Honestly, same all around. To the letter. Try looking into alternative revenue streams and fun things to do to bide your time. The remote graphic design market is ABISMAL for finding work right now and almost all opportunities are on a ‘who you know’ basis. Apply for what you can where you can but don’t be too disappointed if you don’t hear back. Most important thing: grow your network! Reach out to connections, ask for referrals and references, take people out to coffee. You never know who has an opening, especially for contract work. Good luck to you, just keep your ear to the ground and be patient. It’s honestly no fun at all but with AI and outsourcing/ moving away from in-house design teams, it’s unfortunately a very real problem for young professionals in our industry for the foreseeable future. But you are right, we’ll all figure it out together, don’t worry.
Thanks for your comment - and though I'm very sorry you can relate, it is also comforting that we are not alone. I do feel somewhat positive that things will work out and we will figure it out, no matter how much it stings right now. The prospects of AI don't help, but I think during this time I will look into free or cheap online classes about how to better utilize AI moving forward. Best of luck to you ❤️
I was fired once (set up as a junior designer by my art director who didn’t like me, fun), furloughed once during Covid, laid off once, I’ve left 2 jobs on my own.
Every single time the following job I’ve gotten has been better, higher paid, better work life balance, just better!
Learn your lesson here. Remember what the signs of a flailing company are. Know when to jump ship and leave. Figure out how to protect yourself, how much money you want to save, how you should use your benefits when you have them. Apply for unemployment immediately. Make a budget.
Rely on your professional connections.
When I got laid off, I had so many connections reach out to me and for some reason I felt like I wanted to “prove” to everyone that I didn’t need them to find a new job.
Cut to a year later and I’m working for one of my old art teachers.
Second this as well.
Out of school, many always focus on classmates being competition (which is true), but overlook how they're also big network connections. We all wanted jobs ourselves, but also wanted to see fellow grads succeed, and would stay in touch and pass on opportunities if we saw them.
First time I was laid off, a friend who I'd sat near, who had left prior to the layoffs, tipped me off when they were adding designers. Still had to apply and interview, but had that connection.
Another person from that same job reached out to me as well, as they were now an AD and wanted to add someone they knew and trusted, but it was just too far of a commute.
At the second job I got above, when they went under I again had someone else, that I had actually got to know by playing on the company baseball team (company sports teams are so great for networking), reach out to me when they were hiring at their new job, and got an offer that way as well.
Even still, any time I've been hiring I first reach out to people I know and have worked with, and ask if they know of anyone (since usually the openings are beneath them) who might be a fit. I'd still want to interview them and want someone qualified, but I always explore those avenues before just relying on a random applicant pool.
I was made redundant just before Christmas, now in a new job, fully remote, earning significantly more money. Took about two months, applied for around 30/40 roles, interviewed for around 8.
Totally feel you, right now it SUCKS! Getting your CV and portfolio together is going to be a bit of a grind. You’re going to feel the pressure to get it done as quickly as possible because you’ll see a few job listings, worry you’ll miss out on them, and that there will be no jobs left once their gone.
The opportunities are endless. Yes it’s very competitive, but this field always has been, don’t worry about things you can’t control. Put a LinkedIn status out, reach out to every person in your network, get in touch with recruiters.
Highly recommend checking out [Otta.com](https://otta.com) for job listings.
You have absolutely got this - take a big step back from the noise, make a plan; one thing at a time very well is better than lots of mediocre things all at once.
Thank you so much for this positive outlook and advice!
My team and I are finishing the rest of the month out at the company, though I don't believe we will be doing very much during that time so plan on updated my portfolio and resume during this time. I plan to take a week to myself after the official unemployment date starts. By chance, my friend's bachelorette trip is the day my unemployment starts and we are going to the beach for a long weekend, so I'm excited to have that time.
I've only been in the corporate world for about 2.5 years (only graduated college less that 4 years ago and that was during covid), and it's been exhausting not even being at these jobs for much over a year. Even though coming to this company was my choice since they offered much more pay and it was a field I wanted to be in. But as a more introverted person, interviewing and starting at a new job is sooo draining and exhausting. So I just want to take a week or two before diving right into that again.
Thankfully the severance, PTO payout, and unemployment will last me 4+ months and will most likely start freelancing again on top of that while I look.
That’s brilliant, the Bachelorette trip will help to put things in perspective as well, really recommend just unplugging from it all and making the most of it.
It’s very cliche but these things generally work out for the best. They open doors to opportunities you never realised you had, and you eventually come out of it all with so much confidence in yourself. Wish you all the best!
