If you’ve recently been laid off—or just want to be prepared in case it happens—I’ve got you covered today with a step-by-step recovery plan.
It’s the final piece in my 3-part layoff series and I’m walking you through 10 critical moves to bounce back faster, stronger, and smarter than before.
(If you missed parts 1 and 2, catch the Top 7 Reasons for Layoffs and Questions to Ask to Avoid Them and Layoff-Proof Your Career: 10 Proven Strategies to Secure Your Job.)
In today’s comeback session, I covered how to:
- Quickly gather the right materials from your employer before access is cut.
- Craft a compelling layoff story that builds confidence and credibility.
- Take control of your finances and daily routine during the transition.
- Build a proactive job search plan that gets results
- Stay visible, sharp, and in demand—even if you’re out of work.
A layoff can feel like a punch to the gut, but it doesn’t have to derail your career.
With the right actions, you can turn this setback into a powerful setup for your next big opportunity.
Whether you’ve been laid off or think it might happen, this lesson will help you rebuild quickly and reclaim your momentum.
You’ll walk away with a clear plan, renewed focus, and a sense of control even in uncertain times.
You’ve got this. And I’ve got you!
If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings:
1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums.
2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel.
3. Grab any of my three books related to interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page.
4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook.
5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here!
--Andy
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Part three in my layoff series So we talked initially about the reasons why
layoffs occur 16 great questions you can ask to detect or see the warning signs Second part of
the series was 10 critical steps to make sure you become indispensable so you don't get laid
off Third part third part is bouncing back after a layoff These these to me are the 10 best steps
(00:25):
And we're doing Andy math on the 10 steps because it's really like step 20 steps but I I put them
into 10 buckets This is how you bounce back strong All right Number one this is not remedial people
This isn't what I'm about to say All right I need you to process it And but let me tell you what I
(00:47):
mean Okay process process it But the andy and pro processing it is reflect very quickly and attach
meaning to what's happening And what do I mean well I've said this many many times Experience
is not what happens to you It's the meaning you attach to what happens to you So I can look at the
(01:08):
same thing and the same thing can happen to me But how I interpret it and really what I'm saying is
let's just assume whatever happens to you happens for your own good Okay so there was a time when I
had been working for a company for 11 months I had created them millions of dollars out of nowhere I
(01:29):
got called into the boss's office He gave me two untenable choices I didn't like them I was I was
basically passive aggressively getting laid off And so I took control of ma of the matter and I
created my own recruitment firm and I turned him into a client So that's that's what I did It was
for my own good It was the little kick in the butt I needed to go open up Milew Walk If you want to
(01:54):
know the full story I believe there's a video out there on YouTube about what to do when you
hate your options What to do when you hate your options Maybe Cara can throw that in the chat But
I want you to assume whatever happened they didn't deserve you or it it was unfortunate thought even
if they did deserve you they're putting you in a position to now go after what it is that is
(02:16):
truly deserving of you I I need you to pause for a second and do this And the reason you want to
do this right away is because if you wallow in it and all of a sudden your first act is "Oh no I got
to go to LinkedIn and I got to put the dumb green circle around my face and then I got to write that
nasty post that complains about how all employers are so bad because my employer happened to be a
(02:41):
bad company." And when technically speaking if you look deep enough you maybe didn't ask the right
questions or maybe it was just an unfortunate situation out of your control It doesn't mean
everybody hates you It's just an unfortunate situation But actually it could be the best thing
that ever happened to you So if you can if you can just just not do that and just process it quickly
(03:02):
Just step one And I don't want to say this every step I want you to do these steps in the order I'm
giving them to you because this is this is what happens A lot of people don't do this in the order
in which I'm giving them to you which is why they have problems and why their actual bounce back or
the comeback takes a lot longer than the setback So process it Get that done Next thing just very
(03:28):
quickly package up your story What do I mean now number one I have a video out there I love this
video The best way to explain your layoff in a job interview This is what I mean when I say
package up your story So what I mean is okay you got let go So you're going to need you might need
to explain what happened I see you're no longer at Milew Walk I see you're no longer at company ABC
(03:55):
Why did you leave i got let go Right you're going to have to explain that I just want you to make
sure that your story is one sentence That's it We had this area Uh we were in financial trouble The
organization let go 86 people I was one of them Done That's it You do not overexlain these things
(04:15):
Uh my organization was moving my entire unit to New York I live in Texas and nobody messes with
Texas I'm never leaving Texas So I didn't go Right What's What's the story and the story needs to be
a shutdown story Meaning no follow-up questions necessary So uh my organization outsourced this
