"I Was Laid Off on My Birthday"

For four years, I was a marketing specialist at an ad tech company. After a couple of years, I was promoted to marketing manager. In the beginning, I liked my job. I was doing brand positioning, content (writing blog posts, social media), and I worked closely with the sales team and managed our CRM. Things changed towards the end, which can happen if you’ve been at a job for a while—you change and evolve as a person.

The company had already undergone a round of layoffs, and I was given an opportunity to go part-time. And since I was working remotely, I was planning on spending the summer visiting my family and friends in Greece anyway, so I accepted the part-time offer. It was perfect at the time. It allowed me to travel and spend time with my family.

I had a standing meeting with the director of operations and the VP of sales every Tuesday, and I got a ping that it was switching to Wednesday. I didn’t think anything of it.

It was the week of my birthday. On Wednesday morning, I hopped on the call and only the VP of sales was on it, which was the first giveaway. And then he brought in the CEO of the company and they told me the news that I was being laid off. That wasn’t fun. The call lasted about 15 minutes.

I can’t remember exactly how I felt during the call. I kind of blacked out. I remember being very quiet and just thinking, “Get through this call without crying at least.” I said “okay” a lot. Because what else am I gonna say? Of course, when it happened, I started to think, “I should have done my resume. I should have been out networking and talking to people, putting feelers out.”

"I remember being very quiet and just thinking, 'Get through this call without crying at least.'”

After a while, it kind of hit me. I felt embarrassed. I felt like maybe my work wasn't good enough. I felt sadness obviously, and then just the daunting feeling of, “Oh no. I need to find something new/ Where do I even begin?”

I was offered severance. They also had a pre-written letter of recommendation, which was great. I was still in Greece, so I took the month and tried to enjoy my time, instead of spending eight hours a day job-hunting and burning out. I did work on my resume a bit. That was in September.

Today, I’m still applying to full-time jobs that are in alignment with what I want. I’m looking to move more into B2C or D2C roles, and work with health, wellness and lifestyle brands. Right now, I’m helping a beverage company hone in on their branding and devise a social strategy. I’m also doing more writing for a few health and wellness websites.

Given the current job market, I’ve tried freelancing to increase my opportunities to secure some work. There are hiring freezes, people are getting laid off, and I just want to be realistic with myself in this situation. And I’m a perfectionist (I’m a Virgo!), so I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself to get a job in X amount of months.

The game has changed since I last looked for a job. I see freelancing as something that can hopefully turn into a role. Plus, it helps me keep my skillet sharp. It also allows me to really work with brands I’m interested in and be selective about the kinds of work I do.

This entire experience has helped me to be more open to reaching out. It’s ok to say, “Hey, this is my situation.” One of the biggest things I learned is that you don’t really need to confine yourself to an industry or job just because it’s what you have experience in or it’s what you know. I used to think that my last job was my dream job. But what I’m realizing now is that it was not my dream job, it was just the perfect job for my experience. You can be perfect for a job, but it might not be your dream job.

"You can be perfect for a job, but it might not be your dream job."

My advice for others going through this is: Don’t let something like a layoff consume your thoughts or make you dwell on the situation and question your abilities. It’s usually never personal. Use this time to get really crystal clear on what you want, not just from your career but from your life. It’s cliché to say this, but your job is not your life, it’s just one aspect.

I definitely want to acknowledge that it’s not easy for everyone. I’m very fortunate that I had severance and less financial stressors.

The final thing—and this is something I have had to learn—is to remain curious and open to opportunities. Before you say “no” to something, ask yourself what would happen if you said “yes” instead?

As told to Liz Guber