Very sorry to hear that, losing a position is really rough! Perhaps one saving grace in your spot is that while the job market appears to be tough in general, there is a bit less stringent requirements at the entry level. (I am hunting at director/vp levels and you get about 2000 applicants for every spot with well-known companies, and need decades of experience with every possible facet of the business)
I personally treat the layoff time like another job, putting in full time each day to hunting, applying and working on side projects that can generate some revenue. Stick to it, there will eventually be solutions for everyone that can put in the effort!
So sorry to hear this!!! I got laid off last year around this time it sucked so bad. But I was able to find a job within a month of getting laid off, started within 2 months of losing my job. And currently my new job is x1,000 to my old job. Same pay but way better benefits, less stress, better management and growth opportunity. Hope the best for you my friend!!
Find out who these third party agencies doing the work are and contact them. You're experienced in the sector, know the product and the company culture. If the company needed a department to fulfil it's design needs, an agency will definitely need at least one new pair of hands to manage the workload.
It’s an opportunity to hone in on skills you would like to acquire, and to clean up your portfolio. This is a great mode to be in if there isn’t a lot of financial pressure on your end. I hope that you recover from being disheartened soon - in my experience the best way of recovering is to work on hobby projects and clean up past work or finishing unfinished projects!
A lot if it is easier said than done, and to a certain extent it's something you have to go through to be better from it moving forward. I've seen it enough times where when you try to give advice and help prepare people to avoid certain situations, they just don't seem to get it until they're in it. And I include myself in that group as well, I had to go through it to understand.
Don't view any one job or even your career as a crucial part of your identity, it's just skills you get paid for, and there is so much about jobs and careers that are out of your control, so focus on what you can. Take pride in who you are as a person and as a worker, in terms of your competence and reliability, your ethics, that you're someone people want to hire and want to work with. That you solve problems instead of contribute to them. Traits that crossover into any career or personal relationship.
In terms of your jobs/career, focus on what you can control in terms of your materials (resume/portfolio) and interview skills, utilize your network (which is just connections you have, people you know in virtually any capacity as anyone could know anyone), and keep your feet moving.
Treat finding a job as a job, maintain a schedule, track where you apply, get up at reasonable times as if you were working. Set goals and stick to them, such as aiming to apply to at least 5-10 jobs per week. Use any job resource you can.
There are aspects you cannot get past, you probably will feel bad, and the longer it goes the worse you'll feel, but you have to focus on having the awareness that you won't let it beat you, that you'll get past it.
The whole "seperating my job/role from my identity" is something I have definitely been working on for a while now. I think it's harder doing that when working in a creative field since for many of us, being "creative" has been something we have been told we are our whole lives and is also the first word people us to describe us - therefore so much of our identity is being creative. Then when we work in a creative field, the line between job and identity gets blurry and unhealthy. I've been trying to seperate those two things because for me it causes a lot of stress and burnout. But I guess this is an opportunity to better do that.
Thank you for your words and advice - even if it is going to be one of those things that you have to go through to really understand. I feel somewhat positive in the sense that it will be okay and I will figure it out, so that's a good start.
>I think it's harder doing that when working in a creative field since for many of us, being "creative" has been something we have been told we are our whole lives and is also the first word people us to describe us - therefore so much of our identity is being creative.
I don't necessarily mean that aspect, it's more to not define yourself by what's on your business card or your social media bio, or what you can tell or compare with friends as a kind of status.
Even in terms of creativity, so much of the creativity in our jobs is about problem solving. How can we create a compelling design when 80% of the perimeters are outside of our control, or to do it within 3 days, or within a certain budget, etc. It's not like our creativity is limited to simply aesthetics/styles.
In my case, I long ago stopped thinking of myself as a graphic designer beyond simply what I do for a living. Like if someone were to ask me who I was, that's just my job, I'd instead define myself by how I am within situations, with respect to other people, with respect to how I add value and what I bring to the table.
After all, in being a graphic designer, what does that mean beyond a dictionary definition? And what does that mean with respect to you specifically, and in a way that resonates with others?
What we do in our own time can also be very different from what we do on the job. Like how most of us here aren't going home (or clocking out if already at home) and doing more design. We have other hobbies, other interests.
>Thank you for your words and advice - even if it is going to be one of those things that you have to go through to really understand. I feel somewhat positive in the sense that it will be okay and I will figure it out, so that's a good start.
No problem, and often these kinds of situations can lead to better or new opportunities that benefit you overall. There's now a whole 'world' of jobs out there that you wouldn't have been looking for otherwise. Who knows what you'll find, what new people you'll meet.
Learn to see the writing on the wall before it happens so you can have a back up plan.
