When I finally got up the courage to tell my mentor that I’d been laid off from my first full-time job after graduation, he told me I’d be fine. He also told me to look into the biggest competitors of my previous company and to see what positions and skill sets they were looking for.

Many tech and finance companies include some sort of noncompete clause in their separation agreements, so if you are unsure of what your previous company is expecting of you, utilize these tips from Investopedia. If you have access to a lawyer (which we know is difficult if you’ve been laid off), they can clarify as well. Sometimes severance is associated with the noncompete to ensure that enough time has passed before laid-off employees start a new job, so as to make any information they have obsolete. 

In either case, be careful about which jobs you are applying to and if they violate any part of your agreement. If you don’t have a noncompete, go for the moon. If you do, flag some companies’ career pages for later.

One of the worst parts of losing a job is losing contact with people that you used to talk to on a weekly or even daily basis. Many work relationships can turn into friendships, or something in between, which can make staying in touch after a layoff potentially awkward. If you have been laid off, stay in contact with people who were laid off at the same time as you. I made a group chat on WhatsApp with my former colleagues and we have shared positivity, support, and job opportunities. I also made a point of reaching out to people I liked working with who are still at the company, because again, networking is everything, and you never know where people might end up. You might just be someone’s first referral at the next company they move to or vice versa.

And further, remember that your social network is an asset as well. After getting laid off, I was greeted by many Twitter friends who offered support, contacts, and writing opportunities. In fact, one Twitter mutual, @groovieth (we follow each other but haven’t spoken until now), pitched me the idea of creating a thread with all of my and my colleagues’ bios to share with the Web3 community. Given the strength of social connections in tech in general, as well as the crypto world, this is a great way to get visibility and, hopefully, a DM from a potential employer or collaborator. 

Layoffs are tough, and they bring conflicting emotions with them. In the weeks following mine, I felt sadness, anger, betrayal, excitement, fear, and relief. I struggled with feeling undervalued, and I worried that something was wrong with me for not making the cut. 

I asked Luis Casillas, a software developer in Mexico, what he thought was the worst part of being laid off from his job. “Essentially the surprise of it,” he says. “It sucks not being in the loop, and with a little heads-up it would’ve been way better, I think.” Unfortunately, layoffs tend to be messy, with whole projects discontinued, departments slashed to the bare bones, and people reduced to salaries on a spreadsheet. Sometimes names go from one list to another, which makes clear messaging from leadership even more difficult.