How to Get Interviews After a Layoff

The first week

A layoff hits fast and the next few days are messy. That's normal. Give yourself a short window to go through the severance papers, check your benefits dates, and file for unemployment if you qualify where you live. Do those first, because they come with deadlines.

Then get to work. Four things in the first week:

• Update your resume with your last job, in plain terms, with what you did and what changed because of it.
• Pick two or three job titles you would take. Not ten. A search with a clear target gets better replies.
• Write down your rules: pay floor, location or remote, industries you want, industries you won't touch.
• Tell ten people, in writing, what you're looking for.

Skip the perfect LinkedIn banner. Nobody has been hired for one.

Your resume comes before everything

Recruiters spend seconds on a first pass. They look for the job title, the last two employers, and if your last job matches the one they are filling. A resume that makes that obvious wins.

Keep a master resume with everything true about your history. Then cut a version for each type of job. The same advice is in our guide on tailoring your resume to every job.

Be straight about the gap. One line is enough: "Laid off in October when the company cut its team" works if it's true. Say what you have done since, such as a course, freelance work, or volunteering. If you've done none of that yet, that's fine too. Just don't invent it.

Build a daily routine

Most people apply hard for four days, burn out, and go quiet for two weeks. Replies come days or weeks after you send, on a rolling basis, and you need to be ready for them. A steady pace works better.

A routine that works for a lot of people:

1. Morning: check new postings that fit your rules. Send your best-fit applications first.
2. Midday: two network messages. One to an old coworker, one to someone at a company you want.
3. Afternoon: practice for any interview on the calendar, and follow up on anything older than a week.
4. Friday: count what you sent, what got replies, and what to change.

Keep a simple sheet with the company, the date, the job link, and the status. When a recruiter calls out of the blue, you will want to know which resume you sent them.

Use your network the right way

Most job searches work through people as much as job boards. But "let me know if you hear of anything" gets you nothing. It puts the work on the other person.

Try this instead:

• Name the job: "I'm looking for a senior accountant job at a mid-size company, hybrid in Chicago."
• Name a company: "Do you know anyone on the finance team at Acme?"
• Make the ask small: "Could you introduce me by email? I'll send you two lines you can forward."

Former managers and teammates are your best contacts. They know your work and they can say so. Ask two of them to be a reference, and ask now, while the layoff is fresh.

Also write to recruiters who have contacted you in the past. They already have your file and they place people for a living.

Where volume comes from

Applying takes time. Finding a posting, reading it, adjusting the resume, filling the form, answering the same questions again. Ten applications can eat a whole day, and that day could have gone to calls and coffee.

An app can take that part, and Salvo is one example. You give Salvo your resume and your written rules. It finds jobs that fit, writes a new resume for each job, submits the application itself, and saves a receipt so you can see what went out. It also preps you for each interview. It submits on Greenhouse, Workable and Ashby today, and more job sites are being added. The details are on the how Salvo applies page.

Two questions to ask any app that applies for you, Salvo included. Does it submit, or only autofill and leave the final click to you? Can you see proof of what it sent? Ask for both.

Cost, stated plainly: free to start, no card, and your first 2 interview requests are free. After that a Turbo plan keeps replies unlocked, at $14 weekly, $39 monthly, $89 every 3 months, or $299 yearly, with a 7-day free trial that needs a card and cancels in one click.

If you are helping a group of laid-off staff instead of yourself, there is an outplacement page for that.

Prepare for the replies

Once you send applications, replies come. Plan for the first call.

• Have a 60 second answer for "tell me about yourself" and a calm line on why you left.
• Keep one story ready for each main skill the job needs.
• Know your pay range and your earliest start date before anyone asks.
• Use a separate email address for the search, so recruiter mail doesn't get buried. Salvo gives each user their own applicant email for this.

On the layoff question, stay short and kind. "The company cut my team. I'm proud of what we shipped, and I'm looking for the next one." Never talk badly about the old employer. Interviewers hear that as a preview of how you will talk about them.

Look after yourself

Job searching after a layoff is stressful, and the stress leaks into the work. Set a stop time each day. Take one full day off a week. Walk outside. Talk to someone besides your spouse or roommate about it.

A layoff reflects a budget decision. Hiring managers know that, and a lot of them have been laid off themselves.

What to do next

Today: update your resume, write your rules, and message ten people. This week: set the daily routine and keep the sheet. If you want the daily applications off your plate, start with Salvo. It's free to start, and you keep your time for the conversations that turn into offers.

Related

• How to Tailor Your Resume to Every Job
• How to Answer Application Screening Questions
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