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I got laid off. Here’s what I did next

I got laid off. Here’s what I did next

Back in May 2020 I was laid off.

It was right in the midst of the COVID Pandemic.

When I got the new my heart sunk, I went into full panic mode.

What was I going to do? How was I going to find a job? How was I going to pay my bills? How I was going to feed my kid!?

A few hours after getting the news, I updated my CV and started searching the job boards, company career sites and LinkedIn.

There were very few jobs, most companies had gone into hiring freezes and certainly weren’t hiring recruiters.

Of the few jobs I did find, there had already been 100s of applications. But I still applied, knowing that those numbers weren’t actually accurate, but it’s still disheartening to see.

I posted on LinkedIn, saying I’d been made redundant and was looking for a new job. I got a LOT of support from my network.

The support and words of encouragement I got from my network was awesome.

But what I really needed was a job.

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Next up, I did the thing that I advise everybody to do – I reached out to my network.

I scrolled through my connections list on LinkedIn and made a note of everybody I’d worked with at some point, even those I’d only worked with for a short time or only met at an event.

In each message I explained my situation and asked them to let me know if they heard of any jobs that I might be suitable for.

One of the replies I got proved to be really fruitful:

“Lee, speak to Kat”

So I did.

Turns out a company I’d never heard of was hiring for a job with my exact skillset.

And it hadn’t even been advertised yet.

I interviewed and signed my contract before my official redundancy date.

I was going to be out of work for zero days. It was a good feeling.

My new job was 100x better than my old job, it was fully remote and it paid more too.

The Same Old Approach

Now if I’d have taken the traditional approach and only applied for jobs I saw advertised, I’m pretty confident that I’d have been out of work for quite some time.

I’d have been fishing in the same pool as everybody else in my position, all competing for the same jobs.

But I did the thing that a lot of people don’t do when looking for a job.

I was proactive, I worked my way through my contacts, sent hundreds of messages and it only took one for a big pay off.

So if you are looking for a job, I highly recommend you take a similar approach.

Still apply for jobs, but look through your contact lists on LinkedIn, there’ll be people there you totally forgot about that might be able to help you.

All it takes is one.

So be proactive.

Start with these free tools that thousands of jobseekers use every week:

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