here. Um, going to a LinkedIn message. Sorry, just leaving the gas station, so trying to turn my brain on. Going to go to a LinkedIn message. Holy crap, that's hard to say. And u this one's tricky because uh first of all, I feel, you know, feel sorry for this person. Uh, second of all, I feel like I don't have what I what I would want to be like the most helpful advice here, but this individual was just laid off, which like I said, you know, it's unfortunate. I feel feel bad for them, of course, but um they were asking for my my thoughts on like how to how to get back into things. And um the reason this is tricky for me is cuz I feel like I don't have like helpful targeted advice.

Um this is the kind of thing like I have not I've not been through a layoff and so it's tricky for me to try and speak from experience what I would consider helpful because I've you know lived through it or something like that because I haven't. And um I wanted to kind of start off by saying that so that um I can be transparent, right? I'm not I'm not about to speak from my own experience when we talk through this, but um I have some thoughts, I guess. I just I just wish that they they felt more helpful to me, I suppose. So kind of wanted to apologize upfront for for feeling like I'm not going to deliver on this the way that I would would really like to. But I guess the the first piece of advice that I would want to tell this person and and anyone that's gone through layoffs is like this is uh not a reflection of you.

And I realize that might sound like cliche or it's over over said like on social media and stuff like that, but like it's it's true. Um layoffs extremely rarely have anything to do with individuals. Um, and I think there's a lot of evidence to support this. Obviously, I can't make a anytime you make a generalization. It's very easy for a person to say, well, there was this one time where that's not true. And it did have to do with people. And like, sure, okay, like this is why generalizations aren't perfect. But um yeah, I would say the overwhelming majority of times it has basically nothing to do with the individuals um and everything to do with the business making a decision about the business or parts of the business. And it's not for me to say like I'm like defending layoffs. And anytime anytime I make a video about layoffs, my my concern is that people are going to misinterpret what I say.

Like I defend layoffs and it's just not the case. But um I I want this person and others to remember it has nothing to do with them as a person. Has nothing to do with their skills. Um and I I wanted to talk about this because that has been like sort of the exposure that I've seen when it comes to layoffs. So for example, um I work at Microsoft, right? There's been over the past year there's been lots of layoffs. I've been fortunate that in the organization that I'm in uh that's been uh extremely rare. Uh so that's good news. But the um the reality is I have seen other people um there's people that I really look up to um especially like in the net space uh as programmers that I've not worked with directly but they worked at Microsoft and they're brilliant. They're extremely talented.

They're, like I said, some of the people that I look up to when it comes to software development and um and they were affected by layoffs, like people that had been at the company for decades affected by layoffs. And um I I'm sharing this not because like like not my attempt to like minimize or anything like that. It's it's almost like just to reassure you or to remind you like there is evidence that suggests it has nothing to do with the people. It is the business looking down at the business units underneath and trying to figure out what parts of the business are making money or not, where to cut cost, that kind of thing. And um I think one of the reasons that feels extremely frustrating and it feels very discon I mean it feels disconnected for a lot of reasons but I realize

as I say this you might be saying well Nick that doesn't make sense because if those people were truly good like why wouldn't in this case like why wouldn't Microsoft keep them why wouldn't a company keep the good people and that's a great question and I don't know the answer. Um, I can recall a couple of years ago when there were layoffs and um, it's kind of around like when there were more like hiring freezes and like things were I don't want to say for the first time getting weird in tech but after like lockdown and stuff where like things I don't know there was a point where they went from like excessive hiring to like we had to pump the brakes a little bit and there were uh, some layoffs happening.

I remember a conversation where I've shared this on on this channel before, but we were talking with our CVP in like an all hands meeting and basically people were like asking this question like, "Hey, if there's really good people that were part of those layoffs, like how is it possible we have open roles and layoffs at the same time? Like doesn't that make zero sense?" And um I to this day don't know like the sort of like the logistical reason. I assume there is one. Um but I remember our CVP being like hey like if there's open roles and you know people that were let go as part of layoffs like do everything you can to try and redirect them in. Talk to the hiring managers like get those people back. Right.

