How Salespeople Can Rebound Their Profession After a Layoff (Suggestions from Reps Who’ve Finished It)

Over 200,000 folks have been laid off from tech corporations within the final yr. Dozens of main tech corporations have fired 1000’s of staff, together with Amazon (18,000), Meta (11,000), Microsoft (10,000), Salesforce (8,000), and Twitter (4,000). Smaller tech corporations adopted go well with, and now, 1000’s of individuals are searching for new jobs.

When you’re a salesman affected by these layoffs, you’re in all probability frightened of what the longer term will seem like for you career-wise. And that’s okay. Regardless of how dreadful and anxiety-inducing layoffs are, there are steps you possibly can take to maneuver ahead and revive your profession.

On this article, you’ll get some ideas from friends who’ve been laid off prior to now on how one can rebound your profession after a layoff.

Rebounding After a Layoff

1. Handle your psychological well being and well-being.

Shedding your job unexpectedly could be traumatic. Not solely is there a lack of revenue, however getting laid off additionally comes with a lack of id (inside your profession), a sense of not being adequate, and worry of what to do subsequent.

When you really feel indignant, resentful, and harm, that’s okay. When you really feel anxious and depressed, that’s regular and legitimate, too. And that’s why it’s not a good suggestion to leap into searching for a job immediately. As a substitute, take just a few days to course of your feelings and care for your psychological well being.

Will Yang, the top of progress at Instrumental, is aware of how necessary that is.

“Within the instant aftermath of being laid off, it is easy to really feel like you’ve on a regular basis on the earth to take care of your feelings, however you do not,” Yang says. “You are still operating on adrenaline and, in case you’re something like me, you’ll be so targeted on discovering a brand new job that it gained’t hit you till later that that is really a extremely traumatic occasion. So take a while day-after-day — even when it’s simply 10 minutes — to do one thing for your self. It could possibly be so simple as getting exterior and strolling across the block or going for a run at lunchtime; no matter works for you.”

2. Negotiate your severance package deal.

Mark Woodbury, a co-founder at Minerva Fairness, was a laid-off salesperson a few years again, and he says that negotiating his severance package deal helped him bounce again in his profession.

“What most laid-off staff don’t understand is that employers are probably prepared to barter as a gesture of goodwill, particularly in case you’ve been an asset to the corporate. For instance, you possibly can ask if they’ll add a pair extra weeks of wage to the package deal or if they’ll prolong your advantages,” he says.

What you ask for, nevertheless, depends upon how many individuals the corporate is shedding and the way lengthy you’ve labored there.

For instance, in case you work for a big firm shedding 25% of its workforce, you is likely to be unable to barter. They’ve probably streamlined the severance packages to go well with everybody they’re letting go. But when the layoff occurs at a 50-person firm, there’ll probably be extra wiggle room.

So in case you’re supplied a severance package deal of six weeks’ wage, you could possibly ask for eight weeks as a substitute. You possibly can additionally ask if they might prolong your advantages or assist you get a brand new job by means of retraining or counseling. You possibly can even negotiate a shift in roles in case you had been a part of an ongoing challenge on the time of the layoff.

In Woodbury’s phrases, doing this can assist you deal with a giant chunk of fear from being laid off and mean you can transition higher.

3. Polish your resume.

If you really feel extra mentally and emotionally steady, you can begin searching for a job. However don’t bounce straight into sending software letters. Give attention to sprucing your resume first.

Take into consideration what you need in your profession and the form of position that may assist you get there. Then, refine your resume to incorporate abilities that replicate simply how competent and certified you’re for that position.

After he was laid off from his earlier gross sales job, the CMO of Freelance Writing Jobs, Milo Cruz, took a yr to construct his profession model. However first, he brushed up his resume to draw higher alternatives.

“Create a result- or skills-based resume and emphasize your achievements along with your previous employers,” says Cruz. “When you beforehand acquired the very best gross sales worker award, embody it in your resume and all different accomplishments that contribute to the corporate’s success.”

On constructing a profession model, Cruz advises, “Show a real and compelling persona in your profession model by itemizing all of your delicate abilities, values, and related experiences. That approach, it is going to be simpler for future employers to acknowledge your price as a dependable salesperson, which in the end convinces them to rent you and give you yet one more shot within the gross sales trade.”

4. Leverage your small business community.

When you’ve fastened up your resume and are able to job hunt, speak to folks in your enterprise community — together with former colleagues and executives — and allow them to know you’re out there for a brand new alternative. This fashion, they’ll look ahead to job postings that is likely to be an ideal match for you.

You possibly can additionally use LinkedIn to search out new alternatives — and construct a strong community in case you haven’t already. With over 850 million members and 57 million corporations worldwide, LinkedIn is a goldmine for enterprise professionals by way of job alternatives and entry to different professionals. The platform may also function your digital resume.