(04:36):
entire arm offshore Okay I that was it They dispensed of it You're looking for something
that is a shutdown The organization moved The organization I understand that every one of
you is going to have a unique story My point is just make sure it's short definitive and it's
shut down That's it And I would highly recommend I would highly recommend you watch this because
(05:02):
I it's I have a whole video on this of how I would build that story and express myself All right next
thing Get the layoff materials in order What do materials mean there are things that matter and
things that don't Now materials could be okay I I've worked with people and coached them We had
(05:23):
coaching sessions on this Andy I'm getting let go This actually is a a not so unpop not so unpopular
one I mean this is actually more common than you would imagine I'm getting let go and I want to
work with you to make sure that I'm getting the best severance package I want to make sure that
all the T's and C's on my departure letter is in order meaning all what they're going to give me
(05:44):
and what are the because a lot of people don't know that you can negotiate a lot of this Can
I be an employee of record for the next 3 months will you serve if they call you will you say "I'm
still working here Can I be paid my severance in weekly or bi-weekly salary payments so that I'm
considered an employee until?" There's so many things you can do Can I make sure that my stock
(06:06):
options vest there's a there's a million things you can do So that's one part of the materials
What you don't need are reference letters Okay nobody wants to just I want you to think about
this recruiters and hiring officials Many of you complain that they don't even read your resumes or
your cover letters Do you think they want to read a reference letter from somebody they don't know
(06:27):
a reference letter from somebody they do not know reads like you keyword stuffing your resume with
things like I'm a great communicator I'm a great listener I'm a great leader I'm highly organized
That's what a that's what a reference letter sounds like right to them So why are they going
to want to take time to read it you don't want a reference letter Don't bother What you want if you
(06:50):
get laid off is a reference Meaning hey Mr Boss man Miss Bosswoman Mr Boss's boss h go as high up
as you can And so ask them I've really loved it here I want to make sure that you know and we're
parting on good terms I really wish I could stay I'm going to obviously job search Would you be
(07:13):
open to serving as a reference the reason you want a reference from the company that laid you off
is because that is a shutdown message in this in your story because what you're going to do these
two work in tandem What you're going to do is when you go into an interview you're going to say "And
they let this I don't care if it was two people they let go They let our team go But I'm so sorry
(07:39):
because I loved my organization I love the people I completely understand it was an economical
reason and as a matter of fact if I were them I would do the same thing based on where they're
going But one of the things I want you to know is my boss will serve as a reference should we get
to the point where you would like my references If you can say that I'm not asking any more questions
(08:02):
because I know if I call your boss then you must have left on good terms You need a reference not
a reference letter Don't bother Don't make the person write it because no one's going to read it
And even if they do they don't care Now you might be surprised This is number four But I'm worried
about all of these things while they're fresh and while it's active and while they're feeling guilty
(08:26):
and all that stuff I want all that in order Okay Get your finances in order What could that mean
well some of you might if you're in the United States you might be able to collect unemployment
benefits right depending on the terms of your departure I want you to take stock of what you had
Meaning what did my financial package look like okay we we if you are if you have the interview
(08:51):
intervention book we talk about this If you are in my job search coaching program we give you the
financial checklists and all the other good stuff to organize this stuff Um if you are not in any of
those you can grab the interview intervention book package if that's something of interest
But look at your emergency fund If you need to take a part-time job organize all that in
(09:13):
order Get it all in order so you can breathe It's probably not as bad as you think I I obviously
everybody's financial situation is different but take stock of your finances Like I said get the
interview intervention book package We're still shipping this anywhere in the world I just ordered
another 3,000 copies so grab them while I got them for a few bucks If you chip in I'll give you the
(09:35):
$30 hardbound uh for free I'll give you the $9 ebook for free I'll give you the audio book which
you can't get anywhere uh and some other goodies if you chip in a few bucks for the materials and
handling of it So that's that's that After you got all that in order I want you to literally I want
you to take a screenshot of this card and this one and the next one I want you to design a new daily
(09:59):
routine I know that sounds ridiculous but can you do me the favor of sitting down for 15 minutes and
literally sketch out your schedule meaning okay I'm now unemployed I have two kids I have a wife
or I have a husband or a partner or whatever What does your day look like i want you to draw it out
(10:24):
and I want you to stick to it I don't care what it looks like I'm going to wake up at 6:00 I'm gonna
lay in bed and have coffee with my wife because she doesn't leave till 7 Great Fine Then I'm gonna
take the kids to school Great Then I'm gonna come I don't care what Then I'm going to go to yoga
Then I'm gonna go to Pilates Then I'm going to go run a marathon I don't care what your day looks