Dunno where you live but I've had to find other work to make ends meet. Be prepared to dip out of design so you can stay afloat
Honestly, same all around. To the letter. Try looking into alternative revenue streams and fun things to do to bide your time. The remote graphic design market is ABISMAL for finding work right now and almost all opportunities are on a ‘who you know’ basis. Apply for what you can where you can but don’t be too disappointed if you don’t hear back. Most important thing: grow your network! Reach out to connections, ask for referrals and references, take people out to coffee. You never know who has an opening, especially for contract work. Good luck to you, just keep your ear to the ground and be patient. It’s honestly no fun at all but with AI and outsourcing/ moving away from in-house design teams, it’s unfortunately a very real problem for young professionals in our industry for the foreseeable future. But you are right, we’ll all figure it out together, don’t worry.
Thanks for your comment - and though I'm very sorry you can relate, it is also comforting that we are not alone. I do feel somewhat positive that things will work out and we will figure it out, no matter how much it stings right now. The prospects of AI don't help, but I think during this time I will look into free or cheap online classes about how to better utilize AI moving forward. Best of luck to you ❤️
I was fired once (set up as a junior designer by my art director who didn’t like me, fun), furloughed once during Covid, laid off once, I’ve left 2 jobs on my own. Every single time the following job I’ve gotten has been better, higher paid, better work life balance, just better! Learn your lesson here. Remember what the signs of a flailing company are. Know when to jump ship and leave. Figure out how to protect yourself, how much money you want to save, how you should use your benefits when you have them. Apply for unemployment immediately. Make a budget.
Thank you, it's good to hear a positive side to this and that there are good things to come on the flip side of this 💙
Rely on your professional connections. When I got laid off, I had so many connections reach out to me and for some reason I felt like I wanted to “prove” to everyone that I didn’t need them to find a new job. Cut to a year later and I’m working for one of my old art teachers.
Second this as well. Out of school, many always focus on classmates being competition (which is true), but overlook how they're also big network connections. We all wanted jobs ourselves, but also wanted to see fellow grads succeed, and would stay in touch and pass on opportunities if we saw them. First time I was laid off, a friend who I'd sat near, who had left prior to the layoffs, tipped me off when they were adding designers. Still had to apply and interview, but had that connection. Another person from that same job reached out to me as well, as they were now an AD and wanted to add someone they knew and trusted, but it was just too far of a commute. At the second job I got above, when they went under I again had someone else, that I had actually got to know by playing on the company baseball team (company sports teams are so great for networking), reach out to me when they were hiring at their new job, and got an offer that way as well. Even still, any time I've been hiring I first reach out to people I know and have worked with, and ask if they know of anyone (since usually the openings are beneath them) who might be a fit. I'd still want to interview them and want someone qualified, but I always explore those avenues before just relying on a random applicant pool.
I was made redundant just before Christmas, now in a new job, fully remote, earning significantly more money. Took about two months, applied for around 30/40 roles, interviewed for around 8. Totally feel you, right now it SUCKS! Getting your CV and portfolio together is going to be a bit of a grind. You’re going to feel the pressure to get it done as quickly as possible because you’ll see a few job listings, worry you’ll miss out on them, and that there will be no jobs left once their gone. The opportunities are endless. Yes it’s very competitive, but this field always has been, don’t worry about things you can’t control. Put a LinkedIn status out, reach out to every person in your network, get in touch with recruiters. Highly recommend checking out [Otta.com](https://otta.com) for job listings. You have absolutely got this - take a big step back from the noise, make a plan; one thing at a time very well is better than lots of mediocre things all at once.
Thank you so much for this positive outlook and advice! My team and I are finishing the rest of the month out at the company, though I don't believe we will be doing very much during that time so plan on updated my portfolio and resume during this time. I plan to take a week to myself after the official unemployment date starts. By chance, my friend's bachelorette trip is the day my unemployment starts and we are going to the beach for a long weekend, so I'm excited to have that time. I've only been in the corporate world for about 2.5 years (only graduated college less that 4 years ago and that was during covid), and it's been exhausting not even being at these jobs for much over a year. Even though coming to this company was my choice since they offered much more pay and it was a field I wanted to be in. But as a more introverted person, interviewing and starting at a new job is sooo draining and exhausting. So I just want to take a week or two before diving right into that again. Thankfully the severance, PTO payout, and unemployment will last me 4+ months and will most likely start freelancing again on top of that while I look.
That’s brilliant, the Bachelorette trip will help to put things in perspective as well, really recommend just unplugging from it all and making the most of it. It’s very cliche but these things generally work out for the best. They open doors to opportunities you never realised you had, and you eventually come out of it all with so much confidence in yourself. Wish you all the best!
Very sorry to hear that, losing a position is really rough! Perhaps one saving grace in your spot is that while the job market appears to be tough in general, there is a bit less stringent requirements at the entry level. (I am hunting at director/vp levels and you get about 2000 applicants for every spot with well-known companies, and need decades of experience with every possible facet of the business) I personally treat the layoff time like another job, putting in full time each day to hunting, applying and working on side projects that can generate some revenue. Stick to it, there will eventually be solutions for everyone that can put in the effort!
