Laid Off. Now What?
Laid Off. Now What?
After an unexpected layoff, I'm trying to put together what's next. On August 7th, I went to a work meeting. Getting laid off was the furthest thing from my mind.
I got laid off.
I’ve lost jobs before. I was laid off at the end of 2019, which I expected but it still sucked. Then I was in a contract role that ended which also wasn’t too surprising because it was becoming very month-to-month, but it still sucked.
This though? I don’t think I’ve ever been so caught off guard in my life. If someone had asked me what that meeting was going to be about, it would have taken quite a few guesses for me to get to “I’m getting laid off.” It has only been a week and a half, yet it somehow feels like it has been 12 years. I’m still shocked and, honestly, angry.
And, of course, extremely overwhelmed. I am in an absolute panic. I recently refinanced my student loans. I have debt. Now I don’t have a job. No income. And, unfortunately and frustratingly for me, I can’t work retail or wait tables because I have a disability that very much limits my mobility and ability to stand. Honestly, if I could, I probably would’ve already had another job working weekends.
I had been looking for another role (my previous role was never my end-all, be-all). and had a couple interviews that didn’t go anywhere. But it was casual. This went from 0-60 real quick.
So, now what?
Somehow, to my absolute amazement, I haven’t broken down and cried yet. But I know myself, and it is coming. I have not let myself fully panic yet, although I’m definitely in “oh shit” mode.
I think the first thing I did was put it on LinkedIn - I wanted people to know I’m available for hire! Although apparently some recruiters think that LinkedIn’s “Open to Work” banner gives off desperation vibes, I have it on my profile photo.
Because, yeah. I am desperate. I’m unemployed. That presents a significant problem for most people. Looking at no income and no health insurance. (No idea how I’ll be managing my healthcare and prescription costs!) I think I’m pretty open to roles, with one or two exceptions. And in this economy, how picky can anyone afford to be?
Something else I had been looking at before I got laid off was expanding my skill set as I could. Timing is everything, and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh offered members access to several Google certification courses on Coursera, and I signed up for the Digital Marketing & e-Commerce one. This was kind of a double bonus because I have wanted to sell my handmade jewelry online, too. Also, I had already been taking editing classes through the Poynter Institute.
But the second thing I did was also on LinkedIn - I was offered a free month of LinkedIn Premium, and I snatched that right up. Unfortunately, at $50ish a month, it definitely isn’t in the budget right now (someone remind me to cancel my Planet Fitness membership), but I’m taking advantage of those Premium features while I can - especially LinkedIn Learning.
Let’s Learn
So that’s the second thing I did - I began making a plan to learn. Before TL (The Layoff), I was looking at ways to improve my skills in things like Microsoft Excel, Tableau, and Power BI. Like I said, I had already signed up for Google’s Digital Marketing certification. But LinkedIn Learning offers a huge variety of classes for all different career aspects and stages. I’m not great with numbers, but data-focused classes are on my radar. You can’t get away from data, especially in marketing. And, along with the Google cert, I’m taking other marketing classes. TL has also provided me with an opportunity to take an inventory of my strengths and weaknesses, and LinkedIn Learning is helping me improve upon those. For example, there are several interviewing classes available; I’m better at asking the questions as opposed to answering them.
Unsurprisingly, I plan on writing. I have two book projects I’m working on: one fiction and one nonfiction. Since I have this free time, I actually had the opportunity to score a free ticket to a fiction writing seminar I am excited for, and I have some saved webinars to watch. But I’ll also be writing blog posts and working on samples. Hopefully, I can also send some pitches out there and maybe get some work that way, too.
If you know me, you know I’m a reader, and it’ll be no surprise that I have plenty of books to read. I do tend to read nonfiction over fiction, but, with my unexpected free time, I plan on diving into some of these now in order to learn:
Plot & Structure (Write Great Fiction) by James Scott Bell
Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick
The Art of Statistics: How to Learn from Data by David Spiegelhalter
How to Write a Damn Good Mystery by James N. Frey
Very Good Copy: 207 Micro-Lessons on Thinking and Writing Like a Copywriter by Eddie Shleyner
The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert Bly
The AdWeek Copywriting Handbook by Joseph Sugarman
All About Copyediting: 55 Easy Edits to Improve Your Writing Skills Forever by K.J. Heritage
The Ethics of Rhetoric by Richard M. Weaver
Digital Rhetoric: Theory, Method, Practice (Digital Humanities) by Douglas Eyman
A whole series on writing fiction by K.M. Weiland
Right now, with all of this free time, it is super important for me and my sanity to keep some type of structure. While finding a new job can be a full-time job in itself, I can’t spend 40 hours a week applying for jobs. In the long run, I think taking the time to focus on my professional and personal development will prove more advantageous than burning myself out applying to jobs. In this situation, where I’m trying not to give in to uncertainty and panic, taking time to learn and improve myself is something I can control.
My evenings will probably still be filled with jewelry making. Maybe someone will buy a piece or two. But with back-to-school comes craft show season, so I’ll be getting my inventory and whatnot together. Also, I’ve written about jewelry making before and shared my favorite jewelry-making supplies. Way back when I started this blog, my very first post was about the importance of hobbies. While I have basically fully monetized this hobby, it remains a huge stress reliever for me and is still very much enjoyable! I can spend hours making jewelry and just relax. It also keeps me off my phone and doomscrolling. It is a great escape for me, and that is huge right now. Also, this year I’ve started a lot more with bead stitching and bead embroidery, and I can’t wait to see where all that goes!