like Just get it regimented Now if it's me I'm making sure that I'm entering into my job search
(10:50):
challenge Not to get ahead of myself here but I'm I want early victories when it comes to my job
search every single day I don't care what your day looks like I want it to be regimented regimented
regimented I want you to stick to it because the discipline is going to save you from wandering
(11:10):
I I don't know if you attended my productivity sessions last week or the week but whenever the
heck those were and I talked about scheduling time even to worry schedule that in there But do me the
favor of having a regiment and try to make it look the same the same every day The exceptions are all
of a sudden you start turning up interviews and then you got to prep for those and go to them But
(11:35):
believe me this will save you I will tell you a story about one of my dear friends Chuck Perakini
It was 2007 I as a recruiter worked the phones I didn't work the email I called you called you
up I got his name from somebody said that I said I'm looking for really high caliber salespeople
big earners You should call this Chuck Chuck guy I used to work with him at such and such Great Give
(11:58):
me his phone number I call him picks the phone up I say "Hey Chuck it's Andy." Introduce myself He's
like "Andy this is great I just got let go from E and Y Really i Okay but tell tell me about this He
says 'Well I got let go this and that I'm sitting but I'm sitting in an office in downtown Chicago
(12:18):
I said really he said yeah I rented the office He says I want to get up I want to go through
my exact routine I come to this office and my job now is to work the phones all day and go
home just like I was working I'm like oh I I got I gotta have you I got I gotta have you I wish I
could have hugged him right there And guess what he got a job in a reasonably short amount of time
(12:40):
And we've been friends ever since nearly 20 years Literally Literally We just had dinner a month
ago And so if you do not have some designed day you will want to pull your hair out of your head
And much of the time you're going to worry about stuff And then after you have this I want you to
(13:01):
I want you to remember this card Stop Stop Don't do anything because what's your first inclination
show of hands here What's your first inclination oh my god I got let go I got to go to LinkedIn and
put that stupid circle again on my face Write my complaining email to everybody and tell them that
I'm looking for stuff Don't do that Don't do that That's sending bad ju guu out Okay What do I want
(13:26):
you to do i want you to put a plan together Because why because if you're going to go and
let everybody know that you're unemployed I need you to know exactly what you're going to say to
them and you're going to fish feed them literally spoon feed them with how they're going to help you
Otherwise they're not going to help you They're not going to respond to you So I need you to not
(13:47):
do anything that you're inclined to do Okay then what I need you to do after you got your outline
of your day and the outline of your day could be I'm getting up I'm having coffee I'm stretching
I'm going to work out I'm going to shower I'm going to dress in nice clothes or whatever I don't
really care It should be like that Not not all the job search activities cuz now we're going to fill
(14:09):
those in I need you to develop a job search plan Here's what goes in the plan your requirements
If you don't know what those are you can join my job search coaching program or you can check
out one of my videos on YouTube where I talk about your happiness factors your criteria but
basically what is driving you what will what will be the perfect environment for you i'm not talking
(14:32):
about physical environment although that could be part of it But what's the boss like what's
the comp like how's the comp how's the company appreciate you what's the company like what's
their culture like get it all Do I travel don't I do I commute don't I do is it hybrid is it not
get it all down Then that'll help you determine your job search path where you're going to target
(14:53):
different types of organizations You're going to have an inclination of what you're going after
Then you're going to put a company list together Do you see how nowhere in this in these steps is
for you to call anybody don't do that Why because I want you to put a networking map together based
on your company list Where do I want to go who can get me there you're going to go to the who
(15:14):
can get me there first and you're not going to spray an email You're going to surgically target
those people because that is going to increase the probability of their helping you eight zillion% So
requirements path company list in this order Okay we're not yet to calling anybody We're not yet to
calling anybody Remember in the last session where I mentioned the career achievements journal All
(15:36):
right now let's get to the marketing material Don't go send in your old resume out Don't go
calling anybody yet You don't You want to figure out where do I want to go what do I want to happen
how do I make that happen grab Okay Anything that has a red star is free I got a career achievements
journal The career achievements journal if you don't know what it is is 14 of the most critical
(16:00):
pieces of information that you want to capture for any project I have videos out there on my YouTube
channel It's a free download but for every project that you have that you've ever done in your life
you should have a diary with this information in it So that's the first thing And why do you do
that first because that's the information that then goes into the resume I have a free resume
(16:22):
template You can grab that So when you when you write your resume it's going to be based on a
number of things The career achievements journal is going to provide you an inventory of data that
