“I got laid off… now what?”
Howdy, First of all, apologies for the radio silence. Bogdan and I had a long weekend. It’s been a busy quarter, and we are taking some time off. Secondly, if you read the title of this email, you'd…
Dragos Nedelcu
Jun 28, 2023 · 1 MIN READ
- Postponing going back to the market because you want to learn some new shiny stuff. - Look, if you are in the jungle and you are hungry, and it is getting late, learning some algebra or calculus won’t help you. It will kill you. You are better off learning to make a fire and finding food. Same with getting laid off. Wasting 3 months on a new AWS certificate will only stop you from going to the market and getting better at interviewing. Anything you are doing that is not getting and making interviews or improving your interview skills is procrastination. And procrastination will kill you!
- Interviewing with too few companies - I see it all the time. People start 1 or 2 interview processes. Then they wonder why it takes them 6 months to get a job. In my calculations, you need around 5 to 6 interview processes every week to get a good offer in around 4 weeks to 6 weeks. Anything less than that, and you won’t make it. Even if you get to the final stages of an interview and get an offer, things might not work out. Timing, budgets, or whatever factors can come up. This is why you always need an alternative.
- Quitting too fast - Most developers don't understand the law of big numbers. 5 rejections in a row might be just statistics. Number 6 could be your dream job. Senior Developers don’t get hung up on a particular company. They move on fast to the next opportunity if things don’t work out because they know their worth.
