What I Learned from 3 Layoffs in 7 Years
Yes, you read the title correctly. Including my most recent layoff last month, I have been laid off 3 times in 7 years.
Those layoffs are in addition to quitting another 3 companies that I didn’t enjoy working for.
If you’ve been counting, that’s a grand total of 6 companies that I have either quit or been laid off from in 7 years’ time!
These work experiences also took place in companies all over the world. Here’s the grand total by city:
- San Francisco: 1 layoff
- Tokyo: 1 quit
- Berlin: 1 layoff and 2 quits
- Porto: 1 layoff
Suffice it to say, it’s been a bumpy road over the last 7 years. It definitely wasn’t what I envisioned my career to look like when I started out in product management in 2013. Before talking about the learnings and what’s next for me, let’s take a quick look back at what I had expected my career to look like.
What I thought my career in product management would look like
I didn’t start my career as a product manager — my first job was actually as an investment banking analyst in the Technology, Media, and Telecom group at a US bank. After a few months in the role, I knew for sure that banking was not where I was meant to be, but I didn’t get my chance to leave the field until 2.5 years later when I joined a gaming company in San Francisco as a Product Manager. I was ecstatic to finally receive the offer and start a new career!
At the time, I didn’t have much of an idea about what the job would be other than that it should feel much more impactful than cranking out PowerPoint presentations until 3 am every night. My plan was to soak up knowledge from my bosses and get promoted within a few organizations over multiple years. Just a slow and steady rise to the top.
I thought I could be a product manager for the rest of my career. Maybe I could even get the role of Chief Product Officer someday and hire my own time and drive the product forward as an integral member of the management team.
What my product management career actually looked like
As you already know, the reality is that over the next 7 years I was laid off from 3 companies and quit 3 more companies on my own accord. This happened across multiple cities, industry verticals, and company sizes, so even though I tried to change the situation to see if I could improve how things turned out, my experience was not tied to any one variable.
Of course, the fact that I am the common denominator in all of my work experiences is not lost on me. I guess I’m harder to please than the average employee, and the usual corporate benefits like free lunches or snacks don’t do a lot to keep me satisfied. In my career, I haven’t been one of those employees who stick around until the ship is completed submerged underwater — if I can see the water starting to rush in, then there is a good chance that I will start heading toward a lifeboat.
Sorry, but I won’t be using this post to deep dive into what happened at each and every company. In case you were wondering how or why I went through 6 jobs in almost as many years, here’s what I will say:
- The lays off were either due to restructurings or budget cuts
- I quit companies for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to, not liking the direction the company was headed in and uncomfortable office politics
What I would prefer to focus on in this post is the lessons that the last 7 years have taught me, so here they are!
What leaving 6 jobs in 7 years taught me
Here are a few of the more useful learnings I gained while working at an average of almost one company per year for the last 7 years.
Get right back on your feet
Similar to when a relationship ends, it’s fine to be sad and depressed for a bit, but I think the best medicine for a layoff is to get back on your feet, dust off your resume, and start sending off applications. This doesn’t mean to apply to every single job description you can find, but rather to take the time to go after the ones that are most likely to be a good fit for your career goals and ambitions.
Be critical about the company you work for
Early in my career, I wanted every company I applied for to want to hire me on the spot. If I saw red flags in the interview process or felt iffy about an opportunity, I would quiet my intuition and charge ahead in hopes of getting the offer.
Now, with a few terrible work experiences under my belt, I listen to my intuition a lot more, and it’s usually right. Don’t forget that employers should not be the only ones doing the judging — you should also be judging them! This is true both during the interview process and while you work there. If you see something weird in the interview process, take it into consideration. If you see something uncomfortable going on in the workplace, speak up!
While my job history, which is now littered with several companies that I spent only a few months or years working for, might be concerning for potential employers and lead them to think that I am a possible flight risk, I hope it also can communicate to them that I expect the companies I work for to provide a good work environment because I will not always sit back and accept things as they are.