goes into the resume However you do not write a resume based on everybody in unison It is not a
work history document It is a marketing document Which is why you need to figure out who you're
(16:46):
going to be targeting because you need to know what their goals and their problems are So you
could put a resume together that shows them you've already solved those goals and those overcoming
those problems for other employers That happened in the past Get it get it okay So then then what
then you go fill out your LinkedIn profile You don't you don't contact anybody We're still not
(17:09):
contacting anybody All right LinkedIn profile Boss hunting You don't know what boss hunting is
you can come to my boss hunting mastery workshop next Thursday It is the most complete boss hunting
lesson I will have ever given to date And I've been teaching boss hunting since 2015 Okay You
target individuals who can give you jobs And why do you want to do this you want to look
(17:33):
for those bosses because number one you want to think without limits You join a company you
don't join a job I don't want you looking at open positions just yet I want you looking at people
because companies don't hire people Systems don't hire people People hire people So let's
go to the people who can give you a job Bosses No competition for their inbox No one's sending them
(17:56):
emails wanting to work for them But you You will Not to mention you're going to totally bypass a
completely broken job search that is this world with these applicant trashing systems that are
overcrowded underfarmed And not to mention you're going to totally sideswipe or sidestep all those
ghost jobs or fake jobs that are all scams to get your data right and your credentials and all that
(18:22):
stuff You don't need to worry about any of that because you're going to be boss hunting But you're
going to start to collect bosses that align to these companies Don't worry I have lots of videos
out there on YouTube about how to do all this stuff Then there's the power story I need you to
just start thinking about the one power story that you're going to be talking to in every interview
(18:42):
And if you don't know what a power story is it is where you want to go the companies you want
to target the types of roles you want to target You're going to have a story your breadandut story
That is probably the most analogous thing that you will likely do that you've already done that
you will be able to tell a future employer This is what I did Here's how I ran the project Here's how
(19:05):
I opened the marketing unit Here's how I expanded us into into the UK Here's how I was able to build
the sales team Whatever it is here's how I sold to the customer Here's how I accounted for the books
Here's because they were just a company just like you a software as a service company Had all the
crazy accounting roles Whatever it is you're going to have one singular story Don't go don't go don't
(19:26):
go trying to answer questions like "What's your greatest weakness?" or don't burn a lot of time
on that stuff It's inefficient It's ineffective and it's probably not even you're never not even
going to need it Okay get your marketing in order Now what now what well now you can start
contacting people Step eight Okay Now if you don't know what my job search challenge is I'm not going
(19:49):
to go into great detail but many many years ago I was look I was trying to articulate for you a way
for you to spend the least amount of time with the least amount of overwhelm doing the most effective
activities when it comes to probability of getting your next job The job search challenge was formed
(20:13):
Basically you want to do this on a day in and dayout basis The discipline the consistency
three companies a day Three different companies Company A companies ABC DEF GHI You want to have
three different people meaning one person at that company preferably a boss if not a boss
It could be a teammate It could be a recruiter an HR person preferably a boss or somebody who
(20:37):
can introduce you to the boss or somebody who can introduce you to anybody at that company
three a day That's three unique people not three people at the same company And then you're going
to send three messages Meaning you're going to send an actual boss hunting message a networking
message some kind of message to somebody not a system that actually moves you toward getting
(21:02):
an interview at that company If you're doing this right about every 3 days you should have an
interview Seriously you should bet about one for every seven and a half That's average stats Okay
So this is job searching This if you stay inside the day you designed because you're laid off and
(21:23):
you're not working should be an absolute piece of cake if done properly Meaning I'm not saying job
searching is a piece of cake Job searching sucks and it's hard even in the kindest of markets But
I'm telling you when you start to become focused on these goals you're going to win And let me let
me let me tell you a little story here Um every time that I do anything uh you've probably heard
(21:50):
me say um you know only 3% of you buy something from me right that's probably true And that means
97 out of every hundred don't don't buy anything But every one of those 97 people are meaningful
to me And I send them an email And every time you open it and get some benefit it's meaningful to me
(22:12):
And I don't say "Well only three people buy." I say "No I need to talk to a hundred 97 get some
good information and hopefully their lives are better." And three of them reach in their pocket
put their money into Milew Walk Academy invest in themselves and invest in my business And now I get
to serve them at a deeper level And so it isn't that it's 97 nos It's just that it's three yeses
(22:37):
It takes me a hundred to make three And I had this recruiter and I said to her her name is Jen I love
this woman She was awesome I loved having her on my team and she was formerly a client Then
