Congratulations on Getting Fired. Here are 10 Ways to Bounce Back Even Stronger.
Practical lessons from being let go, and how you can apply them too.
So you got fired. Or made redundant. Potato, potata, it probably stings as much either way.
This just happened to me, too. My employer went into financial survival mode, and my department had to go. So I threw myself into looking for positive, practical ways to turn it into the best career move I’ve ever had, and it worked. Today, I want to share those lessons with you.
Your Checklist
Here are my tips. Use them as you like and in any order (although some of them do flow more logically this way):
✅ Don’t be an ass about it
✅ Network like crazy
✅ Have coffee with a Jedi master
✅ Document what you learned
✅ Crowdsource your resume
✅ Forget stealing staplers. Focus on free learning
✅ Skills + Goals = Elevator Pitch
✅ Use job ads to find and fill your knowledge gaps
✅ Do a project. Maybe even finish it
✅ Set yourself up for long term success
Don’t be an ass about it
In one of my previous jobs, a colleague was made redundant. To my shock, he started practically gloating about it, claiming he’d already secretly wanted to leave, and giving the impression that he’d only stayed around as a sacrifice to the team.
No doubt his wounded pride drove him to play down the situation. But be careful if you feel tempted to do the same. Implying that you’re better than everyone else is a jerk move, and won’t help you with the next step. The trouble is, it can be hard to even realise that you’re doing it.
If you really had been considering leaving, it’s ok to mention it, but stay humble. You can talk about how you’re excited to make the most of whatever opportunity comes next. But remember to express gratitude about your amazing colleagues, and everything you learned in this role.
Network like crazy
Some of my colleagues were angry about the redundancy. They switched to full home office for their final weeks, and declined the big company farewell party. Don’t do that. Show your professionalism; stick with the team to the end. And take this chance to preserve your connections:
- Share your LinkedIn / Twitter / Medium profile in the company’s internal messaging platform; encourage everyone to connect.
- Look through the company’s organigramm for people you can learn from — especially those you didn’t often work with. Actively connect with them.
In the future, this might help you in unexpected ways. And in the present, it’ll boost your professional social media profile.
Have coffee with a Jedi Master
Now may be your last chance to chat with your idols, face-to-face. This could be a team leader, a higher level manager, or anyone else whose work you admire. You can even hit up the CEO (what’s the worst she can do if that’s inappropriate — fire you?).
Invite these people for a coffee chat; I’m sure they’ll be happy to help. But don’t just spring them with, “here’s your latte, now how should I shape the rest of my career?” That’s too broad, and too much for someone to answer on the spot. Have 1–2 questions in mind, which directly relate to this person’s skills and experience, and which aren’t Google-able! You can mention the themes of the questions in your invite, so that this mentor can give it some pre-thought, if they choose to.
Document what you learned
Write some notes on the following questions, while they’re still fresh in your mind:
- What did you specialise in?
- What did you enjoy most?
- When did you have to demonstrate leadership or mentorship?
- What was a significant challenge, and what did you do to resolve it?
- Which technologies did you touch? Which of these were new to you?
- When did you have to communicate ideas, results, or technical details with your superiors, leaders, or management?
- What are some things you, your team, or the company could have done better?
- What were some original ideas you had while working there? (It doesn’t matter whether you got the chance to implement them; it’s about your ability to reflect on a situation and find ways to innovate and improve).
Answering these questions will help with both your resume building and your interview preparation. Plus, you’ll suprise yourself with how far you’ve come — how’s that for motivational?
Crowdsource your resume
Since you last used your resume you’ve worked another job — this job — so it’s time for update. Ask your team and manager for input on your hard and soft skills. They’ll probably spot the things you missed.
Having turbo-charged your CV like this, ask HR to check it. It’s their job to screen CVs, so they’ll know the best ways to attract other recruiters.
Here’s another tip: since HR probably worked only indirectly with you, take extra note of any skills they tell you to add or highlight. Similarly, if they write you a letter of recommendation, pay attention. These might be your key strengths, since they’re clearly the ones most visible to those outside your direct team. And if you think you have key strengths but the HR person doesn’t mention them, it might mean you’re not making them visible enough. That could be something to change, in your next job.
Forget stealing staplers. Focus on free learning.
This last job probably included tools, technologies, or processes that you were only peripherally aware of. If understanding them might help in a future role, then now’s the time to capitalise on your rough knowledge of how your company used them. Having that context is a huge advantage over learning from scratch.
