To all those who have become members of the #OpenToWork group, please remain hopeful and steadfast in your search.
One year ago today, I started my work day like any other day. We had a team meeting as we did every other week. During the meeting, I received a notification for a meeting with my leader’s leader whom I had never met with.
I immediately felt anxiety and despair. I knew what was coming. During this very short call, I was laid off by someone who didn’t know me. My role, my talents, I was no longer relevant to the company, despite that I was just 51 days from my 25th anniversary with the company.
While felling all of these emotions, I had to read, understand, and sign the severance agreement or risk not getting continuous compensation.
Around 400 of us were let go last year, many with tenure even longer than mine. So many emotions swirled around me the rest of that day and the days that followed.
In order to have some sense of community and purpose, I started a group on Slack where a small number of us shared emotions, challenges, and successes with each other. This group helped me to refocus on moving on and finding my next role.
I was fortunate enough to quickly find and start my new role within three months, through patience, perseverance, persistence, and good timing. There are amazing opportunities out there!
Surrounding myself with a great group of people in the same circumstance also helped. Having people who lift you up and remind you of your value is paramount.
#JobSearch
Thank you all!