she came to work with me And I said to her "Jen you're not a corporate recruiter anymore You're
an executive recruiter." Which means you're going to hear no a lot You're going to hear it from the
(22:57):
candidates and you're going to hear it from the clients Here's what I need you to do I need you
to realize from right now that there's 22 days in the month 20 of those days you are not going to
get paid Zero You're going to get no no no no no Empty It's empty Two of those days you're going to
make placements Those placements are going to be worth 50 or 100 grand That's it So 22 days you're
(23:22):
going to win once every 10 days That's all you need to know assuming you never stop If you stop
you're going to be in trouble Now you could do the math and say that means you make 50 grand a month
okay or whatever it is that you make So can you live with 22 days of you being disciplined doing
(23:45):
your stuff building your book of business building your client portfolio so once you understand that
that no or silence or whatever that activity is valuable right so I could think of it as well
it's X dollars per attempt or I only won twice No I want you to think if you send out three
(24:09):
candidates and you get one every three then you're going to then you're going to be get cashing a
paycheck every week if if you can maintain that So we look at the sendout number It's how much do you
make every time you send a candidate to a client even if they don't hire the candidate you need to
(24:31):
think in those terms Every time you send a message a boss hunting message a networking message
there's money attached to it in the form of a job Okay now how many of those you're going to need to
send I don't know exactly but it depends who you are It depends how effective you are depends how
consistent you are It depends what you your the value you can contribute the industry you work in
(24:55):
There's so many factors but the point is you need to start thinking in terms of yield per attempt
That way the attempt doesn't look like a goose egg to you It looks like that's one closer to the
payday Okay So so so I need you to think in those terms Okay Who's who's tracking with me right x
(25:16):
number of clicks likes wants phone calls email opens or whatever That's what I'm talking about
Now number nine you can call your network Now you can call your network in accordance with number
(25:36):
eight Hey I'm not a massochist Right Right You can call them in these terms Right So if you have a
company you want to work for and you got a buddy who works there call them Right So but notifying
your network But now what are you going to say hey I'm targeting these companies You know anybody
there no You got anything at your company no You know any other companies I should be looking at
(26:00):
that I didn't tell you about no I don't know Yes Okay What about over there like you actually have
specific questions When you have specific questions it's easier to get responses When
you say "Do you know of anything?" Huh i haven't talked to you in five years Do I know of anything
i don't even know what you do now Right you get what I'm saying okay on actually I if you want
(26:26):
more on this actually I didn't I didn't expect to show this to you but I I think I want to show
this to you now if you want more on like this step this step okay about how you network I want you to
go to this page it's my case studies page cara can you drop this in the chat please if you go in here
(26:50):
Jane this one it's about a half an hour lesson and John Where's John here These two individuals both
talked about how they did this backwards that they went to the market first They didn't they didn't
have their stories in order because they did this out of sequence Okay So so I want I want to make
(27:14):
sure that you're in there Now we're on number nine Number 10 is I want to make sure that you're
building your skills And my strongest suggestion would be to grab my latest book The Zebra Code a
step-by-step guide to mastering career skills that make you a standout professional Will give you the
entire blueprint for how to build the right kind of skills that going back to the second session
(27:37):
in this in this entire three session package where we talk about becoming indispensable and building
skills and the ones that are transferable and the ones that are foundational That's what the zebra
code teaches you That will give you the best ROI on your skill building It will give you the best
skills to build the greatest ROI on your career Now additionally there might be certification
(28:01):
training that you want to take And I get asked that a lot Should I take certification training
my answer to that is always you're perfect the way you are and I would rather you test and bring
yourself to market and see how the market responds to you in your current state versus you spending
(28:22):
time going and doing something for advertisement and marketing purposes If on the other hand you're
telling me Andy I'm in it for the long haul I know that getting an MBA or a PMP certification
or some storage certification or this networking certification is going to pay dividends and it's
it's going to teach me to be better a better network engineer a better businessman a better
(28:45):
unit leader a better seller Awesome I'm all in you do it because you know you're going to use
it and you're not going to switch and you you're not thinking well I want to make a change and I
should get this administrator's uh certificate and then and then you don't and you don't go
that route I don't want you burning time because you're putting some letters after your name that
(29:06):
are generally meaningless you have no practical experience with and you're not ever going to use
So I don't want you to do that Okay but I do I do want heavy professional development at all times
whether you're laid off or not Okay recapping recapping Attach meaning Do it quickly Speaking
(29:26):
of get your story in order a shutdown story Watch my video on the best way to explain a
