Getting laid off = more time to blog

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Yesterday morning I found out what I’ve suspected for about a week now: I’ve been laid off. From the press release with Friday’s earnings call to the disquieting lack of work for my team, subtle hints snapped together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle until I was able to see the full picture. The last piece came when I checked my voicemail Tuesday morning with my leader asking me to give her a call first thing when I got in…

My last date is March 15th — a day which is now approaching like a Dodge Ram approaches a deer on the highway — and I trying to figure out Ken Walker, The Marketing Campaign™. The effort has several angles of approach, and I’m using a Ta-da List account to try to keep them all top of mind. One of my lists, “Overview of Effort,” has these items:

# Search through online job postings
# Leverage a technical recruiter
# Search internal D&B postings
# Use marketing tools to find target companies
# Ask a network of friends and acquaintences
# Read through trade organizations websites and magazines
# Search offline job postings (newspaper)
# Search well-known brands that I like to use

The fact that there are just so many ways to find a job has been encouraging so far — a new job can literally come from anywhere. But the sheer scale of information available out there is almost overwhelming. I’ve intentionally not searched for any job-seeking advice information on the web just to keep a high signal to noise ratio. That, and to keep my approach creatively me.

Just a small example: in order to apply for positions, I realized that I need to provide a cover letter to introduce myself. I know that if I go out to look for something through Google that I’m going to find about 200,000 resources. I’ll look through the top 20 and filter out the crap, only to cut-and-paste some ho-hum letter and sign my name to it because I’m too tired to keep looking. I figure that if I take a stab at it, it will raise the possibility of my voice surfacing through the words (as opposed to sounding like a clone of a copy of a imitation of every other tech-job-seeker out there), and thereby the interest of the potential employer, and thereby the chance of a call-back.

The process is huge, but the wheels are moving. I engaged a technical recruiter — and good friend — on Saturday, and he was an immediate encouragement to me. I had a beta version of a résumé together by Friday night, and a workable version which was posted on Monster, Dice, CareerBuilder, and a handful of other sites by Monday afternoon. Realizing that the recruitment efforts will likely draw large, corporate employers, I’ve also been using some business research tools to dig up not-so-corporate opportunities in local cities along the Path from Newark to NYC. I’ve put together a list of companies whose products I love (I’m sure you can guess) and searched their job sites, and started thinking of a list of people I need to talk to that might have any connection with what I want to do. I’ve even been putting together a portfolio site, the slowest part of this process, at the home of what might someday be the home of an independent consulting firm, Simplificate.

Speaking of what I want to do. the possibilities vary. If I use the Tom Collins “Hedgehog Concept” of finding my passion, my talent, and my employability, I can narrow the list to a handful (in order of preference):

# Information Architecture & Usability Consulting
# Web Development & Design
# Business Analysis & Project Mangement

There’s a lot of overlap between the three, but this list essentially comprises positions that involve my interests, talents and experience. Naturally, the list is also sorted in reverse employability — it’s far easier to get a job as a business analyst than it is an information architect. It’s also far easier to justify my skills as an analyst than it is an information architect. So, when the job possibilities start rolling in, the question becomes, “how long do I hold out until the ideal job comes along?” That means weighing the benefits against the drawbacks.

And all of this against the backdrop of what kind of company I want to work for. The possibilites here are nearly an endless combination of public or private? large or small? technology as a core competency or as a business function? consulting or full time? suburbs or city? high pay or high benefits? The list goes on.

But, even beyond all of that are the number of pieces that are in motion behind this decision for Sarah and me. Despite what we thought after we moved to Newark, there’s plenty more change to experience at this point in our lives. Our lease is up in August — should I be looking in places where we might want to relocate to (likely in New York City)? Sarah is going back to school for vet technition licensing and certification — do we move somewhere that might better accomodate her choice of school? We just got a new car (sorry, pictures soon) — do I look somewhere that I will drive to, or should I take public transportation?

A lot of these questions can only be answered as Sarah and I continue to discuss them and investigate the opportunities available to me. But, some of them can be answered by the sound advice of good friends and acquaintences. I’m curious: what job-seeking advice have you been given that has been helpful to you? If you’ve been laid off before what was it like? Is your company hiring? ;-)

I look forward to what might be one of the most interesting decisions (and blog discussions) we’ve had in a while!

8 thoughts on “Getting laid off = more time to blog”

  1. This was probably the LAST thing i expected to see pop up in my rss folders while waiting for apache to compile.

    “If youve been laid off before what was it like?”

    Scary. It was from a job that I had had for years, I was home for the summer and promised that I would have a job when i got back to jersey. Went in for about 2 weeks, and one moring he’s just like “I can’t afford to keep you on. I think we might be going out of business soon” … was a month or so before I got my last paycheck with them. This all happened right after I signed the lease for my first apartment as well.