So again, I I don't know the reason why that happens where it's not like some type of internal transfer program or whatever, but literally our CVP being like, "Hey, if you know good people, get them like go tap on their shoulder, go try to pull them back in." So just again a reminder that um it's not not because the people weren't talented. It was it was basically a decision where the the it's almost like the people aren't considered. Um so I don't know like I realize that's probably not super helpful but I I just want to solidify that that um it's not you. I think that's just again kind of dwelling on this, but I think that's important because when it comes to getting prepared and trying to look for opportunities again and start interviewing, what I really don't want for this person who sent in this question or anyone else, what I don't want to have happen is that they go into that job search already feeling inadequate.

I think that would be terrible. Um, and not setting themselves up for success. I get, like, don't get me wrong, I get that it's extremely hard, right? Um, I get that it would be challenging to not feel like, you know, some of it's you or something like that, but it's it's just not. And um I I could imagine maybe there's imposttor syndrome kicking in all sorts of mixed emotions. But if if you're feeling like it has something to do with you, I don't want that to set you off in the wrong direction when it comes to continuing your search. Just need a moment to check something. Okay. Um, the reason like the next part of this feels extra weird and challenging is because it the advice I want to give here is kind of like similar. I I think what I would give to anyone who's kind of searching for work.

Uh the difference is that I think the people that were already actively searching for work, it's kind of like they're maybe more mentally prepared for it because they were already thinking about it. Whereas if you've just gone through a layoff, my assumption is that you probably weren't in a position where you're like, "Hey, like I've good thing I've already brushed up my resume. Good thing I've been practicing interviewing. good thing I have all these, you know, uh, shortlisted companies that I want to apply to. Um, you're probably starting at a position where that's not true. So maybe that is the starting point, right? And like that's challenging, but it it's uh I guess probably what I would start recommending is like, okay, now now you have found yourself in this position. I I guess maybe to before even jumping into like you know what work is next.

Um maybe something that's a little bit more personal or situational is like uh again like this will be very different from person to person. Like if you were feeling like completely overwhelmed whatever at work like maybe this is just a moment to take a good deep breath before rushing back into things. Okay. And I say that because um if you were in a position where you were like you felt like you were drowning with work and it's like if you're already kind of like searching for advice of like how do I stay afloat at work or like everything's overwhelming and then this happens like you have a bit of a forcing function that like um that gives you this moment to breathe. And I think that, you know, some silver lining that could be a helpful thing.

I'm not saying it's like uh not suggesting it's going to feel good, but I I think that might be a helpful thing if you get a moment to breathe and kind of get a little bit bit of a reset. Um, but this is aside from that, I think a good opportunity before jumping back into work to kind of do this reflection where and I've talked about this like in other videos, right? Where periodically in our lives, um, in our careers, we want to make sure that we're we're taking some time to reflect on things. Where do you want to be going? Right? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Um, in terms of your life journey, like are you, you know, with are you with a partner? Are you guys talking about kids? Are you, you know, is there a big move planned? Do they have career changes?

Like all this stuff is always going to be changing throughout your life, right? Our lives are not um consistent in every way. There's going to be things such as layoffs or other things like uh maybe maybe they're not all negative. Maybe there's really positive things that cause our lives to change. And because of that, if we don't take time to reflect on how things are progressing and where we want to be heading and where we're at relative to all that, um, I think there's some missed opportunity. So, this might be again a forcing function to kind of have that reflection when it comes to to work specifically, right? Like where where do you want to be? like what domain do you want to work in, right? Like um you know, again, I'm just totally making up, but like maybe maybe you've been working in healthcare as a software developer and you're like, I would really, you know, now that I've experienced that, maybe healthcare was kind of cool, but like I'm not really into that.