layoff in a job interview Make sure you can get somebody to be a reference A reference please
That's better than a reference letter Get your finances in order We know that Don't forget the
interview intervention book package It's very budget friendly Um design a routine Literally
(29:51):
make this a step It only takes 10 minutes but get a routine down and stick to it Don't go
call anybody yet Just a reminder Put your plan together Then what get your get your marketing
material together Then what then loop the job search challenge I got a playlist a free playlist
on my YouTube channel on that Then leverage your network as part of your network map in accordance
(30:18):
with where you want to go Not who you know but where you want to go and who can take you there
And then get the zebra code I mean it's the best money you'll ever spend Okay now if you enjoyed
that that was my little three-part series that I think was able to wrap up in like 75 minutes total
If you watch these all in a row if you enjoyed it click the like button Uh if you're here with me
(30:41):
live we're going to be going to the Q&A If you're watching this on the recording I'll see you next
Part three in my layoff series So we talked initially about the reasons why
layoffs occur 16 great questions you can ask to detect or see the warning signs Second part of
the series was 10 critical steps to make sure you become indispensable so you don't get laid
off Third part third part is bouncing back after a layoff These these to me are the 10 best steps
(00:25):
And we're doing Andy math on the 10 steps because it's really like step 20 steps but I I put them
into 10 buckets This is how you bounce back strong All right Number one this is not remedial people
This isn't what I'm about to say All right I need you to process it And but let me tell you what I
(00:47):
mean Okay process process it But the andy and pro processing it is reflect very quickly and attach
meaning to what's happening And what do I mean well I've said this many many times Experience
is not what happens to you It's the meaning you attach to what happens to you So I can look at the
(01:08):
same thing and the same thing can happen to me But how I interpret it and really what I'm saying is
let's just assume whatever happens to you happens for your own good Okay so there was a time when I
had been working for a company for 11 months I had created them millions of dollars out of nowhere I
(01:29):
got called into the boss's office He gave me two untenable choices I didn't like them I was I was
basically passive aggressively getting laid off And so I took control of ma of the matter and I
created my own recruitment firm and I turned him into a client So that's that's what I did It was
for my own good It was the little kick in the butt I needed to go open up Milew Walk If you want to
(01:54):
know the full story I believe there's a video out there on YouTube about what to do when you
hate your options What to do when you hate your options Maybe Cara can throw that in the chat But
I want you to assume whatever happened they didn't deserve you or it it was unfortunate thought even
if they did deserve you they're putting you in a position to now go after what it is that is
(02:16):
truly deserving of you I I need you to pause for a second and do this And the reason you want to
do this right away is because if you wallow in it and all of a sudden your first act is "Oh no I got
to go to LinkedIn and I got to put the dumb green circle around my face and then I got to write that
nasty post that complains about how all employers are so bad because my employer happened to be a
(02:41):
bad company." And when technically speaking if you look deep enough you maybe didn't ask the right
questions or maybe it was just an unfortunate situation out of your control It doesn't mean
everybody hates you It's just an unfortunate situation But actually it could be the best thing
that ever happened to you So if you can if you can just just not do that and just process it quickly
(03:02):
Just step one And I don't want to say this every step I want you to do these steps in the order I'm
giving them to you because this is this is what happens A lot of people don't do this in the order
in which I'm giving them to you which is why they have problems and why their actual bounce back or
the comeback takes a lot longer than the setback So process it Get that done Next thing just very
(03:28):
quickly package up your story What do I mean now number one I have a video out there I love this
video The best way to explain your layoff in a job interview This is what I mean when I say
package up your story So what I mean is okay you got let go So you're going to need you might need
to explain what happened I see you're no longer at Milew Walk I see you're no longer at company ABC
(03:55):
Why did you leave i got let go Right you're going to have to explain that I just want you to make
sure that your story is one sentence That's it We had this area Uh we were in financial trouble The
organization let go 86 people I was one of them Done That's it You do not overexlain these things
(04:15):
Uh my organization was moving my entire unit to New York I live in Texas and nobody messes with
Texas I'm never leaving Texas So I didn't go Right What's What's the story and the story needs to be
a shutdown story Meaning no follow-up questions necessary So uh my organization outsourced this
(04:36):
entire arm offshore Okay I that was it They dispensed of it You're looking for something
that is a shutdown The organization moved The organization I understand that every one of
you is going to have a unique story My point is just make sure it's short definitive and it's
shut down That's it And I would highly recommend I would highly recommend you watch this because
(05:02):
I it's I have a whole video on this of how I would build that story and express myself All right next
thing Get the layoff materials in order What do materials mean there are things that matter and
