I am about to be laid off, it is 100% certain to happen. This was my first dev job and this will also be my first time being laid off. I have always had another job lined up and ready in the event that something was to happen or if I was planning on leaving. But, I was enjoying myself so much, learning day in and day out what being a developer is like and honing my craft that I felt like it would never end. This job allowed me to work remotely if I wanted or go into an office, though being fully remote would be awesome. I mainly worked in front-end QA, working with selenium and protractor and even automated our whole testing setup using Jenkins. I have some DevOps experience as well, I have a computer science degree and a certification as a Certified Developer - Associate through AWS.
This was a kick to the pants and a complete surprise, I have never been caught off guard like this at a company and would love some information on what I should do next. And if anyone has connections in the Chattanooga, TN area or they have remote positions, let me know.
I feel like I threw a lot out here, I am just panicking. I love being a developer, I love learning something new every day and I really enjoy my work.
Thanks,
Rob
Top comments (10)
Start planning. Get your resume (and LinkedIn profile, StackOverflow dev story, etc) up to date if it isn't already. If you have a portfolio/web presence give it a once-over and see if there's anything that wants changing. Change your job-hunt status on places like LinkedIn and SO so you start showing up in search results, and if you're not on both of those, set that up. AngelList is good if you're interested in startups. For remote stuff, there's weworkremotely and remoteok.
Pace yourself. Job hunting is a long game and you can't finish everything at once, but you also don't want to lose track of what you're doing. I loosely organize what I'm doing in a checklist, eg
with a goal of clearing at least one item per day before I get to do anything fun. The one time I was laid off (2008 was not a good year to be in a finance sector startup) I treated it as a full-time job in its own right; as long as you're still working, it's better to take it slower so you don't burn yourself out.
Fantastic reply, I appreciate all the resources you put in here. I like that you mention that its a long game, i have a tendency to obsess about things and burn myself out sometimes, so I will definitely take my time and try to find the right position.
Thanks again!!
I've never been in this position myself but I have been made redundant in another industry. It's crap! It's being thrown in the deep end and that's always gonna feel bad but with the information provided in the question, I assume you've spent time in the deep end before!
As far as answering your question goes, I can only advise you recognise your awesome skillset completely and get back to job hunting! Use the network you've built at that company as a helping hand if possible, but if not, put yourself back out there and I'm confident (even more than you, maybe) that you'll find yourself happy and busy in a new role in the not too distant future.
Not very specific advise I know but you seem extremely employable and your core (soft) skills seem great!
Good luck with the hunt and reach out if there's any way I can help ✌🏻🙂
Thanks Adam! I appreciate it.
I am sorry to hear about that Robert. As someone who has had a long(ish) career as a developer, it is almost a right of passage in our business. Things change so fast and layoffs are so common that I rarely talk to anyone who hasn't been hit at some point. Though, I doubt that makes you feel any better right now.
I, myself, have been laid off multiple times. In some cases, those companies no longer exist (though they did at the time I was laid off...but it was a sign). I've also been at big companies where I thought I would be laid off and wasn't somehow and not necessarily because I was the best. I learned that in many cases - especially at the big companies - it's less about your ability and more about where you were on an org chart. I've seen many hugely talented, smart and hard-working people laid off at places where others who were far less deserving stayed.
My point is, don't let it define you. Don't let it dissuade you from doing what you enjoy. If you truly love learning, that is a key skill for being a successful developer and you'll have other opportunities in no time.
Thank you so much for the advice!
That's definitely a kick in the pants, as you say, but sounds like you're in a pretty comfortable position to find the next thing. You can probably take some time to figure out the next thing, maybe do some consulting in between. Everybody's looking for good experienced developers.
You might want to check out the hiring thread:
Who is hiring? (As of June 2018)
dev.to staff
Just checked it out, thanks Ben!
Sorry for what happened to you, it sucks!
Keep an eye on the hiring threads (also check those back a month or two, positions are not always filled).
Yeah, I just checked it out, that's my first time looking through those threads, seems like a lot of good opportunities, thanks for the advice.