So that’s how I am trying to manage my unexpected unemployment. But you might be wondering a little bit more about me. Here we go…
Who is Tori Mikulan?
Time to polish that elevator pitch! Who is Tori Mikulan? Well, actually, if you’re reading my application or resume, it’ll say Victoria Mikulan, but you’ll end up calling me Tori even if I don’t say so because that happens all the time. Guess I look like a Tori.
According to my “2024 LinkedIn Rewind,” I am a writer, editor, and sentinel (I don’t know). My superpower is bridging safety knowledge with storytelling impact, which does sound really good. And if you go to my Authory profile, everything I’ve published has been published in firefighting magazines, but there is some variety among the topics.
I did once ask ChatGPT to summarize who I was (Victoria Mikulan) and it said “Victoria Mikulan is a multifaceted professional balancing editorial work and public service. She’s a certified MPA, accomplished writer with magazine credits, and an experienced firefighter. She also shares her personal passions - like crafts and writing - via social platforms.”
That is, I have to say, pretty close. I earned an MPA from Penn State University, but no regulatory body “certified” me like you would a CPA. And, sadly, while I still belong to a fire department, I am unfortunately no longer a firefighter because my leg is messed up.
When it comes down to it, I am a writer. And I’m good at it. But I also think my curiosity and drive to learn are very valuable skills. Part of that is because I’ll write about anything you need. I like to learn about and research a topic to later write about it. Again, look at my portfolio and blog - there’s a fair amount of variety, even within the firefighting articles.
However, I think I am teachable. I want to learn. The majority of roles I’ve looked at, even if they aren’t explicitly writing, comms, or marketing, always want good communications skills. That’s me.
I think I have some interesting experiences as well. I’ve worked with internal and external communications teams. I’ve been responsible for developing proposal responses for deals worth millions of dollars. In one of my roles, for a time, I was the only member of the communications team in North America. This was for an international company. I’ve worked with people around the world. In my last role, I created a style guide for in-house usage to keep edits consistent. And I’ve definitely worked with a variety of teams and people. I’ve learned from them and also taught some of them - like why a press release can’t be nine pages.
My volunteer work has also provided me with some great professional experiences. I’ve planned and managed multiple fundraisers and community events (love it). I’ve developed social media campaigns with marketing, recruitment, and educational materials. My proposal writing experience has been valuable in helping with grants. And I’ve done a lot of writing for my fire department: policies, guidelines, by-laws, grants, social media posts, newsletters, brochures, flyers, and more. Volunteer firefighters are strained as it is - training is demanding, and then there’s the actual responding. I’ve tried to make things on the administrative side more efficient, by doing things like developing a Google Drive so files and projects are more easily accessible, making our membership application available online, and developing a guidebook for easy reference materials.
I’m adaptable. My experience demonstrates that I can succeed in different roles and environments. Need a great communicator? Okay. Let me write, let me edit, or, as the kids say, let me cook. I want to thrive in whatever my next role is. I also want my employer to thrive. Let me tell your story. And it might not be your typical writer role - stories are everywhere. Solving a problem is just part of a story. In everything you do, you want your message to communicate something. You want someone to believe something when they receive that information.
Onward and Upward
Right now, I want to believe that this layoff is going to lead to something great. I really want something good to come from this when right now there’s just panic. A layoff really shakes your confidence. And this is the second time I’ve been laid off specifically as a proposal writer. Even though proposal writing isn’t my ultimate career goal, being laid off twice in that role has kind of messed me up.
And to get a little personal here, if you know me, you know I’ve had some really bad luck that does include employment. But I spent more than three years looking for some kind of pain relief as the pain continued to get worse and my mobility continued to decrease. After I got my spinal cord stimulator, one of the biggest shocks (no pun intended) was realizing how much brain fog had been affecting me. That led me down a road where I began to wonder how many job interviews or opportunities I’d lost out on because the pain was scrambling my brain too much. How many times did I not get to really share who I really was? And it might not have made any difference, there’s no way to know. But my leg has been a source of more than just physical pain sprinkled in with anger. It’s hard to come to terms with that. Now, it’s difficult to deal with getting laid off again. It’s disbelief sprinkled in with anger. What I do know is focusing on these past issues isn’t going to be productive because I can’t change it. Anger here can just be a waste of energy.
So while I really, really, really hope for a positive change in my luck, I know I need to keep moving forward. It’s a new day and time for new opportunities. New job, new me? Maybe I’ll write that book, and it’ll end up a bestseller. Maybe I’ll find a job in an unexpected career and love it. Maybe my jewelry will take off. Onward and upward, because that’s the only way to go.
If you’ve ever seen The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, right now I’m thinking of the song “Hard Candy Christmas.” (I hope) I’ll be just fine. Just like Dolly. (I highly recommend this movie, if you’re an adult. If you’re not, how the heck did you end up here?)
But since I brought up the movie, I’m going to end this unexpectedly with a clip from it. The Governor, played brilliantly by Charles Durning, says a whole lot of nothing. While it can be perceived as an example of poor communication, that man knew exactly what he was doing with every word. (This video always makes me laugh)
