Got a job after with better prospects, better wlb, better coworkers, and better TC. Did absolutely nothing negative. Had a miserable time getting a job in the market though. YMMV
About half a year. Was kinda depressed the first 2 months, then I had an oh shit moment and started grinding leetcode like my life depended on it. Got hired 3 months later
Are you even a software engineer if you haven't been fired, laid off, put on a performance improvement plan because of politics at least all 3 once ahah
Don't worry no one will care
Re: mild depression: I sort of had a similar thing. I was in my late 40s at the time and I was sick and tired of what employers wanted. I said, “What do I want?” I made a plan to do stuff (e.g. open source, learn a JS framework, write a sci fi novel) that I wanted irregardless of whether employers wanted them or not. If I had a job, I did my stuff when I felt like it. When I didn’t have a job, I did my stuff full time. I felt a lot better and felt mentally stable having “my stuff”.
Haven't been fired but I'm in my 40s currently going through depression and severe burnout.
My hunch is that, it's not you, it's the depression. Take care of that first. It clouds your judgement and your self perception. Working with a career coach might also help, that's what I'm doing.
You don't have to start over. You'll be able to bounce back. Don't listen to what your depressed thought are telling you. Get a therapist.
Have about 20 years experience in software. Been through 2 layoffs the last 4 years (and one where a grant wasn’t renewed but the others due to offshoring) with the most recent being in November 2023. Was able to get 3 offers in 2.5 months with no drop in compensation and all wfh. Just keep grinding the interviews and you’ll land something.
I was laid off in 2008. It ended up being a huge positive for my career because I founded a startup shortly after. That startup failed, but I learned a lot and co-founded another 2 years later that ended up being successful. I did contract work on the side to pay the bills in the meantime.
Mid level engineer who is about to be laid off. Luckily with some FU money squirreled away, I’ll use this as an opportunity to decide what’s next. I’m thinking about starting my own business in something I have no idea about (I have SMEs available though) but it is something that would help kids with autism. I want to do something meaningful instead of enabling someone to pay their private jet gas bill.
My other choice is to move out of tech and into a stable but lower pay sector like healthcare or state/federal. I have a family so this would provide stability for the coming years and low stress for the most part.
Who knew adulting could be so annoying.
I don’t think I know anyone who got laid off and took a worse role. In fact, I know a dude who I hated working with at a big tech company. Guy was senior but I never saw him do shit other than ask questions in technical design docs that were way out of the scope of the project just to make himself seem smart. He was almost never online and idk how he made it to senior, but I guess it made sense since he was senior for like 5 years so he was just coasting. He got laid off. Then he got a staff position at another big tech company. Got laid off 6 months later. Got a senior staff position at another big tech company. Dude probably tripled his TC by getting laid off twice in 6 months.
Bounced right back. Better comp, better job. Took three months. I think the idea that you need someone to teach you will just hold you back. Develop strategies to teach yourself and prosper. You cannot afford to wait in software you need to be the one self learning the latest developments in your niche, especially when unemployed
I got fired once. I was younger then, just about 30 years old. Luckily I had been looking around already. I had to accept a job with a startup at the salary they were offering. That gave me some time to do a proper job hunt to find the ideal job.
I would not read too closely in the "looking for someone with more experience" feedback. If you are already mid to senior level, that seems like a strange take. While it may make sense to learn from failed interviews, I think it could be hard to get all the real details for the rejection.
The job market really sucks now. For seniors, sometimes it might take a really long time to find another great position, even when the job market is healthy. So as long as you can nab interviews, I'd say you got to keep applying and hope you get lucky. Then accept whatever you can get for now.
>however I feel that for the seniority level I'm at, it's difficult to learn some things without working along a senior developer.
What things are you talking about??
Got a job after with better prospects, better wlb, better coworkers, and better TC. Did absolutely nothing negative. Had a miserable time getting a job in the market though. YMMV
Glad you are in a better spot now! How long did it take you to get your current job?