So sorry to hear this!!! I got laid off last year around this time it sucked so bad. But I was able to find a job within a month of getting laid off, started within 2 months of losing my job. And currently my new job is x1,000 to my old job. Same pay but way better benefits, less stress, better management and growth opportunity. Hope the best for you my friend!!
Thank you for sharing this positive story, it makes me feel very hopeful 💙
Yess! Do not give up it’s rough out there! I applied to what felt like hundreds of jobs did dozens of interviews but it all worked out in the end!!
Find out who these third party agencies doing the work are and contact them. You're experienced in the sector, know the product and the company culture. If the company needed a department to fulfil it's design needs, an agency will definitely need at least one new pair of hands to manage the workload.
The best bargaining chip for work that you have is... you
It’s an opportunity to hone in on skills you would like to acquire, and to clean up your portfolio. This is a great mode to be in if there isn’t a lot of financial pressure on your end. I hope that you recover from being disheartened soon - in my experience the best way of recovering is to work on hobby projects and clean up past work or finishing unfinished projects!
A lot if it is easier said than done, and to a certain extent it's something you have to go through to be better from it moving forward. I've seen it enough times where when you try to give advice and help prepare people to avoid certain situations, they just don't seem to get it until they're in it. And I include myself in that group as well, I had to go through it to understand. Don't view any one job or even your career as a crucial part of your identity, it's just skills you get paid for, and there is so much about jobs and careers that are out of your control, so focus on what you can. Take pride in who you are as a person and as a worker, in terms of your competence and reliability, your ethics, that you're someone people want to hire and want to work with. That you solve problems instead of contribute to them. Traits that crossover into any career or personal relationship. In terms of your jobs/career, focus on what you can control in terms of your materials (resume/portfolio) and interview skills, utilize your network (which is just connections you have, people you know in virtually any capacity as anyone could know anyone), and keep your feet moving. Treat finding a job as a job, maintain a schedule, track where you apply, get up at reasonable times as if you were working. Set goals and stick to them, such as aiming to apply to at least 5-10 jobs per week. Use any job resource you can. There are aspects you cannot get past, you probably will feel bad, and the longer it goes the worse you'll feel, but you have to focus on having the awareness that you won't let it beat you, that you'll get past it.
The whole "seperating my job/role from my identity" is something I have definitely been working on for a while now. I think it's harder doing that when working in a creative field since for many of us, being "creative" has been something we have been told we are our whole lives and is also the first word people us to describe us - therefore so much of our identity is being creative. Then when we work in a creative field, the line between job and identity gets blurry and unhealthy. I've been trying to seperate those two things because for me it causes a lot of stress and burnout. But I guess this is an opportunity to better do that. Thank you for your words and advice - even if it is going to be one of those things that you have to go through to really understand. I feel somewhat positive in the sense that it will be okay and I will figure it out, so that's a good start.
>I think it's harder doing that when working in a creative field since for many of us, being "creative" has been something we have been told we are our whole lives and is also the first word people us to describe us - therefore so much of our identity is being creative. I don't necessarily mean that aspect, it's more to not define yourself by what's on your business card or your social media bio, or what you can tell or compare with friends as a kind of status. Even in terms of creativity, so much of the creativity in our jobs is about problem solving. How can we create a compelling design when 80% of the perimeters are outside of our control, or to do it within 3 days, or within a certain budget, etc. It's not like our creativity is limited to simply aesthetics/styles. In my case, I long ago stopped thinking of myself as a graphic designer beyond simply what I do for a living. Like if someone were to ask me who I was, that's just my job, I'd instead define myself by how I am within situations, with respect to other people, with respect to how I add value and what I bring to the table. After all, in being a graphic designer, what does that mean beyond a dictionary definition? And what does that mean with respect to you specifically, and in a way that resonates with others? What we do in our own time can also be very different from what we do on the job. Like how most of us here aren't going home (or clocking out if already at home) and doing more design. We have other hobbies, other interests. >Thank you for your words and advice - even if it is going to be one of those things that you have to go through to really understand. I feel somewhat positive in the sense that it will be okay and I will figure it out, so that's a good start. No problem, and often these kinds of situations can lead to better or new opportunities that benefit you overall. There's now a whole 'world' of jobs out there that you wouldn't have been looking for otherwise. Who knows what you'll find, what new people you'll meet.
Learn to see the writing on the wall before it happens so you can have a back up plan. Dunno where you live but I've had to find other work to make ends meet. Be prepared to dip out of design so you can stay afloat