For the developer who just got laid off...

you know, nine strategies to deal with getting laid off as a software engineer. The first one, it's to not let it get into your head, even if it might feel like this is the end of the world, trust me, it is not. And I think having a bit of perspective helps a lot here. Being alive today means that you're one of the luckiest humans in the history of humanity, no matter how hard you have it. Remember that only four to five generations ago, owning a car, a fridge, or a radio was a total luxury. The average life expectancy in the USA about 100 years ago was only 57. So, even if you're thinking, oh, I just got laid off and look at the the economy, look at what politicians are doing, do not give into fear. This is still the best time to be alive, and you will make it. Also, you did not waste your time. I see a lot of software engineers when they get laid off, they start thinking about, hey, why did I even do this? This is a waste of time, these skills are not wanted. You see people claiming AI will do your job, you just got laid off. Of course, you will feel a bit obsolete, but this cannot be frightened from the truth. Software skills are a non-depreciating asset you've been building, and they're not losing their value because programming in reality underneath, it's only structured thinking. It will help you in any job you will ever do. And it's also a very transferable set of skills. It can be applied to hundreds of fields. On to point number two, do not burn your bridges. No revenge, no blame games. Do not trash talk your company, manager, and team, even if and you might believe they were the most able person. Maybe they lied to you, maybe where you just joined the company three months ago and you've been told this project will give you a bright future and you will stay with us forever and you can grow, and you have job security. And then three months after, they throw you back in the streets. It might not be fair. But trash talking and kind of thinking it on them, it might boost your ego. It might give you a bit of satisfaction. But in the long term, it will not benefit you because these same people might be the ones that

will introduce you to your next company. Second, don't socialize and gossip with other people getting laid off. I've seen this happening on and on in the office when people get laid off, and there's a bunch of people getting laid off and then they start, you know, getting together, doing the lunch breaks and over coffee and just attacking the company, attacking the team. In general, emotions are very contagious. So you really don't want to hang out too much with these people, because you will end up having the same attitude. And that attitude will not help you even if you might be right. Maybe the company acted in bad faith, it does not matter. You should be thinking about how can I, how can I make the best of this, not who is there to blame. Also, please do not post it on social media. It might feel like the right thing to do, and maybe you don't like me saying that, but a lot of people see that as begging, okay? Do not make a YouTube video about it. This kind of open cries for help send the wrong signal. They send the signal that you had no plan B, that you have nothing prepared, that you don't know anybody that can go fast. Introduction and getting to the company, and even if that's the truth, you don't want to send this signal to the market. You want people to believe and potential employers to believe at all time that you are a very well-networked software engineer, that you know your stuff, that you have connections in the industry, that it's very easy for you at all time to get a new position. Even if it's not completely true, this will help you in any kind of negotiation that you will have to go through. And finally, avoid instant gratification. Whenever your ego gets involved, your professional reputation suffers. So, it might feel good right now to gossip and to talk badly about your company and your manager. But be aware, if you do this in your next interview, your company will not call you back because the way you speak about your current boss is the way you will speak about me. So, why would I hire you? Now, everybody who has been in the industry for more than three years, I would say, knows that things don't always end up on good terms and that's okay. We are adults, we can get over it. This kind of coping mechanism, again, they protect your ego, but they also you in the long run and you are destroying good will.

Because, a few months from now, you will be interviewing with the company, you get to the final stage and they will ask you for references. And regardless of what you think about your manager or boss at this moment, you might need this person's help in the near future, even if you don't like it. That's how power works and they do have some power over your future. Onto point number three, do not panic. Do not fall into despair, check any benefits you are entitled to, like social benefits, even try to make a deal with your company. Sometimes companies are flexible and you might find a way maybe work part-time or do something else for them to keep you around as long as they can or until you find a new position. Also, try not to take your ex-employer to court unless you have no choice. Again, it burns bridges. You know, I lived in Europe for a long time and I've seen a lot of software engineers taking their employer to court and in many ways demanding unreasonable sums of money and trying to just extract as much as they can from them before they they leave, which I honestly believe, it's the wrong way to go about it. Because again, you are burning bridges, you might get a bit of cash, maybe two, three months, six months max, but you destroyed equity in your own brand. Because these people, they will talk to their friends, you know, CEOs have CEOs friends and it might get to the point where you're going to pick up the phone and nobody wants to talk to you. Especially after a few years in business, people will ask for recommendations. So you wanna again, you want to bite the bullet just a bit. And trust me, I've been in this situation so many freaking times and I hated it. And what I would tell my younger, stubborn self, it's, dude, chill out. This is how business is. You need these people. Sometimes, you need to deal with people you don't like, and they don't like you either. Just because we disagree, doesn't mean that we cannot have a successful business collaboration. And, finally, do calculate your burn rate and plan your finances. Do not get crazy over this. Again, your problem is probably not the lack of money, it's probably the lack of skills, because if you could, you know, get a job in two weeks from now, you wouldn't really care how much money you have in your bank account. I mean, as long as you have money for

for the next month. But the core problem with most developers is they don't have the confidence that they can find a new position in 1 month, 2 months, 3 months from now. And that's why they get into this scarcity mode where they're like, no, I'm just not going to, you know, spend a penny for the next 12 months and see where that takes. And again, I mean, that's okay, it gives you more time, but in the end the problem is your skill level and your lack of a network and your lack of having something lined up very fast rather than cash.

