Laid off

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Well, new life experience for me. I took a job at a startup in the ed tech field around 3 years ago. Yesterday, I found out that that time was coming to an end. Around 25% of employees were laid off (300ish out of 1200ish) including me and my entire team.

They're venture-capital funded, and while I wasn't entirely surprised that layoffs were coming given some pretty rough financial headwinds this year, I wasn't at all expecting them to just cut my entire function. Kind of surreal.

I knew that startups were notoriously shaky when it comes to stability, and though it sucks to see it come to an end so abruptly, I suppose it's nice to have made a lot of money off of a bunch of investors. The severance package is, honestly, kind of crazy (4 months pay + 6 months paid health insurance + my laptop + free online classes + a plethora of job placement services). Thanks, VC funds!

In the end, I don't regret anything, but it's a very weird feeling to be out of a job for the first time since I was probably 14. It's hard to know what to do with myself, though I figure my "job" becomes job hunting...next week.

No need for sympathy - I'm actually kind of excited to look for something new. I'll at least have plenty of time to try and fail to fix my shit over the summer.

I worked for tech startups. Took more in stock than I should have because none made it to IPO so I go zilch. Which I was well aware was probably what will happen than getting to an IPO. Just a caculated decision in each of them, 3 in total. First one was an A.I. company in 2009. Way before anyone knew what an A.I. was but their code wouldn't scale without being reworked and the language changed. So lost my chance to get in on the ground floor.

I know you know tech but don't know if its even your focus these days. anyway, I'm seeing a lot of HR types wanting certifications to be interviewed. If so in your field, since you are getting paid, might want to go get a cert. Now, once you are past HR, no one gives a shit about your certification. I ended up with around 25 technical certifications.

I only had 2 fulltime jobs in my 25 years in tech by choice(contracting I received 30%-50% more money and had great benefits through my wife's work so it was a no brainer for our situation). Might consider if your wife gets good benefits.

I never lost or changed a job based on performance. I'm sure this is true for you too. So maybe I found it easier to be unemployed than others. After taking a week or two off, I would always check Linked in, job sites etc. work on my resume, those certifications etc. I'm sure you will be gainfully employed as soon as you find the right spot for you.