Just got laid off the other day - definitely came as a shock but I suppose it was only a matter of time. Other than the obvious, was curious how people dealt with this. What are some good strategies to get back on your feet quickly? How did other people overcome their layoffs and end up succeeding. Would love to hear some success stories as an extra boost of motivation.
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why are you hijacking this dude's thread with a completely irrelevant question...
He’s asking for his own sake. He wants to know what the process looks like for those who are unfortunate enough to be laid-off.
Dude not to be an ass but you've made a few different threads and hijacked a bunch others to ask this same question. It's nerve-wracking as hell so no worries but the answer is no they are not going to wait until regularly scheduled bi-annual reviews to cut someone. If it's the type of thing where you've done 3 years and you're okay but not going to get promoted, then they'll prob just let you know that at review time because it's not urgent. If you're actively underperforming in an unacceptable way, did something dumb, or the firm needs to cut expenses, they're not going to wait for a bi-annual review to have the talk. You'll get a call or email one day from your boss or HR who will let you know within 15 minutes that you're gone. From there you'll collect your belongings, leave your equipment on the desk, leave the office and never come back within an hour.
Would love to hear as well. Just know you aren’t alone. I was laid off in March and am still looking.
If you don't mind me asking, are you looking only at banking jobs? Obviously concerning you've been looking since March, but understand times are tough hence my question. I hope it works out for you - today was a weird day not being glued to my phone / laptop for the first time in a couple years
I took a month or so off before starting to apply. I am looking at banking and corp dev/strategy. What’s really made it hard is that I’m in a southern city. I think I would have found something by now if I were in nyc.
I don't mind sharing - layoffs were really abrupt. My mid-year review was pretty middle of the road, but they didn't allude to any potential layoffs. Had a random call scheduled with my director along with some others in my office same day, and was told that day.
Thanks for sharing and sorry for your loss. So basically the bank you worked at laid you off on the same day as your mid-year review conversation?
I thought even people who were underperforming are usually first out through a pip before officially getting fired
PIPs let banks get out of severance (fired for cause), layoffs can be done otherwise will show up as downsizing
Sorry if my response was confusing - I wasn't laid off on the same day as my mid-year. I was laid off ~ a month later and there was a separate conversation scheduled same day with my director. As far as I know, it wasn't performance based - there were additional layoffs other than me, including some more senior level people. I would assume if you were underperforming you'd get some kind of pip. Seemed like it was just a "first wave", with some potential more down the road.
Okay, I see. Thanks for clarifying. Again sorry about your loss and genuinely wish you all the best with your next opportunity!
Not to barge In but like out of the flock even if you are let’s say mid performer what’s the reason they picked you , politics? Like I’m sure they could have picked someone else or do they just randomly chose lol how does it work
Sorry my brother, you’re gonna be okay and I’m praying you land something great soon. I haven’t gotten laid off but have hit rock bottom a few times in the past. Not exactly the same I know but maybe similar enough that I can offer a couple pieces of advice.
1) Pick up a physical activity and start getting better at it daily. Build yourself up physically. I remember being completely dead inside, hopeless, defeated, yet still dragging myself to the basketball court or the gym. 6-7 days a week. Seeing myself get stronger and stronger over the days weeks and months instilled so much momentum and helped rebuild my confidence because I was literally rebuilding myself brick by brick. That confidence spills over into every aspect of your life and you get that feeling of progress and forward energy. Which helps…
2) Move forward. Focus on the future. Think about where you’re going, not where you been or where you are now. Don’t think, just act. Set up a schedule for yourself, plan what you’re gonna do every day to get yourself where you wanna go, then do those things every day. As long as you make the most of every day, turn your brain off and allow yourself to consider the day a success. A well spent life is just a series of well spent days my man. You got this.
#1 is spot on
Experienced the same thing over the past few months... feeling empty and dead from inside after many setbacks in life, also rebuilding myself little by little. Just curious how I could know if I'm on track to get better?
Thanks!
Been laid off before. My advise and 2 cents. If you ever get a random meeting with a director and no context (and the director won’t give any prior to meeting and his assistant either doesn’t know or won’t say), 9/10 it’s a meeting with HR and likely this. If you ever do get it, this is what I recommend. Print out anything important that you would need. Save anything that you might need to request access to (performance reviews, HR files, etc…).
Also, and this is to all employees hired within a year, check your company’s policy regarding vacation days carrying over. Most banks give 8-10 weeks of severance for analysts/associates. You can sometimes extend that by 2-3 weeks depending on your company’s vacation policy (if they let you carry over 15 days from previous year like my bank, that equates to 3 more weeks of pay). When you’re out a job, you want to conserve as much cash as possible, so this simple idea works out well (if you get laid off the year after doing this, you’ll end up getting paid the 15 days plus a pro rated amount of the vacation days acrued this year as well!).
