Caption

I’ve been laid off before. The CEO, just 2 weeks prior, had asked me to please stay at the company during the hard times, and that I was valued. My boss, on the other hand, kept telling me to slow down, and put things off until later weeks. I didn’t realize it at the time, but she knew I was getting laid off (and herself too) and didn’t want me to work hard on something that wouldn’t matter soon. Then half the company was gathered into a room, including me, and we were let go. I don’t blame the company, my boss, the CEO. It’s business, and it’s messy. But I for sure felt the floor fall out from under me that day. It was so disorienting. The company I called home, and put my all into, was asking me to leave. The following week I had 4 interviews lined up for promising roles. I was out of a job for about 3 weeks when I landed 3 job offers. This was possible because I had an exit strategy. While I wasn’t going to leave the company on my own, I had built an exit strategy so that should my role ever become in jeopardy, I had opportunities to fall back on. And the key was I built the exit strategy during the GOOD times. I didn’t wait until the layoff or the last moments to start making sure my future was secure. Most people don’t want to build an exit strategy in the good times. It takes effort, and of course, a good strategy! But this will SAVE you for the rest of your career. Plan now. There’s no such thing as a truly “stable” job. How are you planning your future? PS- A good first step is to read “Reverse the Search” - it will get you in the headspace of career security to get opportunities coming to you. Linked in my bio.