Um or maybe it's like, hey, I worked at a big company and I'd like to try a startup. Or the other way, hey, startup was super stressful. um it didn't feel secure like maybe the layoff I'm just making this up. Maybe the layoff was a result of like the the startup not having funding, that kind of thing. And and that doesn't feel like a comfortable spot to be in and you don't want to repeat it. Like these are all things that you have to do this reflection on. I can't come up with every possible scenario in a video like this, but um just trying to to get the gears turning for you, I guess, or started. But doing this reflection and then trying to be like, cool, like here's where I'm at. Here's my skill set. Here's my strengths. Here's my weaknesses. Here's the direction I want to move in.

Like I think that's a really good starting point. And then trying to then start looking like what companies, if you were to get roles at those companies, like where do you feel like would be the right direction? Then I would work backwards from that. Okay. So there's some companies like are they hiring? What roles do they have available? if you're looking at those job descriptions, what you know, what skill sets are they they looking for? And then doing that analysis where you're like, okay, I'm just making this up. I want to get into web development and um you know when I look at the companies that I'm interested in every single one of them talks about uh Typescript they talk about React talk about whatever technology um like basically like go through the job descriptions and see what they're focused on and then compare that to what you have compare that to the work experience if you're like hey I don't have that work experience experience that's not the end of the world, right?

But at this point, you're also not working if you were just laid off. So, if we go back to things I've said before, like what do you do, right? And I I feel like the answer to that is like you don't say, "Well, there's nothing I can do." You do the thing that you can. You start building stuff. You start building stuff using those technologies. You start practicing with them. You start getting experience with them. I understand that it's not the the same as like working in a professional environment, but like that's also not a choice you have, right? Like you that's what you're working on. You're working on getting that experience professionally, but until you get that job, like that part's not directly in your control. The part that is in your control is that you can start building stuff. You can start learning. You can start exposing yourself to that kind of stuff.

So, I would work backwards from the places that you want to be. See what things that they're expecting and then try to see how you can get yourself to match up to that experience as best as possible. There are absolutely going to be situations where I would say, "Hey, if you don't have that work experience or sort of the listed experience that they're hoping for, I would still say if you're looking at the the role and you're like, "Yeah, but I think that I could do the role." I would still apply. And I'm not the only person that believes that. Um I'll always go back to this as a reference point. Uh I did a live stream months ago now and my skip level manager uh who's just below VP level at Microsoft um he joined one of the live streams and he literally commented in the chat and said to people that he would still advise even if you don't meet every single requirement.

He was like, "I'd still apply." Like other pe This is the thing, other people are doing it. Other people that don't have every single thing are applying. Does that mean they're all going to get it? No. But like they are also doing that. So there's at least some opportunity. And that means that if if someone happens to review your resume, your portfolio, or whatever it happens to be, and considers you for that role. Now, the next step is trying to prove in the interview. So, I've just got home. Um, like I said at the beginning of this video, I realize that's not it's sort of like not the I wish I just had like a a list of like, oh man, like layoff happened. Let's Okay, let's go. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Like, here's what worked for me. Here's all the things I did. Um, I don't have that.

And so I apologize for that, but I I hope that some of that's helpful, right? So a reminder that it's not you. And at this point, do the reflection, see where you're at, see where you want to be, and then focus on the things that are in your control. Um it it's I know it's easier said than done because it's going to feel overwhelming. It's going to feel crappy. um you'll probably blame yourself and I really don't want you to. But this is why I'm trying to at least talk about this in this video is to remind you try not to do that. Um focus on the things that you can control. Start taking the steps towards the next thing. And this might be a good opportunity for you to do a little bit of a reset. As hard as that is to hear maybe that might be good for some people to get that breather in before diving back in.

So, um, to this person that asked the question, anyone else that's going through layoffs, uh, genuinely, I, you know, I'm sorry that you're going through that. Um, and I I wish you all success. That's I mean, why I'm here trying to do this kind of stuff is to help as much as I can, and I hope this this helps in some little way. So, uh, thanks for being here. And of course, uh, for anyone that has questions, please comments or go to code.com. You can submit stuff anonymously or like this person did. Um, just send me a message on social media and I'll make a video response for you. So, um, hope to help any way I can. Thanks.