The new job honeymoon period never lasts long
I give full credit for this one to my father, but the fact is that the most positive you will be about your job is at the point when you get the job offer. Your feelings about the job will only decrease after you start working at the company and the frustrations of the role sink in. This sage insight leads to the following two conclusions:
1) No matter how amazing a job description, position title, and company look on paper, no matter how many free drinks and snacks you can take from the break room, once the challenges of the role catch up with you, which happens sooner than you might think (especially in more senior roles), this sparkling new job will surely provide you with similar irritations and disappointments as every job before it did.
2) Make sure to only accept offers for positions that you are really excited about. If you have the luxury of being able to turn down job offers, take advantage of it. Listen to your gut and pass on jobs that you feel iffy about when you receive the offer letter because things are only going to get worse after you start working there.
Enjoy the good times while they last
Be sure to appreciate the good times while you have them. It’s very difficult to find an enjoyable, fulfilling, and financially rewarding job out there, so if you have one, make sure not to take it for granted. Even being able to enjoy being around your colleagues is something you should be thankful for. In the end, a valued colleague moving to another department, your favorite boss quitting, or an organizational restructuring that leaves your team on the cutting room floor can change everything at a moment’s notice.
Your company is not your friend
Don’t rely on a profit-driven company to have your best interests in mind. Despite what value you may bring to your company and team, even if you are best buddies with everyone from the CEO to the new intern, you are never completely safe. When push comes to shove, your name could always end up on the list of people to cut in the next economic downturn. Focus on improving yourself first and the company second because you never know when your time to move on will come.
Always have a backup plan
Following in the footsteps of the previous learning, because you know your company is not your friend and doesn’t always have your back, what should you do about it? I think the answer is that you should always have a backup plan in case things go south. These backup plans can take many forms, but here are some examples:
- Keep an eye on interesting job postings in your area and maintain your resume so it’s ready to be forwarded at a moment’s notice.
- Develop relationships in your industry and build your network to increase the chances that interesting new options are sent your way.
- Treat your customers and clients well because they may want to bring you to their companies one day.
- Start working on side projects and see if they can produce revenue down the road.
- Participate in startup competitions or in founder meetup events to see if there might be someone you could partner up with on a new idea.
Take advantage of the fact that a company is paying your rent to take some risks and gain more experience so that getting a new job or opportunity will be easier the next time around.
Stability is an Illusion
Here is a new realization that just hit me in the layoff that happened just a few weeks ago. Most people think working for a company is the most stable and secure option you could choose. You get paid a salary, have your health insurance covered, receive paid vacation days, … the list goes on. Because of all that, this must mean that working for a company is the most stable and safe path out there, right?
My experiences of being laid off this many times by companies of all sizes, in all software verticals, and across many countries has shown me that this is not true. Working for a company where you don’t have the final say is an innately unstable situation. The CEO is always going to choose him or herself over you at the end of the day, so let’s not delude ourselves into thinking that working for a company is a risk-free bet.
What’s next for me
Now that I have told you my most important learnings from the last 7 years, most of which do not shine a positive light on working as an employee in product management at tech startups around the world, you might be wondering what I will be doing next. After this many disappointing experiences working for other people, I have decided that I’m not ready to jump right back into the job market to interview for yet another product manager job in yet another tech company, potentially to be laid off within a year yet again.
Instead, I have decided that I am going to take a little of my own advice and start working full-time on a side project that I started in 2018. Expat Empire is focused on inspiring people to move abroad and showing them how to do it. We’re selling personalized consulting services alongside producing books, podcasts, blog posts, and more to help people achieve their international dreams, and I’m excited to be able to finally commit the time and effort that this business deserves.
Who knows what the future holds — maybe Expat Empire will take off like a rocket ship, or maybe it won’t. Perhaps I’ll be back in the job market in a year. But now that I know the instability and frustrations of working in a corporate job, I think it’s about time to see if the grass is really any greener on the other side. Seems like a safe enough bet, right?
What do you think?
Have you been laid off before? Have you managed to beat my unenviable record of 3 layoffs in 7 years?
Do you have any tips for people who have lost their jobs or insights from going through the experience yourself?
Do you think I’m crazy for leaving the corporate world behind and pursuing my passions?
Let me know in the comments below!
Originally published at https://davidmcneill.co on November 15, 2020.
