What does a job search look like in 2024?

January 12, 2024 12:13 PM

I found out this morning that my position is being eliminated with a scheduled last day of 2/9. So now what? I haven't had to do this since 2009.

I've been with this company for just shy of 15 years. This entitles me to 28 weeks of severance pay and they're going to subsidize COBRA for the same duration. I'm in Pennsylvania and from what I can tell I will also be eligible for unemployment insurance.

I also have the option to look at and apply to other internal postings with my company but this feels like maybe the right time to go somewhere new.

Some possible other relevant details:
My current role is a senior proposal writer and manager and I have a few years of experience as a business analyst prior to this
My old employer has a remarkably generous PTO policy and I would have had around 260 hours allocated this year but since it accrues monthly I will only get paid out a portion of that
I would strongly prefer fully remote work (I sold my car in 2020 and have been doing well without it and I have 3 velcro cats who have never known life with me in an office job)
There's some mention of placement assistance on my termination paperwork
I have some savings, probably about 3-4 months net salary
I have a mortgage and a roommate who makes about half as much as I was
I believe I will have strong references from my work at the company that is letting me go though I haven't reached out to anyone yet
I have a 401k and will need to do a QDRO in the next 2-3 months as I'm in the process of finalizing a divorce

Appreciate all tips ranging from immediate, how long to give myself before starting to look, things we absolutely are or aren't doing these days, leads, education I can work on in the meantime, basically whatever might be helpful when I'm ready to jump in.

Thanks mefi.

posted by miratime to Work & Money (14 answers total)

I would say more than anything, don’t be surprised by getting ghosted at any stage of an interview. It seems like the norm in places to not get a response. So cast inquiries expecting some not even to respond back.
posted by nickggully at 12:37 PM on January 12 [7 favorites]

No time like the present to evaluate your professional network to see what friends or former colleagues can recommend you for at the current places of employment.
posted by mmascolino at 12:46 PM on January 12 [2 favorites]

Create and/or beef up your LinkedIn profile so when somebody googles your name + Pennsylvania you have a curated first hit. Ask your current colleagues for recommendations on that platform.
posted by Juniper Toast at 12:50 PM on January 12 [1 favorite]

Even more than it was in the past, your best bet is to find a new job through someone you know, either a former employer, or a former coworker at a new place, or someone else you've worked with. Applying to jobs online through Indeed, LinkedIn or similar platforms is very difficult. There is a lot of automated filtering, and depending on your field, many (most?) resumes are never even seen by a human being. If you do end up applying for jobs online, familiarize yourself with tools like Jobscan, which help you tweak your resume and cover letter to get through the automated filter by rewriting it to include the necessary keywords, etc. But, really, try not to even go that route. If someone can bring your resume directly to HR and tell them, "this person's good, talk to them," you'll be much better off.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 1:08 PM on January 12 [3 favorites]

The two biggest changes I see over the past 15 years is how crucial LinkedIn is for white collar hiring now, and the absolute inescapability of ATS.

I would spend real time building and in-depth, keyword spammed LinkedIn and I would get professional ATS resume building help.

Also if you re eligible for internal roles, I would encourage you to apply. You can always go through the process and say no if you get an outside offer but... there are a lot of layoffs this week, take the opportunity to at least see what's on offer at your current org.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:20 PM on January 12 [8 favorites]

I have a 401k and will need to do a QDRO in the next 2-3 months as I'm in the process of finalizing a divorce.

This is the only part of this I have experience with, but I've been through this as well in the last few years. I realized that it's not that unusual, since a lot of people need to change their jobs alongside other changes in their life. IANAL, and your attorney can of course help you, but what I did was keep that specific 401(k) parked right where it was until the QDRO was fully executed with all fund transfers completed. Only then did I roll it over into an IRA (alternatively, I could have then rolled it over into my new employer's plan - this is just my own personal preference). But no longer being with my former employer had no impact on my 401(k) or the QDRO, and I simply didn't make any moves as an independent, no-longer-married unit until that QDRO process was complete.
posted by neutralhydrogen at 1:24 PM on January 12

LinkedIn + Indeed.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 1:29 PM on January 12

Hopefully you're senior enough that you won't need to deal with this bullshit, but some terrible hiring process fads are recorded video screening interviews (you don't interact with a human, you're just given prompts at home and are supposed to answer them while being recorded, of course with time limits) and at-home assignments that can take hours to complete.
posted by trig at 1:48 PM on January 12

Look for others leaving at the same time, and see where they go. Do they have opportunities? Can they tell you where else they interviewed? I believe a huge part of getting a seniorish job in this market is timing. You need to be the right person at precisely the right time. Keeping your network alive and understanding what’s going on at other places will allow you to be that person who is magically there at the right time.
posted by Geckwoistmeinauto at 3:01 PM on January 12 [1 favorite]

Proposals? My friend, there are so many jobs out there. Especially if you can do engineering firms...they are desperate for proposal writers. Organizations like PRSA, APMP and SMPS all have job boards. Being able to do federal proposals (SF 330s) is also highly sought after.
posted by emjaybee at 3:23 PM on January 12 [3 favorites]

^^^
This is my industry as well. emjaybee is completely and totally right.

We're a networky bunch in general, too, so it helps to know people or meet people. Some local APMP chapters, like the one in my state, even have a career path liaison on their board, so that might be someone good to chat with.
posted by mochapickle at 3:40 PM on January 12 [2 favorites]

emjaybee and mochapickle are both correct. During job searches I’ve had good luck marking my LinkedIn profile as “Open to Work” and reaching out to colleagues past and present. Everything I’ve interviewed for has been 100% remote.
Kudos to your company for providing a generous severance package. It’ll give you a bit of breathing room to find something good. (If you’re in Medicaid/HHS technology I can recommend one company currently hiring and very firmly NOT recommend another.)
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 5:09 PM on January 12 [1 favorite]

If you aren't reading Ask A Manager, I would recommend doing so. Lots of good info about job hunting, resumes, interviewing, looking for flags during the interview process, dealing with layoffs, etc.

Also some great stories of really nutzo managers and companies!
posted by chiefthe at 8:24 PM on January 12

I also recently got laid off and am on my first real job search since 2011. The biggest difference I’ve noticed is that LinkedIn is WAY more important than it used to be.

I had a session with a career coach from my graduate school alma mater and she gave me the great piece of advice to search PEOPLE on LinkedIn to see the careee trajectories of people in the kinds of roles I want. This has been really interesting and has given me some ideas of what skills I want to highlight in my resume as well as skills to brush up on.

And let people know you’re looking. I’ve gotten a couple of promising leads by posting on FB and LinkedIn that I’m looking for a job.
posted by lunasol at 10:56 PM on January 12