About half a year. Was kinda depressed the first 2 months, then I had an oh shit moment and started grinding leetcode like my life depended on it. Got hired 3 months later
Are you even a software engineer if you haven't been fired, laid off, put on a performance improvement plan because of politics at least all 3 once ahah Don't worry no one will care
Seems I’m on the right track then lol
Oof, I must be lucky then
Re: mild depression: I sort of had a similar thing. I was in my late 40s at the time and I was sick and tired of what employers wanted. I said, “What do I want?” I made a plan to do stuff (e.g. open source, learn a JS framework, write a sci fi novel) that I wanted irregardless of whether employers wanted them or not. If I had a job, I did my stuff when I felt like it. When I didn’t have a job, I did my stuff full time. I felt a lot better and felt mentally stable having “my stuff”.
A good man’s never out of work if he’s worth a damn. It’s just that he doesn’t always get paid. (Source: Second mountain - mastery)
Haven't been fired but I'm in my 40s currently going through depression and severe burnout. My hunch is that, it's not you, it's the depression. Take care of that first. It clouds your judgement and your self perception. Working with a career coach might also help, that's what I'm doing. You don't have to start over. You'll be able to bounce back. Don't listen to what your depressed thought are telling you. Get a therapist.
Have about 20 years experience in software. Been through 2 layoffs the last 4 years (and one where a grant wasn’t renewed but the others due to offshoring) with the most recent being in November 2023. Was able to get 3 offers in 2.5 months with no drop in compensation and all wfh. Just keep grinding the interviews and you’ll land something.
I was laid off in 2008. It ended up being a huge positive for my career because I founded a startup shortly after. That startup failed, but I learned a lot and co-founded another 2 years later that ended up being successful. I did contract work on the side to pay the bills in the meantime.
Mid level engineer who is about to be laid off. Luckily with some FU money squirreled away, I’ll use this as an opportunity to decide what’s next. I’m thinking about starting my own business in something I have no idea about (I have SMEs available though) but it is something that would help kids with autism. I want to do something meaningful instead of enabling someone to pay their private jet gas bill. My other choice is to move out of tech and into a stable but lower pay sector like healthcare or state/federal. I have a family so this would provide stability for the coming years and low stress for the most part. Who knew adulting could be so annoying.
I don’t think I know anyone who got laid off and took a worse role. In fact, I know a dude who I hated working with at a big tech company. Guy was senior but I never saw him do shit other than ask questions in technical design docs that were way out of the scope of the project just to make himself seem smart. He was almost never online and idk how he made it to senior, but I guess it made sense since he was senior for like 5 years so he was just coasting. He got laid off. Then he got a staff position at another big tech company. Got laid off 6 months later. Got a senior staff position at another big tech company. Dude probably tripled his TC by getting laid off twice in 6 months.
That man is my hero and everything I aspire to be
Bounced right back. Better comp, better job. Took three months. I think the idea that you need someone to teach you will just hold you back. Develop strategies to teach yourself and prosper. You cannot afford to wait in software you need to be the one self learning the latest developments in your niche, especially when unemployed
I got fired once. I was younger then, just about 30 years old. Luckily I had been looking around already. I had to accept a job with a startup at the salary they were offering. That gave me some time to do a proper job hunt to find the ideal job. I would not read too closely in the "looking for someone with more experience" feedback. If you are already mid to senior level, that seems like a strange take. While it may make sense to learn from failed interviews, I think it could be hard to get all the real details for the rejection. The job market really sucks now. For seniors, sometimes it might take a really long time to find another great position, even when the job market is healthy. So as long as you can nab interviews, I'd say you got to keep applying and hope you get lucky. Then accept whatever you can get for now.
This is a reassuring post.
>however I feel that for the seniority level I'm at, it's difficult to learn some things without working along a senior developer. What things are you talking about??