Secondly, avoid negativity at all cost. Don't watch the news. Don't hang out on social media too much. Onto point number four, talking about the market, do not rush back into the market. And you want to stay away from what we call lottery thinking. Basically, people get the news of getting laid off and then they start panic applying to hundreds of random jobs straight away, you know, because clicking apply, it's very easy and it's giving you the feeling that you did something, you know, I was in danger and now I'm I'm doing something so it's kind of be fine.

But the truth is, without proper preparation, you have little chances to succeed in this market. Again, you compete with people who have been in the market for a while, your technical interviewing skills might not be very fresh. So panic applying it's not a bad thing per se, but it rarely works. Right, it's much better to have a consistent way to job hunt rather than have this tracks of, you know, I applied to 100 jobs, see what happens, nothing comes back, then I apply to 100 more.

Also, do not send desperate messages to ex co-workers or bosses or clients. Again, desperation signals low confidence, which signals poor skills or self-image. Now, I'm not saying that just because you're desperate, you have poor skills. Maybe you are a great developer, but maybe you struggle with confidence issues. I was a great developer and I still had confidence issues. And I would undersell myself even if my skills were great.

What I'm saying is, try as much as you can to come across as the kind of software engineer that the market needs. The kind of software engineer that's in demand, that has P4 companies talking to them, and they are the one making the choice. Even if this is not true, you want to fake the is a bit. Because in the end, trust me, in the end, the company will benefit more for from employing you than you actually going to benefit, right? They are paying you a subset of the value you create for the company.

So you really have to understand these people need you as bad or more than you need them, because without you, nothing will move forward. Products are not getting built, revenue doesn't get created, company suffers. They need software engineers no matter what they tell you. Again, any form of begging doesn't work because companies want to hire success. And success looks like success. And of course, do not let everyone on LinkedIn knowing that you are open to work. This is only for recruiters. Finally, take some time to prepare the job search and the best way for you is to update and optimize your resume and LinkedIn.

Throwing it to chat GPT won't help. This is what every other developer does. And if you want your resume to end up in a pile where nobody's going to read it, then go ahead and do that. But if you want people to read it, make sure you put time and make sure you write it yourself. On super number five, don't overthink your career choices. I talked about this at the beginning of this video, but it's very important that you don't waste time going back into the past.

And thinking, oh, maybe I should have done something else, maybe I should have become a cook and not, you know, start learning JavaScript. But do not waste time thinking why you chose this career in the first place. Focus on plan A, do not waste time thinking about plan B. Do not consider going back to non tech jobs that you had years ago. And there's a reason why you chose to become a software engineer. Also, thinking that you should go back to college.

College doesn't work, it's expensive, you lose money. You might need some upskilling, but you don't need a four year degree, three year degree to do that. Also very important, do not fall into comparison, you know, you go to LinkedIn and you find one of your colleagues that you worked maybe years ago and they are still employed and it looks like they are doing great and I bet, you know, they're smarter than you and you're doing something wrong.

No, other people have it as hard as you have it or harder and that's fine. On to point number six, do not get distracted by shiny objects. is higher done then then set. But do not burn to your savings doing something stupid. What does stupid mean? Well, building your own SAS side project or open source, because that will get you higher. Well, no, it won't. Getting technical interviews and doing technical interviews, it's what will get you higher.

Getting into AI or blockchain? No, forget about that. Those are shiny objects. The skills that have been proven to work so far in the market are the ones that already made you money, software engineering skills. So, you got to keep doing that, but better. Also, go straight into the market when you are ready, because the shortest path, the shortest way from A to B, it's a straight line. We don't need a side quest.

You have a main quest. That is getting interviews, doing interviews, improving whatever skill gaps you have, and getting a damn job. That's why you are in the market. And here is what to focus instead: your resume and LinkedIn optimization, as I mentioned before, your job applications, applying to jobs, getting interviews, and technical and non-technical interviewing skills. Now, the best way for you to improve your skills is to know what are your technical gaps first, which is why Bogdan and I created this free 10 minutes technical assessment for JavaScript engineers looking to find gaps to a senior level.

It's going to take you about 10 minutes and it will give you a full overview of where you're at and what you need to improve for you to level up. On to point number seven, do have a back to market strategy. You need to draft one if you don't have one. And here it is very important that you prioritize. Remember, the shortest path from A to B, it's a straight line, straight into the market. Remember to keep the main thing.

