I lost my job. What happened next?
This story might help someone who has been through a similar situation.
In 2020 I wrote some articles on my blog on this subject. I won’t get into details or names, but I would like to present this as a story which could help anyone getting through a similar situation. The idea is to never give up and insist on getting a new start. Eventually, it will come your way.
In the fall of 2019, my friend found out that she would lose her job in about 6 months. It wasn’t because of Covid, but somehow it all got mixed up in the game. Then she began searching for new opportunities.
1. The hopes and the organizing
The minute she knew that she would lose her job in 6 months, she logged into her LinkedIn account and took a look at her resume. She made the changes that she thought were needed in order to have it up to date. It was too fast and too easy. It was just the start.
She applied for a few jobs and kept her hopes up. Maybe too high. The good news was that 6 months would be plenty of time to find something new. Unfortunately that wasn’t enough.
After a few job applications she realized that she needed to re-configure her resume in order to be according to different job requirements. So she made the necessary changes and sent a bunch of more emails/applications. Still no good. Re-configuring her resume means inserting additional information about the tasks that she has done during her multiple years of work. No lies, no unnecessary information. Just the truth.
Then something new came in: a new type of job that she haven’t even noticed on the market but she knew she could do it because she had the experience. And that was it: a great interview, great people and a final message. I was chosen but the position was blocked or put on stand by as would they say it these days. That was right before the winter holidays.
2. Going through the resume again and updating her life
During winter holidays she decided to take a break and focus on family and personal life. No thinking about jobs, trying not to worry while singing carols and having a good time.
Then the 1st of January 2020 came in. She got engaged like it was a natural thing to do. It was something that she wanted and finally it happened. But how could she be truly happy? Let’s say that taking it day by day was something she learned to deal with.
But she still felt really angry, and really disappointed about this job situation. And then came February, then March. Still no job. Just promises, delays, bad experience interviews, just words without any value for her.
After the local office was closed at the end of March, the struggle was worse because she was just staying at home, trying to keep it together while applying for more jobs. She reconfigured the resume again and again trying to keep the most relevant experience for each job that she applied.
3. Interviews, interviews and more.. interviews.
She went through a lot of interviews with different companies, some HR people were more qualified for the jobs that the others. Anyway, she can sum up the numbers of interviews to a few dozens. Still no job. Then she realized that she was wasting time by waiting for something good to come from all this mess. But waiting could be also good because she could take the time to do something else like writing on a blog or learning new skills.
4. The numbers, the stress and beyond.
The numbers
During those 9 months of searching for a job she sent hundreds of emails. She wanted to have a clear image. So, she made the counts:
- mails sent directly to different potential companies who would have an actual job application on their website: 95
- direct LinkedIn applications: 29
- ejobs.ro applications: 47
- bestjobs.eu applications: 37
- other website applications:
- indeed.com: 18
- Jooble.org: 14
- reed.co.uk: 4
- glassdoor.com : 2
- Number of direct interviews with companies reps: 12
- Number of total official refusals: 32
The stress
The stress of losing a job and the struggle of getting a new one is probably one of the great subjects of the moment. It would be helpful if more people would talk about their experiences and provide more support for each other. I believe that LinkedIn community is a great example of support.
Surprises and a lot of disappointment
During those 9 months of applying and hoping that a job would come eventually, she had a lot of situations to go through:
- Some of the HR people didn’t read her resume or weren’t actually interested in her resume. You could realize that by the way interviews were conducted.
- Some companies had a different approach of interview especially after the Covid-19 came in and moved the interviews online, via Skype or Zoom. This was a great new approach because she was just staying at home and preparing for the interviews without any actual travel to the companies office.
- Some companies forgot about the job posting and never sent a response. This was the worst case scenario.
So, during all this time she wandered: wasn’t she good enough, was she too qualified for all those jobs, did the companies already hired someone else and they needed to publish the job online? I believe she’ll never know the whole truth.
From what she heard from the community, the situation was never clear: some HR deps weren’t doing their jobs properly, some of the job applications were never received, some of the companies “froze” the hiring process because of the Covid-19 situation, and of course in some companies you simply don’t get the “access” of getting even an interview…
The beyond
She learned for this experience to not take it personal because it’s just business.
At some point she wanted to begin working as a freelancer which is probably a good choice when no one wants to hire you. So this might be another thing to keep in mind when you loose your job: what can you do?
What’s next?
After all those sad months, in May 2020 she got an offer and a new chapter begun in her life. A new job with new challenges, but she’s grateful that she finally has a job in a great company. The most important thing for her was to be opened for new possibilities even though she didn’t know a lot about the new job. But with some trainings and a lot of great support from her colleagues she began to understand things better. The learning never stops.
So, we shall see what happens next. :)
About me
I am a passionate digital marketing specialist, a technical writer, blogger, also a Trekkie, also ARTS lover, also an open-minded person. I like to talk about ideas, experience and.. life.
So let’s get in!
You can find me on my blog: https://ideasoutsideideas.wordpress.com/
If you like this article, feel free to share it with the others. You never know when this might help someone. Thank you! :)
