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In the most surprising thing to happen since the “twist” on last season of the The Bachelor, I was laid off last Monday. In all honesty, I saw this coming for a while, from having my title changed four months into my new role and to being layered a few weeks ago.
Being the forward-thinker that I am, I had been applying for jobs for a few weeks now, so I wasn’t caught flat-footed, but given that I’ve been working steadily since I was 13-years-old, I don’t exactly know what to do with all of this free time I find myself with on my hands suddenly. I’m a bit worried that I’ll become a lazy fuck instead of using my time productively. So, to make sure I actually open the computer every day to apply for jobs, I’m keeping an unemployment diary — and I’m taking you all along for the ride.
Tuesday
I decided to give myself one, and only one, day to wallow. And by wallow, I mean rip my entire closet apart and purge the fuck out of it. This tends to be my reaction to trying times — when my grandmother died, my mother came back from meeting with the funeral director to find me in the middle of a clothing tornado. Some people emotionally eat, others sleep, I clean. And ignore the well-meaning texts from my former coworkers. I’m not quite ready to chat yet.
Once all of the sweaters I didn’t wear this winter were bagged to be donated and all of my work-appropriate summer dresses were hanging in my closet waiting for use, I headed to a fortuitously scheduled appointment with my therapist. I clearly had some shit to discuss.
Jobs applied for: 3
Wednesday
It was time to get back on the interview wagon, and it was an early start — I had set up a pre-work hours coffee interview before the reckoning on Monday. So, 7:30 a.m. found me at the first of my many visits to Panera this week, sipping an iced coffee and reading and re-reading the job description while waiting for the hiring manager. One thing I’ve learned about interviews — they always ask if you have any questions, and I’ve started to use the strategy of picking something out of the job description and saying “Can you tell me more about {whatever it is}?” I figure that makes me look like I actually read the damn thing.
It was all over by 9:00 a.m. and went well — the second interview is next week (fist pump.) But I now found myself at loose ends in full dress and makeup, so I decided to run all of the errands I usually do on the weekends. The bank, the pharmacy, the circle of hell known as Walmart. And you know what? It was lovely. Fewer people, quicker service. I could get used to this. Kinda.
The rest of the day was spent attending a playgroup with my dog (because I’d rather socialize with dogs than people) and reading, while I took a well-deserved break from the computer. I must say, it was a good day.
Jobs applied for: 0
Thursday
Two interviews in one day? I got this. First up was an interview with a recruiter. Pro-tip: hit up all of the recruiters you can find the second you become unemployed. They only get paid when they place people in roles and it’s usually a percentage of your starting salary, meaning they are going to work as hard as possible to find you the best paying job they can. So this one was a breeze — I even showed her the video of my new dog howling along to the radio. Oh, and in case you were wondering, he literally could not care less that I’m home with him during the day now. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’s pissed I’m interrupting his alone time.
Next stop was the unemployment office. Here, in the fine state of Massachusetts, you have to register at a career center to qualify for unemployment, so I popped in between interviews to check that off the list. Once I told the nice career counselor lady I was there in between interviews, she pretty much told me to consider the box checked and go forth and conquer. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Louise.
I had allotted two hours for the visit to unemployment and given that I was in and out in under 20 minutes, I found myself with some time on my hands. So, of course, I hit up the nearest Panera. As I chowed on my You-Pick-Two, I peeped the LinkedIn pages of my upcoming interviews — best to be as prepared as possible.
The next interview was definitely the hardest of this week’s three. Given that it was a second interview (I had had a phone one the week before), that makes sense, but frankly, two hours of questions and answers with a cycle of strangers is enough to break even the most self-confident of people. Which I am certainly not, particularly having just taken a blow to my ego with the lay-off. How did I do? I’m honestly not sure, so we’ll see if I make it to the next round.
Jobs applied for: 2
Friday
Today was actually going to be a vacation day for me anyway, so it’s kind of a wash. My mom had to have some minor surgery (she’s fine), so I spent the majority of the day in a hospital cafeteria running through my to-do list with my laptop and intermittent wi-fi. I knocked out handwritten thank you notes for this week’s interviews, birthday cards for friends, some additional unemployment paperwork, and of course, more job applications. Because job searching doesn’t sleep.
Jobs applied for: 2
So, all in all, week one wasn’t too bad. Week two looks to be pretty promising — I’ve got two phone interviews, two recruiter interviews, and the second interview/follow up to my Panera meeting. I’ve also got a lunch with some of my former co-workers (from two jobs ago) at — you guessed it — Panera. I sure do love those tulip sugar cookies..
Respond
Jenna Crowley
Jenna used to be known as 2NOTBrokeGirls, but then one of the girls actually went broke, so she's struck out on her own. Jenna spends her free time saving the world, one sorority girl at a time (usually while wearing yoga pants), questioning why she decided to get a doctorate, documenting her love of all things cheese related, and hosting the new PGP podcast Don't Take It From Us. You can ask her anything you want about football, using your boobs to get what you want, and pizza at @JennaLCrowley on Twitter or via email at JennaLCrowley@gmail.com.
@JennaLCrowley
@donttakeitfromus
Here’s to hoping this is only a 1-2 article series.
For once I want to see Jenna be more like Duda
Here’s to hoping you would shut the fuck up, little dingo.
After a while, there are few things more soul-crushing than the interview cycle when you’re unemployed. Good luck, and hopefully you find something soon.
The only thing soul-crushing is the moment during a dump when it breaks off messily and you KNOW you’re gonna be here a while.
Great work. Staying busy is a time tested method to banish worry.
feigning a question when the interviewer asks is key…veteran move right there
Currently finishing my MBA and have applied to more than 200 positions within the last six months. After many applications and interviews that led nowhere, I finally got a great job offer last week. The interview and application process sucks but keep at it and you’ll find something great too. Good luck!
As a recruiter, I’m happy to see you are utilizing recruiters. Firms have such large networks and a recruiters job is to bring you opportunities so it’s always interesting to me the number of people who don’t utilize them.
how do you find a good recruiter to use? Need a tech/cyber one in Atlanta, my bf is retiring from the Army
Just a fyi, the defense industry loves retired military and people with security clearances, theres probably a few contractors in the Atlanta area
Yes, but I’m trying to get him into civilian life! Lol
In my extremely limited job hunting experience, recruiters haven’t been particularly helpful. Generally I hear from them once, asking if im interested in a position thats not really related to what I said im looking for. Ive had MUCH more success just applying to websites.
Agreed! I’ve made a habit of talking with the recruiters, even when I wasn’t looking for a job, and offered to keep them in mind for job-hunting friends. It came to save my ass when I was laid off a couple weeks ago! Definitely never hurts to keep one eye on the job market!
Agreed. I was contacted by a couple when I was looking. Had some nice conversations but then never heard back from them, even after I followed up.
Good luck on the job hunt, Panera has the best cookies. I ate a ton of frozen cookie dough when I worked there
I feel you, I also got laid off two months ago. Spent the first month dicking around and #livingmybestlife. Spent the second month mass applying to jobs, made even more difficult by the fact that I’m using this as an opportunity to make a career change. The anxiety and self doubt are starting to creep up on me entering month 3, here’s hoping you don’t ever get to that phase.
Just keep at it, good things will come.
What did you leave and what are you changing to?
@Cube-A-Saurus Thanks fam!
@GripandSip Was doing sales/account management. Trying to get into HR/People Operations
Good luck! Just curious, did you get severance or any notice?
Was laid off this month as well. Co went under & I was VP. So hitting the gym daily, putting in backyard like a pathetic guy, picking up kids from school, and drinking daily. Bout time I figure out what company I will destroy next.