Layoffs to LinkedIn: How I made it work for me

A candid account of navigating the post-layoff job market using LinkedIn

Hey folks, Nick here. I have good news to share: after being laid off in May, I’ve signed a new employment contract with a 40-people startup a week ago! This means my family’s stay in Germany is secured for now (yay!).

Another piece of good news is that now that I’ve been smacked in the buttocks by wrongly assuming that employment income as a software engineer is reliable, I’m doubling down on my Substack. Expect more regular emails like this from me for the rest of the year as I try to create a clear value proposition for readers like you to continue reading and — dare I say… gulp — upgrading to a paid subscription. Thanks for sticking around!

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This time, job searching was a different experience for me. After being laid off, I found myself navigating the job market without a clear direction.

On the day I received news of being laid off, I went immediately to LinkedIn. At first, my intention was only to update my profile with the latest information on my contributions at Shopify. I wanted prospective employers to have my most updated work history. 

But while there, I was also tempted to write a post to share the news on the day of the layoff. My intuition held me back. In hindsight, that was a good move. Let’s double-click on this. 

What I noticed happening just a few hours after the layoff was many ex-colleagues started posting about being laid off on LinkedIn. Posting is okay, but I believe it needs to be done right. Not pitch-perfect, but not tone-deaf either. I believe you only get one good chance to tell the world about your plight and what your singular ask is. There’s too much noise on social media and attention spans are short, even among old colleagues.

That day, I mostly saw desperation. Someone wrote something along these lines:

I have been laid off suddenly by Shopify today. I scarcely had a few hours’ notice and, as a visa holder, I now need to find a job ASAP. If you know of any opportunities, especially with companies that can speed up the interviewing process, please let me know. Thank you very much for helping.

My mental image was that of a wounded animal. I think this optic was what prompted me to not post about the news that day. People can be animals sometimes, and what do predators do when they spot a limping deer? It reminded me of this passage in The Hunger Games:

"I almost faint at the sight of my calf. The flesh is a brilliant red covered with blisters. I force myself to take deep, slow breaths, feeling quite certain the cameras are on my face. I can’t show weakness at this injury. Not if I want help. Pity does not get you aid. Admiration at your refusal to give in does. I cut the remains of the pant leg off at the knee and examine the injury more closely." (Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games)

So I waited a day before carefully crafting a message to share the news that I had been laid off, and I did it with a light positive spin and a clear "call to action":

This is the message I shared:

Alright I have NEWS to share – it feels like ages ago now, but it was just yesterday that I'd been laid off from Shopify. Laid off. LAID OFF. No matter how I say those words they just sound weird. #layoffs

It's surreal, and I have lots to say, but for now, I just want to let friends and professional acquaintances know ONE thing – I'm looking for a new job. If you know of any suitable opportunities, I'd love it if you could let me know. 🙇‍♂️ ❤️

I knew over 2,000 Shopify employees had been laid off, many of whom were entering or already in the job market. I wanted to stand out and be seen among them.

Also, a week after the Shopify laid off over 2000 employees, LinkedIn cut 716 jobs. Because so many talented people are suddenly being expelled into the job market, I felt like I needed to continue posting regularly after that initial signpost to stay top-of-mind among recruiters and friends/acquaintances on LinkedIn.

My state of mind was one of staying alive, because I, too, only had a visa that allowed me to stay in Germany for a short while before needing to leave the country should I remain unemployed for 3 months. 

Finding useful things to share with my network of 1,700 followers on LinkedIn wasn’t very hard when you are in battle mode. Plus, I had already written over 400 articles on my blog that I could tap into to share (which I did).

I shared all kinds of things. Here’s a sample platter:

• Here's a good reason to keep a blog as a programmer: You can refresh your memory in under 5 minutes when it inevitably fades around certain topics. (…) → shared screenshot of my blog post appearing on page 1 of google search results

• Having just been laid off, I'm not in the mood to beat the drum about playing the game of capitalism. (…) → linked to Job searching is not about the numbers blog post

• This is worth circulating, especially to friends who (like me) have been made redundant recently. (…) → linked to David Heinemeier Hansson on LinkedIn: Sitting on the bench

• No shame: it took me 90 minutes to finish this medium-difficulty Hackerrank problem, and I did interviews less than 2 years ago! 😪 (…) → linked to Github Gist - Hackerrank medium: Sherlock and the Valid String

• If there is ONE post about #compensation I wish every single recruiter, founder, and prospective employee would read, this short LinkedIn post by Bonnie Dilber would be it. (…) → linked to Bonnie Dilber on LinkedIn

And here’s what my last 90 days post impressions graph looks like:

Here are the direct consequences beyond the number of impressions:

• In total, 8 people (mostly 1st-degree connections) reached out to me with very specific job openings, either at their current company or their previous one. All of them could and did put in referrals for me. 

• I was also able to tell recruiters confidently that I had multiple ongoing processes and they would have proxy evidence of that (my imagined recruiter’s internal monologue: “Oh wow, look at this guy, he’s sharing these useful things on LinkedIn so often, he’s surely having many recruiter outreaches! I better run an intervention to accelerate his process a little”). This ultimately resulted in recruiters being very amenable towards my asks around scheduling interviews (read: accelerating the process) and negotiating my compensation.

You may not consider yourself social media expert but don't overlook LinkedIn. Unlike Facebook or Instagram, not utilising LinkedIn could mean missing potential career opportunities, and as a result, income. I think this is true for any profession, not just tech.

If you aren’t already actively connecting with your colleagues, bosses, and professional acquaintances on LinkedIn, I’d suggest you start now. It’s probably not too late. My one tip for building your network on LinkedIn is a simple one: build the habit of sending a request to connect with every new person you encounter at work. I went from a fresh account to having over 1,700 high quality connections like this in 7 years. It doesn’t take a lot of work!

This layoff rebound was the first time I was able to tap into my LinkedIn network and it’s clear to me that my network will become more valuable as I grow in seniority. And when I need to hire for my team in the future, which seems inevitable to me, I’ll have opportunities to share with my network. 

I think of it like planting a seed — it takes time and consistent effort to grow, but in the end, it benefits everyone involved.

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Were you affected by a layoff recently? Feel free to reply me privately to talk about it. I’m happy to be a listening ear and, if there’s a good match, I’ll try and send you some referrals.