“Use on-line platforms akin to LinkedIn or Twitter to attach with trade contacts who may need insights into potential job alternatives,” says Lisa Dietrich, a companion at Girokonto.io. “Remember the ability of face-to-face networking both. Attending trade occasions or commerce exhibits could be useful in serving to you land a brand new position faster…”

To extend your probabilities of getting a job by means of LinkedIn, do the next:

• Replace your profile to make sure that all data is related and up-to-date.
• Craft a complete “About” part about your talents, experience, and achievements in your final position.
• Join and work together with others in your trade or desired roles/corporations.
• Publish posts that show your trade experience.
• Set your profile as “Open to Work” so hiring managers and recruiters can discover you and attain out with open roles.
• Publish a submit that lets folks know you’ve been laid off and are open to new alternatives. The response you get could shock you.

5. Hold your abilities up-to-date.

It’s straightforward to get absorbed with crafting cowl letters and filling out job functions proper after you’re laid off. Nevertheless, you need to take a while to maintain your abilities up-to-date and be taught new issues that may give you an edge in your job search.

Riva Jeane Could Caburog, a PR/media coordinator at Nadrich & Cohen Accident Harm Attorneys, used to work as a gross sales specialist for an ecommerce model. However when the enterprise needed to reduce down on its operational and labor prices, her employer laid her off.

After discovering it troublesome to get a brand new gross sales job, she determined to upskill. “I took programs associated to public relations, a self-discipline that enhances properly with gross sales,” Caburog recounts. “That was the very best determination I made as a result of my newly-acquired experience in PR helped me land a job in a legislation agency. Now, I’m trusted to craft efficient methods for the agency’s gross sales workforce, which permits me to make use of my earlier expertise whereas incomes extra.”

Garrett Smith, the top of native search engine marketing at GMB Gorilla, echoes Caburog’s sentiments.

Talking from his expertise of being laid off from his gross sales job, Smith says, “Take this chance to realize expertise and abilities for a unique trade you’ve been eager to pursue. Not solely will this make you enticing to employers, however it should additionally provide you with confidence and momentum in what can in any other case be a discouraging state of affairs.”

6. Put money into a profession coach.

Working with a profession coach who has tons of expertise within the gross sales trade can assist you in your seek for a brand new, better-paying job. Not solely do they convey their information to the desk, however in addition they carry their enterprise community that will help you discover job alternatives.

Allan Stolc, the founder and CEO of Bankly, used to deal with a gross sales workforce in a medium-sized tech firm earlier than he was laid off as a result of pandemic. In 2020, he was in a position to bounce again and begin his personal fintech enterprise with the assistance of a profession coach.

“When you’re struggling to get again to gross sales, a profession coach with many years of expertise within the trade can offer you the correct instruments, helpful insights, and dependable sources,” says Stolc. “You don’t have to exert effort and time researching what’s greatest for you since you’ll be offered with all of the out there choices based mostly on what fits your persona, as objectively assessed by your chosen profession coach.”

Profession coaches are price your cash as a result of they make you a greater salesperson. And in case you select a well-connected coach, they’ll refer you to corporations they’ve affiliations with and vouch for you.

When you plan to begin your personal enterprise like Allan Stolc, profession teaching helps you be taught necessary enterprise administration abilities that’ll turn out to be useful if you launch.

7. Strive freelancing.

When you don’t wish to get a full-time job proper after the layoff, you possibly can go the freelancing route. Lisa Dietrich of Gironkonto.io recommends it.

“Performing some freelance work could not solely assist tide you over financially till you discover one thing extra everlasting, but it surely may additionally open up additional employment alternatives as it should assist broaden your ability set and add extra numerous expertise to your CV.,” she says.

And she or he’s proper. Freelancing permits you to earn some cash and enhance your portfolio of labor completed for shoppers. It might additionally enhance your expertise stage and make potential employers see you as competent, able to working alone and with a workforce.

Adrienne Sofa, a human sources analyst at LLC.Companies, additionally likes the thought of freelancing.

“The job market is consistently altering, and it is necessary to be open-minded about various kinds of work preparations,” says Sofa. “The gig economic system is rising, and increasingly corporations are hiring unbiased contractors and freelancers, so don’t restrict your self to only conventional job openings.”

8. Keep optimistic.

As you be taught new abilities and apply for jobs, you’ll get interview affords. If you do, go into the interviews with a optimistic mindset. Certain, some interviews may go the best way you count on, however you must transfer ahead and maintain making an attempt until you get one.

Cole Gordon, gross sales coach and founding father of Closers.io, is aware of how necessary it’s to be optimistic when trying to find new jobs.

“The job search course of could be irritating, but it surely’s necessary to remain optimistic. Keep in mind that rejection is simply part of the method, and that you’re going to land a brand new gross sales gig finally. Keep motivated and proceed to place your self on the market.”

When you’re discovering it troublesome to remain optimistic, contemplate taking a break from job searching to spend high quality time with family members and do issues that make you content.

Be gracious to your self after a layoff.

After getting laid off, a very powerful factor to recollect as you search for one other job is to be form to your self. Strive to not spend all of your time questioning the place you went unsuitable or what you could possibly have completed higher. The reality is: many layoffs usually are not private. So that you could be glorious at your job and nonetheless get laid off.

Throughout your free time, attempt to do issues that may nourish your spirit and maintain you content. Hang around with buddies, eat properly, train, interact in hobbies, and have enjoyable. Sooner or later, you’ll be joyful you probably did.