How I coped with my sudden job loss

I woke up in my AirBnb in Seoul, ready to start the day. I was thrilled because I was about to try octopus for the first time that day. It was Day 3 of my travels in Korea, and I was savouring the much-needed break from my intense but highly rewarding job as the Growth Lead at JiPay.

I checked my Slack intuitively, just to make sure that my team was doing fine while I was away. There were a few messages from my CEO. She wasn't the type of boss who would send messages during an employee's leave unless it was SOS-level critical. To my dismay, the message read:

"Hi Shiva, hope all is well. Apologies for not being able to communicate this to you in person but I need to tell you something important.

As you know, we have faced some strategic challenges at JiPay and in the past few weeks we've worked very hard to figure out how to generate more revenue through new products quickly, so to be able to raise a future funding round. Unfortunately, the evidence we've received to date has not led us to any promising opportunities. This, coupled with the current macroeconomic outlook means that we will not be able to raise our next round.

As a result, I have made the difficult decision to shut down the company. This decision is final and we will begin winding down our operations next week. The process will take a few months.

...

I am sure you will have many questions. If you'd like to speak this week, let me know and I will make time. Otherwise, I will schedule a call for when you return from your leave."

My heart sank. During the short span of my career, my time at JiPay was the best. I had the most constructive boss, the best team members, the best customers and partners. I had no plans to leave. I wanted to stay in this company I helped to grow since its beginning phase. I was not only exceeding my KPIs, but planning international and product line expansions - both of which I probably wouldn't have had the opportunities to dabble in at other organisations, given hierarchy and scope.

I had no choice but to find for my next job because life had to go on. However, I had to manage that together with my grief. This was how I did it.

1. Leverage on your colleagues for support

Understanding that I was not the only one in this situation helped me leverage on my colleagues as a reliable support system. They could relate to me the most because we were all in the same boat.

Every few days, we would check back in with each other on how everyone was coping and if anyone needed references, LinkedIn recommendations or useful connections.

When job searching, we would also keep our eyes out for other positions that were suitable for the others. Occasionally, we would share inspirational quotes or funny memes/videos to lift our spirits. We were already actively doing this in our private Slack channel during our time at JiPay, so we already established a level of trust and camaraderie amongst ourselves. This made extending the support system beyond work seamless.

2. Shut out the noise

I received a plethora of LinkedIn messages and emails after my CEO had announced the company closure and after the media covered the story. On the one hand, I was thankful that my boss had connected us to other promising companies.

On the other, it was incredibly overwhelming. People had so many questions and wanted to speak. Did they genuinely want to offer my colleagues and I jobs or did they pose themselves a certain way just want to ask more sensitive questions about why JiPay closed? We had no idea what their agenda was.

I had to time box the amount of time I spent on LinkedIn to avoid feeling overwhelmed. I also started to get more discerning in filtering out these messages. This meant researching about their companies and more importantly, their team members. If they already had a good marketing/growth team, then there is not much value add on my end - I would thank them for reaching out, but prioritise others who genuinely wanted to hire me.

3. Find healthy distractions and set mini goals

With my time all freed up, I needed a healthy distraction to focus on. As a workaholic, not doing anything for an extended time period can be depressing.

So about 3 days after my boss made the announcement, I decided to focus on working out. If the other aspects of life are not within my control, I figured getting healthier was what I could control. I was struggling from hormonal problems, so I needed to become healthier again. I now had the time to invest in alleviating my problem. I began walking 10,000 steps every evening at first for about 2 weeks. Slowly, I progressed to running 1.5 KM, 2 KM, 3 KM and then 4 KM over the next 2-3 weeks.

I was aware that these distances were not phenomenal. However, for someone like me who struggles with chronic bronchitis, these were achievements. I started seeing improvements in my skin (yay, lesser cystic breakouts!) and weight. Since this positive change was obvious, it was a huge morale booster for me.

4. Tweak your daily habits

I also started experimenting with my meals. Instead of my usual cài fàn or home-cooked meal, I would eat a different fruit every few days and see how my body responded to them. Of course, I made sure not to starve myself or do anything extreme - the last thing I wanted was additional stress. This made me look forward to my meals everyday because there was always something different to try.

I started making plans to catch up with all my friends as well. Very quickly, my calendar started getting busy as more and more meet ups were planned. I barely had the time to do this while I was employed. Now, I had all the time in the world!

Doing these somehow helped me feel productive because my days were filled up with things to do and people to meet. It also made me view my situation in a more positive light because as my friends shared about their struggles, it reminded me of how the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Sometimes, there are bigger problems than unemployment (even though unemployment in itself can be a stressful situation).

5. Hatch a plan, find what grounds you and don't lose hope

When I wasn't meeting friends or trying to hit new workout goals, I was actively sprucing up my CV, speaking with my connections and applying for jobs. There is no right way to land on the next role - some choose to apply to jobs selectively, while others mass apply to secure employment.

I have tried both routes. In my particular situation, I was lucky enough to not be paying rent, mortgage or grocery bills. I also had a fair bit in savings because I did not have any other heavy financial commitments. As such, I selectively applied to 3-5 jobs that I thought were great every single day, despite the mass tech layoffs causing increased competition for limited jobs.

I realised that there will always be competition. What mattered was standing true to my career achievements and personal values such as empathy, culture, ethics and having a can-do attitude in delivering on achievable KPIs. The more I believed in my values, the more effortless it was to sell myself during interviews because I genuinely believed in them and it showed.

I also reminded myself that I was eventually going to get a job if I maintained my attitude - there was no doubt in that. The only question was when. And things will naturally fall in place when it's time. Since I genuinely believed in that, I was relaxed and focused in my interviews. People love confidence and confidence shines when you're not desperate.

Furthermore, believing that I will eventually land on a job soon helped me celebrate my small wins like having applied to at least 1 job. It can be easy to disregard our hard work when we don't see immediate outcomes. To avoid undermining myself, I constantly reminded myself to celebrate at least 1 small win everyday, which allowed me to maintain my faith and let things pan out as they should.

Conclusion

About 2 months later, I started work in my next role where I am still a growth marketer fighting for the underdogs. Most of my team members, including my CEO, have found great jobs after JiPay as well.

It's important to remember that the time that you take to snag your next role is not a reflection of your self-worth and capabilities. Your focus should be in making small improvements in your CV, interview skills and job application strategy rather than focusing on why you haven't landed on a job as soon as your peers have. Everyone has their own unique timeline.

You cannot miss out on what is meant for you! If you truly understand this, you will realise that you can choose to view scarcity, competition and FOMO as illusions. Whether or not that's true, that notion definitely helps you get laser-focused on applying to quality jobs with high, purposeful intent. If you don't land a role in your ideal company, it's simply not meant for you at that point. It doesn't mean that you can't work for that company in the future - it's just not for now. Something else is in the works, so you just need to be consistent with your efforts until you land on a new job.

I am incredibly thankful to all those who had extended their support when I needed it. Change is truly the only constant. I hope this helps anyone else who is in a similar situation as I was. Don't lose hope and keep your head up!

P.S. The octopus tasted fantastic.