    Was a little nerve wracking and turned into an expensive learning experience. Eventually I ended up doing freelance jobs till i landed my job with the University that I am working at (where I still work 6 years later)

    Anyway. Don’t get down about it. Its just a job. changes like that can be scary, but you’ll come out ahead in the long run.

    Don’t be afraid to apply at mcdonalds or a telemarketting agency. They suck, but they pay higher than min wage and are always highering.

    Universities are good places to look for work, because its hard to get fired from one ;-) … thats one reason I still work at WVU, no matter how bad the economy gets or how many tech jobs they ship over seas I don’t have to worry too much about my position as long as I keep doing my job.

    “Is your company hiring?”

    Always. http://www.hr.wvu.edu/jobs/jb.cfm

    Its a hell of a relocate though :-P

    Not something i would want to do just to find a job (that you could probably find at any univerity up there).

  2. Hey Mike,

    Yeah, you and me both. :-P

    Regarding the freelance gigs, how did those work for you? I’m definitely considering doing some consulting or independent web design to get some quick experience, but it’s obviously far less stable. Ideally, I would already have some customers in the queue, but seeing how this is all a bit sudden…

    As far as Micky D’s is concerned, I think recent news about IT jobs picking up is cautiously reassuring enough to ensure that I’ll at least get something in my field for decent pay. The worst case is that I get an analyst position at a large public company–there are a /ton/ of these types of jobs out there. I guess I could always plan for the worst, but I don’t think even the worst would mean flipping burgers!

    http://news.com.com/Tech+jobs+at+your+service/2100-7342_3-5517473.html

    Yeah, WVU wouldn’t really work out for us. :) NJIT is looking for a few people, which might be neat or a backwards step–hard to say. I think I’ve got some good corporate experience right now where a university wouldn’t make sense. It would just be a whole new political world to have to learn.

    Thanks for the feedback and the link! :)

  3. Freelance worked well. I was charging $95 an hour, and was pulling in a ton of money for a couple months. But then the bottom started dropping out and I had to dramatically lower my prices to find business.

    All in all, it is worth doing if you can get the customer base. I don’t have the initiative to get that customer base anymore … so any freelance work i do now is enough for dinner/movie once in a while.

  4. Wow. That sucks Ken. On the upside, you have about a month of steady work while looking for something new, so hopefully you will be able to minimize your gap. This also gives you the chance to do the things you are doing, where you evaluate where you really /want/ to be, instead of taking the first thing you find in order to make ends meet.

    I’ve never been laid off (at least, not yet) so I don’t have any advice specific to that, but I do have one tip.

    Research unemployment. Know how much you will be able to bring in when you are NOT working. Because they are letting you go, you should be eligible. You pay taxes, so it’s your right to benefit from it.

    It may turn out that unemployment works for you enough to allow you to pursue that “perfect” job for longer than you normally would. It may turn out that it doesnt, and you need to take whatever you can get ASAP. Either way, there is a source of income available while you find a new job.

    I can probably look around my company and see if there are any openings, but it would probably be less on the UI side and more on the project and data side. And it’s in Texas, which is even more of a relocate than West Virginia.

  5. Ken,

    I’m so sorry to hear about your trial. I will pray for you and Sarah to remain hopeful during this period, and never lose faith in the truth that “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

    As for job hunting tips, I have none; I’ve never even had one interview! However, beneath all the advice you receive and implement should reside this rock: “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

    Look forward to seeing you soon.

    Peace be unto you,

    Scott

  6. Ugh… Well, let me say in my non-analytical braah way that Lay-offs aren’t exactly foriegn to me. But I’m a bit…. how do you say… different.I think pursuing web design jobs when I’m really no fan of web design is kind of stupid. It pays the bills, but I don’t want to wake up in the morning. That’s only tolerable for a little while. So… simple human advice – do what God has given you a passion for. Ok wait, that wasn’t as human as i thought…

    And I know you man. You’re not going to make any rash descisions without a hefty amount of prayer. All the advice in the world can’t outweight what God says – even if He seems like He’s asking you to do something crazy. Trust and Obey. I might get ridiculed on this post by people who think I’m the crazy one. That’s ok. I know, and you know – no matter what the circumstance, He will make all things work together for good to those called acording to His purposes. :)

    I’m excited to see what He brings to your plate. And remember, God hates Apple and all of it’s products… hehehehe… (ok that part was sheer sarcasm).

    You rock, bro. Beck and I miss you guys!

  7. I have to agree with Jai on this one bro. It’s a blessing in disguise for you, my wonderful, talented, extraordinary brother :) I know you’ll take on this challenge and come out nothing short of amazing. This is the the opportunity you’ve been waiting for… to find that job you’ve been dreaming of these past couple of years; the job you actually want to get up in the morning and go to! Good Luck. Stay in touch and let me know if you need anything! Sal & I will be praying for you. Luv Luv Luv!