5 Things You Can Do if You or Someone You Care About Has Been Affected by a Layoff
April has been a rough month for many people. Every time you open LinkedIn there’s more tough news about layoffs. As a career coach, I feel these struggles through my clients and know how challenging the job market feels right now so I wrote a short article with 5 actionable pieces of advice if you have recently been laid off. Or feel free to share this with anyone you care about if they have been affected by a layoff.
5 Things You Can Do if You or Someone You Care About Has Been Affected by a Layoff:
1. Make smart updates to your resume and your LinkedIn profile: Everyone automatically goes straight to updating those things but let’s focus on the updates that will give you the most bang for your buck. Here are my favorites:
a) Get your resume to 1-page. A multi-page resume won’t be fully read. You can accomplish everything you need to, make ATS (applicant tracking software) happy, and make a strong statement in 1-page. Insider tip: I’ve never seen a multi-page resume that wasn’t stronger as a 1-page resume.
b) Write a powerful headline on your LinkedIn profile. Look at mine as an example of how you are much more than just your current or most recent job title.
c) Make sure to work keywords into your resume and LinkedIn profile that you’re consistently seeing in job postings that interest you.
d) Be sure to have a summary statement on your resume and text in the ‘About’ section of your LinkedIn profile. This is your chance to position yourself – don’t pass up on this.
2. Practice telling the ‘new’ version of your story: In every networking scenario as well as in every interview, you will be asked to share your story. This is where you win or lose in my opinion. Focus on establishing credibility (think years of experience, companies worked for, significant accolades) and provide some details that validate your expertise while also being sure to connect your personal mission and passion to the company/role you’re interested in.
3. Use your network: People want to help you. You just have to be brave and put yourself out there. I recommend starting by thinking about the five people in your network who are the most likely to lead to your next job. Those are the people you want to get on a call with so you are on their radar. Also consider building a target list of companies you’d love to work for and use LinkedIn as the tool to fill out your target list with people’s names. You’ll be surprised at how many connections you already have who can help you build relationships with people on your target list.
4. Get on the radar of recruiters in your industry: Use LinkedIn to look for recruiters in your industry and reach out to them to see if you fit the profile for any role they’re recruiting for. LinkedIn’s search functionality is the perfect place to find them. You aren’t bothering them. In most cases, they get paid when they fill a role so they’re happy to hear from you.
5. Know your worth: Your resume, and all the success it showcases, wasn’t an accident. You spent years building your career to this point so don’t sell yourself short financially in this career transition. I recommend using payscale.com and/or glassdoor.com to research pay ranges for your industry/profession. Know your worth, put in the work to strategically search for your next role, be patient, and be sure to negotiate when it comes offer time. It will pay off.
Feel free to reach out to me if I can help – merryn@madetohire.com.