things that don't Now materials could be okay I I've worked with people and coached them We had
(05:23):
coaching sessions on this Andy I'm getting let go This actually is a a not so unpop not so unpopular
one I mean this is actually more common than you would imagine I'm getting let go and I want to
work with you to make sure that I'm getting the best severance package I want to make sure that
all the T's and C's on my departure letter is in order meaning all what they're going to give me
(05:44):
and what are the because a lot of people don't know that you can negotiate a lot of this Can
I be an employee of record for the next 3 months will you serve if they call you will you say "I'm
still working here Can I be paid my severance in weekly or bi-weekly salary payments so that I'm
considered an employee until?" There's so many things you can do Can I make sure that my stock
(06:06):
options vest there's a there's a million things you can do So that's one part of the materials
What you don't need are reference letters Okay nobody wants to just I want you to think about
this recruiters and hiring officials Many of you complain that they don't even read your resumes or
your cover letters Do you think they want to read a reference letter from somebody they don't know
(06:27):
a reference letter from somebody they do not know reads like you keyword stuffing your resume with
things like I'm a great communicator I'm a great listener I'm a great leader I'm highly organized
That's what a that's what a reference letter sounds like right to them So why are they going
to want to take time to read it you don't want a reference letter Don't bother What you want if you
(06:50):
get laid off is a reference Meaning hey Mr Boss man Miss Bosswoman Mr Boss's boss h go as high up
as you can And so ask them I've really loved it here I want to make sure that you know and we're
parting on good terms I really wish I could stay I'm going to obviously job search Would you be
(07:13):
open to serving as a reference the reason you want a reference from the company that laid you off
is because that is a shutdown message in this in your story because what you're going to do these
two work in tandem What you're going to do is when you go into an interview you're going to say "And
they let this I don't care if it was two people they let go They let our team go But I'm so sorry
(07:39):
because I loved my organization I love the people I completely understand it was an economical
reason and as a matter of fact if I were them I would do the same thing based on where they're
going But one of the things I want you to know is my boss will serve as a reference should we get
to the point where you would like my references If you can say that I'm not asking any more questions
(08:02):
because I know if I call your boss then you must have left on good terms You need a reference not
a reference letter Don't bother Don't make the person write it because no one's going to read it
And even if they do they don't care Now you might be surprised This is number four But I'm worried
about all of these things while they're fresh and while it's active and while they're feeling guilty
(08:26):
and all that stuff I want all that in order Okay Get your finances in order What could that mean
well some of you might if you're in the United States you might be able to collect unemployment
benefits right depending on the terms of your departure I want you to take stock of what you had
Meaning what did my financial package look like okay we we if you are if you have the interview
(08:51):
intervention book we talk about this If you are in my job search coaching program we give you the
financial checklists and all the other good stuff to organize this stuff Um if you are not in any of
those you can grab the interview intervention book package if that's something of interest
But look at your emergency fund If you need to take a part-time job organize all that in
(09:13):
order Get it all in order so you can breathe It's probably not as bad as you think I I obviously
everybody's financial situation is different but take stock of your finances Like I said get the
interview intervention book package We're still shipping this anywhere in the world I just ordered
another 3,000 copies so grab them while I got them for a few bucks If you chip in I'll give you the
(09:35):
$30 hardbound uh for free I'll give you the $9 ebook for free I'll give you the audio book which
you can't get anywhere uh and some other goodies if you chip in a few bucks for the materials and
handling of it So that's that's that After you got all that in order I want you to literally I want
you to take a screenshot of this card and this one and the next one I want you to design a new daily
(09:59):
routine I know that sounds ridiculous but can you do me the favor of sitting down for 15 minutes and
literally sketch out your schedule meaning okay I'm now unemployed I have two kids I have a wife
or I have a husband or a partner or whatever What does your day look like i want you to draw it out
(10:24):
and I want you to stick to it I don't care what it looks like I'm going to wake up at 6:00 I'm gonna
lay in bed and have coffee with my wife because she doesn't leave till 7 Great Fine Then I'm gonna
take the kids to school Great Then I'm gonna come I don't care what Then I'm going to go to yoga
Then I'm gonna go to Pilates Then I'm going to go run a marathon I don't care what your day looks
like Just get it regimented Now if it's me I'm making sure that I'm entering into my job search
(10:50):
challenge Not to get ahead of myself here but I'm I want early victories when it comes to my job
search every single day I don't care what your day looks like I want it to be regimented regimented
regimented I want you to stick to it because the discipline is going to save you from wandering
(11:10):
I I don't know if you attended my productivity sessions last week or the week but whenever the