Regarding getting back in the grind, you’re going to want to take 1-2 days just to relax and clear your head. Despite what useless HR will tell you, a layoff/firing is 100% personal to an employee. You will want to calm yourself and react appropriately. After that, update your resume if not already updated, and start applying. Give yourself a goal. Apply to XX amount of jobs per day. Schedule a solid 2 hours to just applying, 1-2 hours of emailing and LinkedIn searching, and then The rest of the day to relax. Job searching is now your new temporary job. Take it seriously and you will be on your feet before you know it.
Great advice, this worked for me. Good luck man, you’ll be good. Be super aggressive in applying networking outreach all that. You have great experience to use and were doing well before to get the job initially
Also, make a spreadsheet with all the jobs you applied to. Note the company, job role, application date, and status. That way you can track if you are still waiting to hear from them, rejected, first round, second round, etc….
I am not kidding when I say I have gotten 3 first rounds solely because I reached out to HR and said I applied a month ago and they got back thanking me for reaching out and getting back to them
How long should you expect finding a new role to take? Assuming you’re looking for the right role rather than just taking something.
In this market, where just about every bank is laying off, I would assume at least 2-3 months for most people. Personally, I have a buddy who is in month 4, but If you’re in a coverage team, and can find a like coverage role, it’ll be quicker. Every bank from what I see takes a minimum of 3-4 weeks if they are “quick”, with many taking 2-3 months if they’re non-standard banking roles. That’s why I said to be aggressive and apply every day. That 2-3 months severance can be used to cover you while you are applying.
when you say it's personal to an employee do you mean that layoffs are personal and not random or that employees take it personally
I’d say both. While management does it out of a business decision, there is 0% your personality was not a factor. Otherwise they’d have fired the guy/girl next to you and not you.
Obviously depends on your financial situation, but why not take some time off for international travel and reassess in a few months when the job market is hopefully better? You're already laid off and so many people are laid off that I'm sure most future employers will understand during interviews, I'd use it as an opportunity to have a really cool experience (go live somewhere cheaper like Southeast Asia for a few months) instead of sitting around for months competing for the same jobs as every other laid off person
How long do you think you can take off without it being a red flag?
Well I'm in real estate, so I have no idea for IB. Real Estate is a lot more small and mid-sized firms that are a lot more accepting to off the beaten path resumes than the typical large corporate/bank players, but maybe there are others that did the same in IB or other typical IB exit opps that can give their experience. I'd imagine it also largely depends on your resume. If you're a first year analyst at a lower tier bank that got laid off and took a few months off, it might be perceived different than an experienced associate with a longer work history of top tier banks beforehand. I guess the point is though, it sounds like a tough job market anyways where you're most likely going to be applying for jobs for months without much traction before probably folding for something mediocre, so why not spend those same months doing something interesting instead
Pick up the book Hannibal and Me: What History's Greatest Military General Can Teach Us About Success and Failure
Go into DeFi. Invent interest rate in DeFi, become a multi millionaire, sell it to your bank that fired you 10 years later, retire.
jk or am I? Seriously there are ton of ex-bankers wanted in this field to help manage finances more carefully.
if CEO and CTO of Nasdaq, Larry Fink, and JPM are bullish on it why shouldn’t you be ?
Get good sleep and get a cheap gym membership (if you don't have yet). Treat it like a 9-5 grind while searching for a new role. Good luck! I've been in this situation before and it's rough. But it all works out eventually.
Any updates on this?
Appreciate you asking - I went through rounds and rounds of recruiting, made it to three Superdays, but ended up not getting a FT banking offer (Also made it to final round of PE gig which I would've loved, but whiffed on that too). I was even considering relocating to places I didn't want to live, for other opportunities. While I was pretty down about this, I decided to look at other opportunities, and ended up taking a Corp. Dev. role at a Fintech company that I really like so far. I'm planning doing this, maybe getting my MBA - who really knows. I enjoy the role so far and while it was a tough pill to swallow to "give up the banking dream" so to speak, I'm pretty happy where I am at right now.
I guess moral of the story, is it might be the best thing that has ever happened to me, or maybe it won't be - it's way too early to tell. I was definitely down and went through periods where I was really bummed, but was able to move past it. It was a really difficult period in my life, and one I'm glad is over, but gave me a lot of perspective. I wish the best for anyone going through something similar - don't ever give up!
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