This time last year, I was saying goodbye to my Thoughtworks chapter. There were many resources and even more people who helped me navigate this time as I figured out the next few chapters. As yet another wave of redundancies and layoffs occur, I would like to share a few thoughts and resources, hoping it help others.

First, two pieces of advice that I hope you’ll indulge me with:

Time is a gift. Be intentional with it.

With a bit of luck, whatever package you’ve received will have given you the gift of at least some time. Take a moment to ask yourself: what do you want to look back on and know you’ve done with this time? For me, it started with resting and regrouping, then it was about going on some adventures I wouldn’t have otherwise taken, and it was about investing in my future self while job searching, like doing that coaching course I’d always wanted to take. Have an intention for every week and every day.

Be kind to yourself. Do ALL the self care.

Let yourself feel what you need to feel. Find a balance between job searching and activities that fill your cup. Chaining yourself to your desk for 8 hours a day doomscrolling on LinkedIn probably won’t help. Job search burnout is real. Take a break from job searching if you need to. You don’t know how long this stage will last, so you need to be your best self when opportunities come

And now for some practical things in no particular order:

• Book: “Why losing your job could be the best thing that ever happened to you: 5 steps to thrive after redundancy – Eleanor Tweddell
  • This book was my life raft to cling to in those early days. It’s practical, it addressed how I was feeling, and it helped me remember and rebuild. I can’t recommend it highly enough! Eleanor is an amazing human and has been such a great help and connector to other amazing humans.
• Online course: From Another Door – This course accompanies the book above.
  • Guides you through the 5 steps, split into daily learning nuggets and journalling prompts.
  • Going from being super busy with a full-on job one day to empty, structureless days the next can be a lot. I loved doing these daily learnings and journaling. It gave me a “productive” thing to do each day. It allowed me to take my time to process everything and guided me through exercises to think about how to work through the shock, remember who I was, what I love to do, what I might want to do in the future, and how to make all that clear. So, when I was ready to start looking for my next thing, I had done most the work to figure it out.
• Take all the outplacement support on offer!
  • I worked with Dionne Edwards who (among other things) does Career Coaching. She helped me go from no CV to a CV that always opened doors. She coached me through interview skills that had become pretty stale after 15 years. She championed me when I lost confidence.
• Job Search with friends
  • My lovely friend and colleague April Johnson has written about our job search group here and the approach we took. I can’t begin to tell you how beneficial this group has been, and continues to be, for all of us. Having a group of people who get what you are going through, who can help you stay motivated on the bad days, celebrate with you on the good days and keep each other accountable is priceless.
• CV/Resume Writing
  • There are SOOO MANY tools to choose from. For me, Enhancv was worth the money.
• Authentically Network
  • Start with the people you know. Check in and see what they are up to. Reach out to those you haven’t connected with in ages. Be yourself, share your story and your dreams, and ask about theirs. Test how you introduce yourself and talk about your strengths. Do they know someone they think you should meet? Things will come out of these that you could never have imagined. I was blown away by how generous people can be with their time, network, and expertise.
• Ask for LinkedIn recommendations or feedback on how people see your unique abilities whilst it’s still fresh in people’s minds.
  • People want to help. Just ask.
• Use ChatGPT (or insert your favourite GenAI tool here)
  • Feed in job descriptions and your CV, and let it help you write drafts of cover letters, and give you a list of things to prepare for an interview or phone screen.
  • Use it to distill feedback you’ve gotten over the years to help remember and highlight your strengths.

Please do comment with your own top tics and things you’ve found helpful.

If I can help in any way as a friend or coach, please reach out. I hope some of these suggestions are helpful!