The 3 Things Every Layoff Victim Needs to Know Right Now
Getting laid off is one of life's most humbling, stressful, and downright scary experiences. But getting laid off in today's economy? That's a whole different level of panic-inducing stress.
As a career coach with over 20 years of experience, I'm witnessing something I've never seen before. People are in full-blown panic mode, and honestly, I get it. AI is eliminating jobs faster than we can count them. Major companies are conducting mass layoffs left and right. June alone saw over 150 companies register to lay off 100+ employees each. The numbers are staggering, and the fear is real.
But here's the thing: I don't want you to be another casualty of this fear frenzy. If you've recently been laid off, I need you to take a deep breath and listen carefully to these three critical things that will make or break your job search success.
1. Your Emotional State Will Determine Your Success
Let me be brutally honest with you: your emotion level will directly impact how quickly you land your next role. I see it every single day—people who can stay emotionally regulated and maintain a realistic perspective about their situation get hired faster than those who let their minds spiral out of control.
Here's what I mean. Too many people turn their layoff story into an epic drama—complete with villains, plot twists, and catastrophic endings. They spend their days ruminating, catastrophizing, and creating elaborate narratives about their situation that sound more like a Hollywood screenplay than reality.
Stop. Right. There.
Your thoughts are not truths. Those overwhelming feelings you're experiencing? They're not giving you accurate information about your actual situation. What you need to do is regulate those emotions, stick to the facts, and get back in the game.
The longer you sit in isolation, allowing this mental drama to control you, the worse you'll feel physically, emotionally, and mentally. And guess what? That negative energy will absolutely sabotage your job search efforts. This is exactly why working with a coach can be so valuable—we help pull you out of your head and back into productive action.
2. Forget Your Resume—Focus on LinkedIn First
I know this might sound counterintuitive, but stop obsessing over your resume right now. The first thing you need to tackle is your LinkedIn profile, and here's why: that's where all the recruiters are looking for you.
With 1.1 billion profiles on LinkedIn (yes, that's billion with a “B”), the platform has completely changed its algorithm. When recruiters search for candidates, the system now shows them the most relevant people for each specific job opening. You absolutely must be in those search results.
Here's how the recruiter tools actually work: These professionals spend thousands of dollars annually on sophisticated search tools. They input specific keywords about who they're looking for, and the system generates lists of potential candidates. But here's the kicker: the first column shows how many people fit their criteria AND have the "open to work" toggle switched on. I'm not talking about that little green banner on your profile photo. I'm referring to the backend setting that tells recruiters you're open to being contacted.
The next column shows how many of those "open to work" people are actually active on the platform. In my experience running these searches, you might see 2,000 people in the first column but only 500 in the second. That means only about 25-30% of people claiming to be open to work are genuinely active on LinkedIn.
Which group do you think recruiters contact first? Obviously, the smaller, more active group because statistically, those people are more likely to respond quickly.
This means you need two things: a properly optimized LinkedIn profile AND consistent, strategic activity on the platform. It's not rocket science, but you absolutely must understand how to do this correctly to be found.
3. Everything You Know About Job Searching Is Dead
This brings me to my final point, and it's a big one: the job search methods you learned even just two years ago are completely obsolete. Post-pandemic job searching? Dead and buried.
Applying online will get you absolutely nowhere. Companies don't trust resumes anymore because AI has made it ridiculously easy to fabricate qualifications and experience. Traditional networking won't save you either; networking is a long-term relationship-building strategy, and you need a job now, not six months from now.
You need to learn entirely different techniques to get visible to hiring managers, secure interviews, and ultimately get hired. The rules have completely changed, and playing by the old playbook will leave you frustrated and unemployed far longer than necessary.
Take Action Today
If you're a recent layoff victim, here's what you need to focus on immediately: regulate your mindset, optimize your LinkedIn profile, and learn the new job search strategies that actually work in today's market.
Every month you're out of work becomes progressively harder and more stressful. Don't waste precious time using outdated job search methods that simply don't work anymore.
Ready to jumpstart your job search the right way? I'm offering new members a free LinkedIn profile review (valued at over $250) when you sign up for one month of Work It DAILY coaching for just $39. My team will create a personalized video review of your LinkedIn profile, identifying exactly what's wrong and how to fix it—and that video is yours to keep forever.
Want to get your free LinkedIn profile review?
Sign up HERE.
Go get ‘em!
J.T. O’Donnell
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