Or how I stopped worrying and learned to love the job search
The impact of Layoff Posting Fear Porn: we’re seeing some candidates cancel their job search. Because they’re worried about Last In First Out at a new company.
I can’t tell any individual person what to do with their career. Make your own choices. But if you’re freaking out based upon headlines and social chatter, consider:
????Your current company isn’t any safer than the next.
“Better the devil you know” is nonsense. Just because you’re currently working at a company doesn’t mean they’re less likely to have layoffs.
Source: everyone working at companies who just had layoffs.
Hearing about people who just moved to a company and got let go is sad. But what’s even sadder?
People who worked for years at a firm and got cut.
????Hiring freezes already happened.
Nothing happens in a vacuum. I promise you, there’s not a firm out there who hasn’t already had the “do we need to re-evaluate our headcount” plans.
Yes, it’s embarrassing that so many high flyers had massive hiring pushes over the past year. Then made cuts in the last few months.
But that’s in the past. Everyone is watching the same movie.
People *still* hiring at this point? If you’re making bets, they’re the safest plays on the board.
????Ask the quiet parts out loud.
I don’t mean “are you planning on laying off?” (Literally no one hiring is planning on laying off.)
If it’s a start up, ask about runway. If it’s an established business, ask how they’re doing in this climate and their forecast.
Dig into their plans. Many places are crushing it.
Use your smart brain to determine how well they’re positioned. Compare it to where you are now.
????Last In First Out isn’t the norm.
This ain’t education, where tenure rules above all. There’s lots of ways companies decide who gets cut.
Some are reasonable (performance evals, project priority).
Some are tough to swallow (cost of employees).
Some are absolute garbage (popularity contests, political clout.)
????The hiring market is still flaming hot.
Worst case scenario: you listened to me. Made a move. Then poof: you got laid off. And you’re back on the market.
Statistically speaking, it WILL happen to some people.
Guess what? Unemployment is still an insanely low 3.6%. Companies are still struggling to hire.
Doing back to back job searches isn’t ideal. But it’s not a bad time to do it.
????????????And it’s better than staying at a job you really don’t like anyway.????????????
Partner at Hirewell. #3 Ranked Sarcastic Commenter on LinkedIn.
