Bouncing Back

Picture this: It’s a Friday, you’ve wrapped up that memo and have begun to slide into weekend mode when an ominous message from HR lands in your inbox. You click and scan the text — tucked somewhere in the second paragraph is the blow: “It is with heavy hearts that we inform you that your role has been impacted by our company-wide reduction in force.”?

Your stomach drops, your heart stops, and just like that — you’re out of a job.?

As you probably remember, last year was a particularly brutal one for RIFs. More than 300,000 workers from some of America’s largest companies were let go —?and experts expect the trend to continue well into 2024.?

“Now it’s considered a normal part of doing business — to over-hire and layoff, hire and change strategy, and then do another round of cuts,” says Liz Ryan , an HR authority and the CEO of Human Workplace . “It’s created this environment where we’re all basically like temps.”

We spoke to Ryan about dealing with the devastation of losing a job and what you can do to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start off your job search right.

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For more of Ryan’s insights —?including why you might want to give a “pain letter” a shot, plus her tips for networking after a layoff — check out the rest of our interview.

Pro Tips

LinkedIn career expert Catherine Fisher knows the platform inside and out. We asked her to share a couple of tips to help you make the most of the app, get noticed, and land that job offer:

1. People skills have become increasingly important in this era of hybrid work, and now with AI, employers are looking for candidates who are able to connect and manage teams, no matter the environment. Since hirers are relying on “soft” skills more than ever to fill their roles, be sure to highlight some of the most in-demand skills you have – like communication, teamwork, and leadership – on your profile to stand out even more. Data shows that members who list at least one of these skills receive up to four times more messages.

Premium subscribers can also now mark a job as a top choice through “easy apply,” signaling to recruiters that they have a strong interest in that role. The top choice function increases a member’s visibility and helps them stand out to hirers, making them 43 percent more likely to receive a message back from a recruiter.

On the Market

If you’re having a tough time out there on the job market, you’re definitely not alone. We spoke to career expert Madeline Mann about “job shopping” and why the old methods of looking for work won’t cut it anymore.

“The bottom line is: This isn’t your great-aunt’s job market,” she tells us. “The approaches that were used before simply don’t work well anymore, and applying online has become one of the slowest ways to land a job.”

Here’s how Mann helped one jobseeker, who had already sent out a whopping 500 applications, finally win his dream job (with a $35,000 salary increase).

We’re here to help you get the most out of your 9-to-5: Subscribe now for more pro tips from the best in business.