Who sees being laid off as an opportunity?

I actually did at first, as I was never in love with my job. I took it for the money relatively quick into my last job search and always felt on the edge about that.

Initially I figured I could find a job that I was reasonably qualified for that also interested me. But I was ATS screened out of every damn job I applied to. Now it’s time for the old reliable “send resume to every shit job posting I see”.

The problem was that job was my opportunity. I was planning on it being my last job in the industry, and so I am extremely rusty and not fit for the job market atm. Now I’m going to probably have to accept a massive pay cut for an even more mind numbing job and all my designs and plans for the future will have to be seriously reconsidered. Tbf my fault for getting complacent.

Though it still might offer the incentive to move, which I need to do. I don’t tend to do well sitting in the same place for more than a few years, and a new job is at least a valid reason to spend stupid money to move.

When people hear the news that they lost their job is usually a tough news. But after the initial roller coaster of emotions some people see in the adversity the opportunity to work on what really matter to them.

Rejection may be a gift. I remember this story of rejection:

In the summer of 2009 Facebook turned down WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton for a job.

Like any other dejected interviewee, he used Twitter to express his glass half full disappointment: "Facebook turned me down. It was a great opportunity to connect with some fantastic people. Looking forward to life's next adventure."

* https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/20/facebook-...

This year was the first time I've been laid off in my almost 25 year career in tech. I was already looking elsewhere, so I semi-volunteered for the layoff.

The end results is that I took a huge paycut, but am in a role that I'm much happier with. My family will need to rollback a lot of lifestyle creep, so we'll see just how sustainable the change is.

I've been laid off 3 times in my long career. Two times out of 3 I ended up in a better job. Hang in there folks. It does get better.