I Lost My Job During the Pandemic. Here are 5 Lessons it Taught Me.
After being in the corporate grind for nearly five years at the start of my career, I naturally found myself wanting more meaningful responsibility. A valued voice in strategic and creative direction. A proverbial seat at the table.
My niche is B2B marketing for SaaS (software as a service) companies, and I was lucky to find that several employers on LinkedIn and Glassdoor were hiring last fall. After interviewing at a handful of smaller companies and startups, I landed myself a position as Content Marketing Manager.
The responsibilities associated with this new role were perfectly in line with what I wanted to do — increasing a new brand’s exposure online through SEO and PPC efforts, developing a grand content marketing plan to present to the executives, and eventually directing a content team consisting of a copywriter, marketing designer, and other specialists. It was all coming together, and then coronavirus hit.
Being a part of a tech company that helps eCommerce businesses, I didn’t believe I needed to worry — which I realize now was naive, wishful thinking. Having begun my 4-year undergraduate degree just as the 2008 financial crisis wreaked havoc on families throughout the United States, I hadn’t felt the visceral effects of a tanking economy while in the workforce.
As I’m back on the job hunt, here are a few lessons I’ve taken away that I hope will help others who have suddenly lost a job; particularly women and minorities who have been impacted at a higher rate.
1. Realize you’re not alone.
At the time of publishing, more than 33 million Americans have sought US unemployment aid in less than a two-month timeframe. Losing your source of income and having the door shut before your eyes can be particularly devastating if you felt as though you’d found a calling or spent years dedicating yourself to a particular company or solution. You may feel expendable, like the work you poured everything into wasn’t valued or be upset with yourself for not having made the cut. No matter the details of how you’ve found yourself here, take a deep breath, recognize your value, and lean on others to help.
If the pain of losing your job is raw, channel that energy into something positive — such as journaling, meditation, or exercising at your own pace. Not sure where to start? Consider taking up a new hobby. Online counseling and therapy are also a godsend if you can swing it. BetterHelp and SonderMind are two excellent resources to find help in coping, and BetterHelp is providing services for newly unemployed patients at a discounted rate.
2. Let yourself feel without self-judgement.
This is key to moving forward. A sudden job loss can be traumatizing and possibly even embarrassing depending on the circumstances. No matter what you’re going through, please know that your feelings are completely valid and an imperative part to moving forward is practicing self-compassion.
In my case, for instance, I was let go one week after having received high praise for going above and beyond and hearing I was on a short track to a director-level position. I was terrified to be suddenly without my source of income or health coverage during a global pandemic.
The following days, I was consumed with anger and resentment. I felt blindsided and betrayed. Angry at myself for not having documented concerns with my boss who acted inappropriately and without consequence. Furious that I hadn’t created a paper trail of my own statements about the unbalanced scales and lack of diversity in a company dominated 7:1 by males. Embarrassed for being duped by the CEO and telling him my concerns under the guise that he “cared about my mental health”.
Can you tell these feelings are still fresh? Allowing myself to process them fully and without self-judgement has been cathartic to my healing process. It’s allowed me to see this situation as an opportunity rather than a wrecking ball.
3. Learn a new skill (or two).
Consider learning a new specialty or sharpening your current skills through online learning. Coursera, an online learning platform, is currently offering access to their 3,800 courses from top universities and companies for free until September 30th, 2020 in response to the unemployment crisis.
As a lifelong learner, these particular resources have been crucial. After being suddenly let go, my self-confidence was at a record low point. Rather than applying to jobs right away, I started taking online courses through LinkedIn Learning, Hubspot Academy, and other certification platforms to hone my marketing expertise and learn new skills that I can apply as a specialist.
More on whether it’s better to be a B2B specialist or generalist here.
The results of e-learning have been two-fold:
First, I was able to absorb new ways to apply my hard and soft professional skills that had been previously dedicated to the companies I had worked for. Second, it’s helped me regain some of that lost confidence and has thus far proven to enrich my conversations with recruiters.
4. Assess your finances, and act accordingly.
A not so fun but absolutely necessary lesson I’ve learned — cut whatever unnecessary expenses you can right away. My fiancé and I were in the DINK (double income, no kids) category, so take this with a grain of salt depending on your own financial situation.
Take account of your finances either by hand or through a trusted, online budgeting tool such as Mint. Recognize how long you can afford to be unemployed before it becomes a dire issue, and cut any subscriptions or shopping items you can live without until you feel stable. When it comes to your grocery list, choose only what’s necessary and avoid luxury brands. Here’s a sample shopping list I’ve been using to keep myself accountable.
This isn’t to say you can’t treat yourself to something nice, but keep your one-off purchases in line with a set budget and try to stick to that. For instance, I’m allowing myself one purchase a week from a favorite restaurant or cafe.
More on how to budget if you’ve lost your job here.
5. Take it one day at a time.
Perhaps most importantly, take everything one day at a time. Chances are you’ll continue to suffer a bit of hardship in the form of application rejections, unexpected setbacks, and days that are tougher than others. This being said, focus on what you can control. In order to keep your worries at bay and come out stronger on the other end, you must be patient with yourself. If you’re in a place to hold out for your ideal job, take this time as an opportunity to reset and focus on building upon your strengths.
If you can’t afford to hold off on new employment or want to take on a side job while you search for full-time work, consider freelancing through sites such as Fiverr, selling apparel or other goods you no longer need (Poshmark is my favorite for this), joining the gig workforce, or taking online surveys for cash.
Parting Words:
To those who are still hurting from their job loss, I feel your pain. There’s a good chance that your road to recovery will be paved with high hopes and setbacks. And if you’ve never experienced a professional blow like this before, this new reality probably feels foreign and a bit uncomfortable to navigate.
Remember this is only temporary. You will get through it and be a more resilient, gracious, empathetic person for having suffered this hardship in the long-run. I’m a firm believer that all events are connected and that losing this one job has simply opened the door for something much better in your future.
“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”
— Maya Angelou