A little bit about Bryan
As a corporate recruiter, I’ve spent the past 20 years interviewing and hiring thousands of people for some of the world’s biggest companies. Everything from C-Suite to janitors, I’ve interviewed and hired them all.
As a Penn State University graduate with a degree in Human Resources, I’ve worked for a who’s who of major corporations. ABB, FedEx, Amazon, Ford Motors. And some small companies too.
My wife and I have also worked for the past several years to reduce our expenses, budget like pros, and earn multiple income streams when she left her job to become a stay-at-home mom.
After getting laid off myself in 2020, I decided to put my experiences to use & create a resource to help people get the dream job they’ve always wanted. But not only that, I’m also passionate about sharing what we’ve learned about living more worry-free and independently!
My story picks up in 2020.
As I sit here coding this new website, I look back at where I was in the spring of 2020 (what a ride it’s been!). I had initially started it to process a layoff I had just experienced. Things were so uncertain – and I was scared to death. I had a young family and a wife who depended on me to provide a living.
This was before I had started a Youtube channel and only had a vague idea of what I wanted A Life After Layoff to be. I knew I wanted to teach people how to write a resume properly and provide interview tips and techniques. But that was pretty much it.
I can honestly look back now and say getting laid off was the best thing that ever happened to me. I would never have taken this step had I stayed in my safety cocoon. So I want to share my first-ever blog post (originally published in May 2020) with you all to see that you too, can change your life if you put the effort in and believe in your dream.
-Bryan
May 30th, 2020
I got laid off last week.
I kind of knew it was coming, but honestly didn’t think it would hit until the end of the year. My wife and I had just moved to TN, and the first workday back, I got a call from the CHRO about the news. It completely blindsided me. But oddly, I’m at peace with it.
I had been laid off before, so this wasn’t my first rodeo. Twice before, to be exact. In my first job out of college, I worked for a large engineering company. A Fortune 50 company. I had worked in a couple of locations and eventually ended up in a factory not far from my hometown working as an HR generalist. My boss had switched jobs, and a new boss who was totally opposite in every possible way came in. I didn’t love it, but it was a job.
The first crisis.
Then one day on TV in the cafeteria, we watched as planes slammed into the World Trade Center. There was much uncertainty…fear…in the market in the months that came. Orders dried up, and the corporation announced a 15% reduction in force would be enacted. I wasn’t super busy and assumed my position would be scrutinized. They announced a voluntary severance, and it was a sweet deal for a 20’s something with no ties to anything, so I took it.
My 2nd layoff – a corporate restructure
The 2nd layoff came much later. I worked for a railroad company and had been there for nearly ten years. I was an HR manager, doing all sorts of labor relations, hiring, and site launches. In the last couple of years of my time there, I was approached (read: poached) to move into a marketing role to take advantage of my creative talents. I’m also a photographer and know a fair bit about graphic design. So off I went to work in web development and creative.
Long story short, I was caught in a political war between two department heads who wanted my services. The one who lost eventually convinced the company’s president that my position should be eliminated if he couldn’t have me. So I was unemployed again.
That one stung alittle. I had been going through a very rough time personally, and adding a job loss was the icing on the cake. Plus, I liked my boss and the type of work that I was doing. He fought for me, and I appreciate him (the best boss you could ask for). But the political game was too strong for even him to overcome (he also got laid off a few months later due to the same stuff). And I had been there for nearly ten years.
The Covid-19 Layoff
But this one, I had seen the writing on the wall. I was a Sr. Recruiter in a large building trades company, and let’s face it…who’s buying houses right now? Our entire department in Talent Acquisition had gone from having 80 active openings to zero overnight. None of us were busy; we were looking for work to do in other departments when the call came. But, there was no mention of a layoff pending in our monthly town hall meetings. So the news was a bit shocking.
This news came early last week (as I write this). The exciting part is that we had decided to move to a new state almost three months before. It should have been okay since I worked remotely and could do my job anywhere. We had just unloaded the moving truck on Saturday, and come Monday, I got a call with the news. Great. My wife and 6-month-old baby will love this. How’s that for timing?
No time to wait! It’s action time!
Not one to sit on my hands, I couldn’t afford to get depressed. I decided to implement an action plan almost immediately, and by that evening, I had updated my resume (it wasn’t too far out of date, I had been casually looking for new jobs before Covid), and began my search. The good news is that I can pivot effortlessly between HR and Talent Acquisition so that I may have more options than a strict recruiter. But the thought of income (and benefits) loss is scary. Not going to lie.
Just what the world needs…a new blog.
I also decided that I wanted to document this process. Having read that something like 30 million Americans have already lost their jobs due to the crisis, maybe someone else can relate. If this can help someone, all the better.
Heck, I had long thought of starting a career coaching and resume business. Maybe I’ll do it this time. I’d seen plenty of resumes that needed the help, and many of the people I had interviewed over the years had no clue what they were doing. So I could help people get better at getting jobs.
What if nobody cares?
Of course, I have had all the usual fears.
- Will I be able to actually do it? Blogs are hard work. And require an insane amount of dedication.
- What if nobody reads this blog? That could happen. There are a lot of other places to draw people’s attention to.
- What if nobody cares? That’s fine. I’ll have a documentary of my journey to look back on as some online journal.
We had previously started a blog about budgeting, one that we never really got off the ground. It was focused on living off the reduced income. My wife was a flight attendant, and when we found out she was pregnant, we decided we needed to plan with her coming off the road. So we dove deep into budgeting, making money from home, and the sort. This is also something I’m passionate about.
So this new blog is basically just that. A chance to document my experience getting laid off, trying to find a new job and hopefully helping a few others along the way. I will also share what we learned about budgeting and finding alternative ways to earn money. It’s going to be about not just surviving. It’s going to be about thriving after a layoff.
Creating a community
I also envision creating a community of people in the same boat. Let’s face it; this is a scary time. Fear is at a high. We can’t leave our houses. Many small businesses are closing their doors forever. Artists and day jobbers are suddenly left scrambling. And people who’d been in recession-proof jobs are suddenly finding themselves without work.
So let’s come together, share stories and inspiration, and maybe learn something. And I’m here to help if you need me.
We got this. Stay strong.
Till next time – Bryan