A year ago today I woke up to a message, “Hey, let me know when your online for a call.”
I thought nothing of it. After all, it was pretty normal to get that type of message at my company to go over something about the projects we were working on. I figured that’s what it was about. Or maybe it was to talk about the fact that our company just won an award the night before for “Best Tech Culture” at a small company.
But that wasn’t it at all. Instead, it was to tell me I was being laid off after two-and-a-half years. It wasn’t the first time I’ve been laid off, and it was always something I knew could happen again. That’s just the nature of the beast when working at small startups. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t unexpected and that I wasn’t upset.
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I was devastated. It was, quite honestly, the most enjoyable work I had done where I worked with some of best people I ever met. But, when you are trying to keep a business afloat, decisions have to be made. I was just the causality of it.
So, yeah, while it wasn’t surprising, it stung. But losing my job wasn’t the worst part of it. No, the worst part was that I was let go just about an hour after being told that my wife was pregnant with our third son.
Where Do I Go From Here?
So, there I was. The sole income for my family of, soon to be, five, and I had to tell my wife that I was out of a job. A steady paycheck that kept us afloat was gone. Luckily, however, I had spent the last couple of years being frugal and building a nest egg in case it ever happened. Like I said, I’m no stranger to layoffs after working for startups for nearly a decade.
I just didn’t expect to go through as much of that nest egg as I have.
When I was first let go, I used that time to spend the holiday season with my family and focus on that. You don’t get time back, so taking advantage of the extra time I had was exactly what I needed to do.
At the start of 2024, I decided to take a change and form Mike Straw Studios LLC. I went into business as an independent web developer after doing it for other companies for years. It was time to take a chance on my own.
I’ll be the first to admit, it didn’t go well. Selling is hard. Convincing people why you’re the best choice or why they should go with you over Wix or Squarespace is the hardest conversation I have whenever I talk about building a website for someone. They look at the price for custom work — which, I’d like to say that I’m quite low compared to other developers and agencies — and balk because it’s always something they don’t expect to be what it is. And I get it. Things cost more than ever before so being smart with your financial decisions is more important than ever.
Still, I needed to sell, and I wasn’t. I got a couple small projects here and there, but nothing that had me content with what I was doing. So, in early May I started looking for work again.
The Job Hunt
Since May 6, I’ve sent in over 200 applications and resumes for a mix of jobs. From positions I might be a bit underqualified for to some that I’m even a bit overqualified for, I’ve looked high and low for a position that’s at least flexible enough where I don’t have to be full time in an office. With three small kids and just one vehicle, the flexibility is important. Also, I’ve worked almost exclusively remotely since 2019, so it’s not only something I’m used to, but have proven to be able to handle. It all just makes sense to me, especially with the work I do such as data management, project management, and web development.
That’s led to being pretty much in the same position I started in. Over those 200 applications, I’ve only had 10 total interviews — eight first-round talks and two second-round interviews. That’s it.
Whether my resume doesn’t match what companies are looking for or if they are even making it through to human eyes, I haven’t got a clue. I just know it’s been a pretty rough and demoralizing last six month months. Even from the companies where I didn’t move forward, I’ve asked for feedback on what about me or my experience led to them going elsewhere. None of them responded to multiple attempts for this feedback.
Again, demoralizing. Spending four or more hours per day searching and applying to jobs only to not get in for an interview hurts. It especially hurts when positions match exactly what you’ve done for years.
I keep a picture of my family next to me at my desk while I’m writing and looking for more work. It’s what keeps me going. Admittedly, there have been plenty of days where I’ve felt like giving up and just leaving everything behind. But I don’t. I look at them, and I know that they deserve the world. I want to give them the world.
I still have my writing at Insider Gaming to bring in some money, but in today’s world, writing alone doesn’t keep the lights on which is becoming more and more real as the days and weeks go by. It’s also one of those positions where you need to work as much as possible to bring in money. It’s leading to burnout again which had me almost leave the industry altogether in October 2022.
So here I am, writing this in one window with Indeed, 43North Compass, and LinkedIn open in another looking for positions and sending applications. In the mean time, I continue to work on small projects to keep my skills fresh while trying to sell freelance work to keep my family in our home.
My luck has been down for a year now, but it has to get better if I keep pushing forward, right?
