How I Went From Laid Off to Hired in Less Than 60 Days: 7 Simple Steps
My 7-step process
Read time: 4 min
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Today, I want to talk about my 7-step process to get my new role at Castor, as founding BDR.
I read a lot on LinkedIn about it before I got laid off, and not everything is great.
In 2023, we are not in a candidate market, companies are not hiring a lot and they get at least 200 candidates per role.
Companies can be picky and as candidates, we need to stand out.
Now I can share my own experience based on what I read and implemented to find my new role.
Let’s go with my 7-step process:
TLTR
Step 1: Process it
Step 2: Contact a lawyer
Step 3: Reflect on what I want
Step 4: Create my list of companies I want to work for
Step 5: Start the job search
Step 6: My interview process, and how to stand out
Step 7: How I made the decision
Step 1: Process it
On Thursday 11/17, we got an internal call to say that 20% of the company will be laid off.
2 min after the call I receive a call from my new manager (because my manager got laid off also) saying: you are part of it.
The day after the layoff I was feeling super energized and motivated.
Then the following weeks, I had a lot of up and downs. I started to feel unmotivated, sad, and doubting myself.
I took some time to record some podcast episodes and create content.
But if I would do it again I would spend 2 weeks just focusing on doing nothing. Spending more time seeing my family, and friends, to process it in a different way.
And then start my job search.
Step 2: Talk to a lawyer
I talk to a friend who gave me the contact of a lawyer to see what was best for me.
I recommend you do the same if you get laid off to see if what they are offering you is fair.
I didn’t want to spend too much time on this.
I paid a lawyer, 250€ for 1h to know if the offer was fair, or not. And negotiate if needed.
Companies see what’s best for them.
See what’s best for you.
Step 3: reflect on what I want to do next
Before applying I took some time to reflect on what I wanted to do next.
Here is what I was looking for:
Only remote roles
I was moving to Mexico. I will be working on Central Time.
Roles
SDR Leadership or founding SDR: looking to work on the Enterprise segment
Buyer personas
Preference for GTM, data, or cybersecurity teams.
Step 4: Create my list of companies I want to work for
I read a lot on LinkedIn: “Be picky about the company”.
Unfortunately, we can’t be picky because a lot of companies are not hiring.
Be picky with the companies who are hiring.
I use Peersignal to find them, based on the criteria in Step 3.
I shared other resources a few weeks ago: 48 resources to land your next SDR job ASAP
In 2023, don’t spend time on companies that are not hiring.
Step 5: Start my job search
Now that I know what I want and the companies who are hiring.
I use Notion to keep track of my notes and prep for every interview.
Let me know if you want the template of my Notion page and I can send it to you.
I have 3 buckets for finding a role:
Inbound
I got 7 interviews from all the messages I got from LinkedIn posts
I got: 1 offer from those 7 interviews.
Talk to my network and ask for referrals
I talked to people that I know and got 5 interviews from it.
Spoiler: that’s how I found my role at Castor
Outbound
I got 3 interviews by applying on the career page - even though I reached out to the hiring team.
The biggest struggle on my side was that companies in the US who are hiring remotely only hire people who are US based.
Applying didn’t work well for me because of that, so I decided to focus on my inbound and network opportunities.
Step 6: How to stand out in my interview process
#1 Prep for each interview
The structure I use to prep for each interview that I learned from Alexine Mudawar:
Company Background:
Elevator pitch,
Mission, and vision
Current customers
Main competitors,
Recent news/funding
Interviewer Background:
Name,
Current role
Roles held/time spent at current company
Past companies
Education, clubs, groups
Quote from a recent LinkedIn post/article/speaking event
Questions: specific to each interviewer, a few examples:
Where do you see the biggest opportunity for growth in the coming year for XYZ company?
Who is considered the top competitor? Why do you lose?
How are the pods/territories decided?
#2 Show that I know their business
I created a list of companies, prospects, and an account plan and write emails for them - I learned this from Florin Tatulea on our episode (click here to listen to it).
Let me know if you want to see what I did for Castor.
#3 References
I shared my references before they asked me for them.
I shared the contact of my 2 managers and the SVP, Sales.
I learned this from Landon Meyer on our episode (click here to listen to it).
Step 7: How I made the decision
I was in the process with 15 companies, and I ended with 2 offers that really interested me:
1 in Data, Castor
1 in Cybersecurity
Both are great companies, similar size, one Seed stage, and Castor is Series A.
I choose Castor for different reasons:
the potential of growth: for me and for the company
the background of the sales team
Recap
Step 1: Process it
Step 2: Contact a lawyer
Step 3: Reflect on what I want to do next
Step 4: Create my list of companies I want to work for
Step 5: Start the job search
Step 6: How to stand out in my interview process
Step 7: How I made the decision
That's all for this Sunday. Hope this newsletter might help you in your job search. Let me know if it helps you.
Quick Reminder: If you like my emails please do “add to address book” or reply.
See you next week.
Happy prospecting,
Elric
PS: Here're the 3 last issues if you miss them:
#36 - Mastering Cold Calling: A Step-By-Step Guide from a Top Enterprise SDR
#35 - 9 sequences to book more meetings and how to rank them
If you want to read the previous ones, here's the link.