Laid Off to Offer Signed: How Melanie Got Hired in <60 Days
“I have an offer” is one my favorite emails to receive from clients. It’s a great feeling to share the excitement and wins - whether they are offers, interviews, or anything in between. This was the case with a recent client, Melanie, who went from layoff to offer in less than 60 days.
It had been a few weeks prior when Melanie sent me a dreaded message stating “I have been impacted by layoffs” and she wanted to connect with me for job search support. Melanie’s 7 week job search to offer was impressive given the current market where it’s taking an average of 4-5 months for job seekers to find a new role. The current job market is flooded with competitive talent including 250,000 other tech employees laid off in 2023 alone, making the job search process challenging for candidates.
I want to share Melanie’s story and strategy, in hopes it will inspire and help other job seekers. Here’s how Melanie strategically attacked her job search in order to go from laid off to offer in 7 weeks.
Listening for Layoffs
I first met Melanie for a coffee chat through the Women of Color in Tech community. As we got to know each other, she shared that she had heard a few murmurs around her company that contracts were not receiving renewal and a few sales numbers had missed their target.
Given the planned nature of layoffs, usually there will be murmurs of layoffs before they happen and employees will have some warning before layoffs are announced. Melanie paid attention to these signals - loss of company profits, low performing stock, restructuring, sales targets missed - in order to prepare herself for a tough reality and possibility of a layoff.
Jobseekers can use this advance notice to their benefit and organize anything that they might need should an unplanned departure occur. It may be tempting to bury your head when you hear of a layoff, but there's plenty to do to prepare. Use this time to revamp your resume and collect any project details or files that could be useful for your job search in the future. This is also a great time to schedule doctor’s appointments and refill prescriptions to save money in the future.
She Took a Break
Receiving the news that your position has been impacted by layoffs can be shocking and difficult to hear. This is a major event that impacts many aspects of your life. The days or week after a layoff is the perfect time to take a break and decompress before diving into your job search.
Melanie took time off to decompress and process all that happened in the prior week. This break allows for critical rest and reflection on what next career steps should be. It can also help to reflect on the role and company new jobseeker should pursue, so that when the job search process starts, job seekers can approach interviews with a healthy mentality.
Network Before Needing It
One of the first things that I noticed about Melanie was that she was a master networker. She really put in the effort to meet new people and connect with professionals in her field. This included attending meetups, conferences, and participating in community building activities.
I really appreciate Melanie’s approach to networking as it aligns well with my own. The goal of networking is to build quality lasting relationships. While networking can seem intimidating at first, it’s helpful to approach networking as if you’re going to have a conversation and potentially make a new friend or acquaintance. Over time you will be able to nurture those professional relationships in the same way you might grow personal friendships.
If you’re building your network from the ground up, or looking to create new connections check out this Guide to Networking During Your Job Search.
With Melanie’s efforts to network she was able to quickly get connected to 3 interviews through referrals. One of the referrals was for a company that had yet to post a job, letting Melanie get a head start on all of the potential candidates before official interviews began. Finally, networking also allowed Melanie and I to get connected to give her vital help for her job search strategy.
Interview Preparation and Practice
Within a week of starting her job search, Melanie had already scheduled a few interviews. However, it had been a few years since she had gone through the interview process. Melanie booked a custom package with me to address interview strategies, interview preparation and negotiation techniques.
Like many jobseekers, Melanie was nervous about interviews, which can be stressful. After all the hard work it took to get seen amongst 100s of other talent applicants, Melanie wanted to make sure she was able to make the best impression and ace her interviews. We explored Melanie’s unique interview challenges and built out a custom interview strategy and plan for her. This included addressing tough interview questions like her layoff as well as answering initial questions around salary expectations.
Finally, Melanie and I crafted her professional pitch, story, and interview answers to highlight her most impressive accomplishments. Once she had her custom Interview Toolkit, it was up to Melanie to practice her interview questions to set her up for success.
Negotiating the Offer
After interviewing with a handful of companies, Melanie received her first verbal offer! She reached out to me for help on negotiating and we revisited our session negotiation techniques.
During our negotiation session we discussed best practices including how to build a relationship with the recruiter, how to approach the conversation with compassion to create mutual understanding, and how to view negotiation as joint problem solving. With this negotiation framework, Melanie felt prepared to draft her first communications to the recruiter.
As Melanie prepared to negotiate for a higher salary, she used techniques such as creating a case for what she wanted and the rationale behind it. When advocating for candidate recruiters often have to justify the changes to someone else internal to the company. Giving the recruiter the information they need, helps to speed the process along and also allows for a compelling case. Melanie also organized and proposed all of the offer changes at once. This streamlined the process and let the recruiter know that she will be committed to signing the offer immediately when the proposed changes are made.
The Result: Melanie successfully negotiated an increase in base salary and was prepared to start her new job by the end of the year!
Each job search will be unique to the job seeker. However, the techniques that Melanie learned and implemented are all essential for securing a job in the challenging market. I’m happy that Melanie successfully navigate a challenge that has impacted many people this year. Use these best practices to secure your next role or reach out to me if you’d like to brainstorm a custom strategy for your job search.