So try to capture the big picture of what was happening. Ask the people responsible to give you an overview. Use any free time* left in your final days to read your documentation and take notes. It’s not about stealing company secrets. It’s about learning the pros and cons of the tools you used, and how they fit the overall architecture.
This can help you in job interviews, too. If one of these technologies comes up, and you’ve taken these steps, you’ll be able to say: my last company used this tool to do XYZ. Although I wasn’t involved, I understand what it does and why it’s used, so I’m confident I’ll pick it up quickly.
Another thing: if your company provided access to an online learning platform, use it! Download course materials for any topics that were on your career path, or that might help your future career. Just don’t fall into the trap of thinking you can’t apply for jobs until you’ve finished course XYZ!
*By ‘free time’, I don’t mean you should abandon your duties. But perhaps your tasks cease before your contract does. You can also use your personal free time, you know. 😉
Skills + goals = elevator pitch
Like your CV, it’s probably also time to improve your LinkedIn or Twitter profile. And you’re going to have to start writing cover letters, stating why you are uniquely suited for each application.
So why are you the perfect fit? What makes you special? Your social profiles and cover letters need an elevator pitch, and now’s the time to craft it.
Reflect on the direction you’ve gone in your last job. Is that something you want to further specialise in? If so, say so! Or are you ready for a pivot? In that case, think of how your experiences will help you do that. You might need to get creative, but that’s good! The next step is to plaster it all over your socials, your CV, and cover letters.
Condensing your skills and goals into an elevator pitch is so useful. It’ll help you know which jobs to apply for, and it will show those recruiters why you’re qualified, and what you want from the job. That last part shouldn’t be underestimated. There’s no point landing a job you’re overqualified for if you’re not truly interested. You’ll stagnate, and end up either sticking with something you dislike, or quitting and having to repeat this whole process again.
Use job ads to find and fill your knowledge gaps
Nobody ticks all the boxes on a job ad, but companies know that. So you can and should still apply. But take note of the tools that come up often, for which you lack experience. Voila! You’ve got yourself a learning plan.
Don’t freak out if the plan is long — just do what you can, and do it iteratively. So in one week you could read an introduction to each tool on its homepage or Wikipedia. In the next week, you could skim read a tutorial for each one. Or if you’re crazy productive — like me — you can take breaks from writing job applications to listen to introductory tutorials on YouTube.
Of course, there are also online courses. I tend to consume the videos and reading material, but skip the exercises. This way, if I return to the course one day — such as if the topic comes up in my new job — I can challenge my memory via the exercises, which is great for learning. Plus, knowing roughly what the tool can do will make my onboarding that bit easier.
So the aim is not to become a pro in any specific new tool, but to get an idea of what it does and how it fits the landscape. And the benefits won’t just start in your new job. They can earn you real brownie points in an interview, too. Imagine how capable and proactive you’ll look when you say, “I haven’t worked with tool XYZ before, but I looked into it to prepare for this interview. It seems similar to tool ABC, with which I am familiar. So I’m confident I can learn it quickly.”
Do a project. Maybe even finish it.
You might think I’m crazy. It takes so much time to write applications and prepare for job interviews, and now I want you to do a project?!
Yes, I do. For so many reasons.
- You can add it to your portfolio (which, let’s face it, you’ve wanted to update since forever).
- You can use it to learn or practice some skill, which will serve you in an interview and your future job.
- You can experience the joy of being free to work purely for yourself, on a project you chose.
Set yourself up for long term success
All this cramming shouldn’t stop when you start a new job. To give yourself the best chance of kicking ass in the future, think ahead about how you’re going to keep learning.
I’m a huge fan of LinkedIn and Twitter for this. There are so many experts sharing useful tips and interesting resources, which will help strengthen your big picture understanding. Just remember, you don’t have to thoroughly read every single thing! I wrote this post to help you level up, not to give you a complex!
Good Luck!
Thanks for reading, and I wish you all the best in your job search! I’m confident that if you follow these tips, then your new job won’t just be a next step, but a step up. It was for me. 😉 Oh, and if your next job interview will involve a coding or SQL challenge, check out this post on how to think through such problems, wowing recruiters even if you don’t get to the final answer in time.
If this article helped you, I’d love to hear your success story! You can leave it in the comments or find me on Twitter (where I talk about tech, ethics, working as a data scientist, and more).