Now, you're not going to build a side project, you're not going to tweak your portfolio. You don't need a portfolio. This is a senior only market. You need proven experience that's well explained in your resume. And of course, you always should start with what you are already good at. Because it's easier to get a job playing on your strengths. And this is very important because timing can make the difference between success and failure.

For example, if you're a front-end engineer and you have about two to three months to find a new position. Sure. You can add some full stack skills to your expertise. But if you want to get a job in that time frame, you should always try to interview for positions that I've front and have. This is a stuff you've been doing is stuff you're going to know how to do very well. Also, make a monthly, weekly, daily plan.

Remember, looking for a job, it's a full-time job. And as we like to tell our students, always plan tomorrow today. Don't just wake up and think about, what am I going to do today? No, you should take some time on Sunday or Monday to plan your week at a high level. And then the day before you always plan your day and this can be very simple. Just write down top three things that will make today great and just tomorrow go and execute on that.

And finally, keep track of everything. Developers come to us and tell us, yeah, you know, my resume, it's not a problem. Because I'm sending applications and I got like, you know, four to five think. Then you look at them and they're like, how many applications you sent? And they're like, yeah, it seemed like 250. Well, if you send 250 applications and you get five interviews, then your resume is definitely a problem because you don't know your numbers and you are way below the average numbers.

Same with Think interviews, people say, no, I don't think the think interview it's an issue. Okay, how many think interviews you've done in the last three months? Yeah, I did like like six. But wait, out of those six interviews, three of them were take home challenges that they used cursor for. So they actually did like three interviews and none of them went well. And they definitely have a problem doing think interviews.

If you do not keep track of what you're doing, you're operating in the dark, measure your conversion for each interview stage. Interviewing is a very linear process. So you should always think about what is the next bottleneck and am I within good numbers? You can also check out the channel for other videos specifically about the think interview process and the numbers you should expect. On to point number eight, have a routine.

Once again, even if you are out of a job, you're still employed and you should still behave like an employed professional. Again, your job is to find a job. You should have entry and exit hours, lunch breaks, etc. Also, make yourself a favor and block Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube during job search time. Some things that you should not do do not spend your whole day in your pajamas, uh, do dress for success even if you work from home and you're just looking for jobs.

You wake up, you have a cold shower or warm shower, you brush your teeth, you have your coffee, then you put on your work clothes and you are working, ideally in a different room. Do not start a new Netflix series that you see at lunchtime or a video game, etc. Again, time flies. And you don't have a manager to push you. You have to push yourself. Do not do groceries in the middle of the day. Do not hang out with, you know, other friends that maybe are unemployed or maybe they are students.

Again, you are employed. Your job is to find a job. Do not do anything that you would not do if you were employed and if you were behaving badly when you were employed, then do not do that. You cannot cheat on life. You get what you put in. And you got to think about it like this: each hour spent looking for a job, it's worth 1,000 or more dollars. And maybe write it down. Today I spent 3 hours looking for a job, so I made 3,000 bucks.

Finally, make sure to get support. Again, no matter how strong you are emotionally, getting laid off, trying to get back into the market, it's a tough process and it will take a toll on you, and that's okay. Rely on your family and friends, they know you best, they won't judge you. So, hang out with them. Have lunch with a friend, don't talk about layoffs and economy and all that stuff. Talk about the hobby you like.

But really have as many human interactions as you can. And I know there is this trend on the internet where people talk about monk mode and going dark and executing and closing yourself into a room. That stuff doesn't work, folks. You're a human, you're a social animal. You need to be in touch with others. And I think this is one of the reasons why everybody feels so lonely and depressed is because we forgot that we need each other.

We were not built to stare at a computer for 24 hours a day. Also, try to find a developer community. This can be a local community or an online community. But connecting with other developers and hanging out will give you again, this feeling that you are part of the ecosystem. Also, do things that make you feel awesome. will be in your self-confidence is going to be tested, you will face rejection, and for every rejection you get, you need to add something good to it, get a new haircut, go to that special coffee and get the, you know, the coffee you like.

Disappointments and rejections can be a lot easier to deal with if you sleep well, exercise, eat well, and have some amazing people around you. The point is to do everything of what you might be tempted to do, do not isolate yourself, be active, be engaged. And the great part, it's you will bring all this positive energy with you to interviews and you will see them like the kind of person people want to work for and this will improve your interview outcomes.

Finally, don't you ever ever quit, very cliche, but I thought this scene from 300 Spartans, it's the best way to picture this, no retreat, no surrender. This is Spartan Law, you need to have this kind of unnegotiable agreement with yourself that you will do whatever it takes for as long it takes for you to succeed. And trust me, you will succeed way earlier than you think. I wish you the best of success.

You can do this, go get them.