This one resonated so much with me, thank you for sharing your experience Marilyn. I was first laid-off from an e-commerce tech company at 37, and 2 days into the pandemic with a 3 and 1 year old, and I was DEVASTATED. Work was also (unfortunately) my life. As a woman of color, I felt all the things Marilyn mentioned. Working there for 4 years feeling respected and acknowledged, since I always got great reviews and was the only person doing what I did at a large company. It wasn't until Dec 2019 when I received my first not so great review, and within 3 months, I was out. Although this time around, it took FMLA leave (from burnout) to get me there, I learned to find other meaningful hobbies outside of work. The book, The Good Enough Job, by Simone Stolzoff was a good one. Hope you continue to find meaningful to you writing jobs and I'll look out for your book once it's out!
Great interview. And she’s right about the toll on your self worth. It takes a lot of mental strength to pull yourself outta the hole and be like the problem wasn’t me, it was their mismanagement. I’m thinking about writing about my recent layoff experience. The job search world is so different now, I had to learn what an ATS compatible resume is. There’s so many kinds of niche job boards and job roundup newsletters. LinkedIn is extremely overwhelming.
Giving yourself that space to do your mental and physical self care is key. The post-layoff period is so strange, you have all this time to center yourself but there’s a guilt over not landing that next gig soon or kicking off the job search right away. Sometimes you’re just not mentally ready to update the resume and care about building another brand.
This one resonated so much with me, thank you for sharing your experience Marilyn. I was first laid-off from an e-commerce tech company at 37, and 2 days into the pandemic with a 3 and 1 year old, and I was DEVASTATED. Work was also (unfortunately) my life. As a woman of color, I felt all the things Marilyn mentioned. Working there for 4 years feeling respected and acknowledged, since I always got great reviews and was the only person doing what I did at a large company. It wasn't until Dec 2019 when I received my first not so great review, and within 3 months, I was out. Although this time around, it took FMLA leave (from burnout) to get me there, I learned to find other meaningful hobbies outside of work. The book, The Good Enough Job, by Simone Stolzoff was a good one. Hope you continue to find meaningful to you writing jobs and I'll look out for your book once it's out!
Great interview. And she’s right about the toll on your self worth. It takes a lot of mental strength to pull yourself outta the hole and be like the problem wasn’t me, it was their mismanagement. I’m thinking about writing about my recent layoff experience. The job search world is so different now, I had to learn what an ATS compatible resume is. There’s so many kinds of niche job boards and job roundup newsletters. LinkedIn is extremely overwhelming.
Giving yourself that space to do your mental and physical self care is key. The post-layoff period is so strange, you have all this time to center yourself but there’s a guilt over not landing that next gig soon or kicking off the job search right away. Sometimes you’re just not mentally ready to update the resume and care about building another brand.