heck those were and I talked about scheduling time even to worry schedule that in there But do me the
favor of having a regiment and try to make it look the same the same every day The exceptions are all
of a sudden you start turning up interviews and then you got to prep for those and go to them But
(11:35):
believe me this will save you I will tell you a story about one of my dear friends Chuck Perakini
It was 2007 I as a recruiter worked the phones I didn't work the email I called you called you
up I got his name from somebody said that I said I'm looking for really high caliber salespeople
big earners You should call this Chuck Chuck guy I used to work with him at such and such Great Give
(11:58):
me his phone number I call him picks the phone up I say "Hey Chuck it's Andy." Introduce myself He's
like "Andy this is great I just got let go from E and Y Really i Okay but tell tell me about this He
says 'Well I got let go this and that I'm sitting but I'm sitting in an office in downtown Chicago
(12:18):
I said really he said yeah I rented the office He says I want to get up I want to go through
my exact routine I come to this office and my job now is to work the phones all day and go
home just like I was working I'm like oh I I got I gotta have you I got I gotta have you I wish I
could have hugged him right there And guess what he got a job in a reasonably short amount of time
(12:40):
And we've been friends ever since nearly 20 years Literally Literally We just had dinner a month
ago And so if you do not have some designed day you will want to pull your hair out of your head
And much of the time you're going to worry about stuff And then after you have this I want you to
(13:01):
I want you to remember this card Stop Stop Don't do anything because what's your first inclination
show of hands here What's your first inclination oh my god I got let go I got to go to LinkedIn and
put that stupid circle again on my face Write my complaining email to everybody and tell them that
I'm looking for stuff Don't do that Don't do that That's sending bad ju guu out Okay What do I want
(13:26):
you to do i want you to put a plan together Because why because if you're going to go and
let everybody know that you're unemployed I need you to know exactly what you're going to say to
them and you're going to fish feed them literally spoon feed them with how they're going to help you
Otherwise they're not going to help you They're not going to respond to you So I need you to not
(13:47):
do anything that you're inclined to do Okay then what I need you to do after you got your outline
of your day and the outline of your day could be I'm getting up I'm having coffee I'm stretching
I'm going to work out I'm going to shower I'm going to dress in nice clothes or whatever I don't
really care It should be like that Not not all the job search activities cuz now we're going to fill
(14:09):
those in I need you to develop a job search plan Here's what goes in the plan your requirements
If you don't know what those are you can join my job search coaching program or you can check
out one of my videos on YouTube where I talk about your happiness factors your criteria but
basically what is driving you what will what will be the perfect environment for you i'm not talking
(14:32):
about physical environment although that could be part of it But what's the boss like what's
the comp like how's the comp how's the company appreciate you what's the company like what's
their culture like get it all Do I travel don't I do I commute don't I do is it hybrid is it not
get it all down Then that'll help you determine your job search path where you're going to target
(14:53):
different types of organizations You're going to have an inclination of what you're going after
Then you're going to put a company list together Do you see how nowhere in this in these steps is
for you to call anybody don't do that Why because I want you to put a networking map together based
on your company list Where do I want to go who can get me there you're going to go to the who
(15:14):
can get me there first and you're not going to spray an email You're going to surgically target
those people because that is going to increase the probability of their helping you eight zillion% So
requirements path company list in this order Okay we're not yet to calling anybody We're not yet to
calling anybody Remember in the last session where I mentioned the career achievements journal All
(15:36):
right now let's get to the marketing material Don't go send in your old resume out Don't go
calling anybody yet You don't You want to figure out where do I want to go what do I want to happen
how do I make that happen grab Okay Anything that has a red star is free I got a career achievements
journal The career achievements journal if you don't know what it is is 14 of the most critical
(16:00):
pieces of information that you want to capture for any project I have videos out there on my YouTube
channel It's a free download but for every project that you have that you've ever done in your life
you should have a diary with this information in it So that's the first thing And why do you do
that first because that's the information that then goes into the resume I have a free resume
(16:22):
template You can grab that So when you when you write your resume it's going to be based on a
number of things The career achievements journal is going to provide you an inventory of data that
goes into the resume However you do not write a resume based on everybody in unison It is not a
work history document It is a marketing document Which is why you need to figure out who you're
(16:46):
going to be targeting because you need to know what their goals and their problems are So you
could put a resume together that shows them you've already solved those goals and those overcoming
those problems for other employers That happened in the past Get it get it okay So then then what
then you go fill out your LinkedIn profile You don't you don't contact anybody We're still not
(17:09):
contacting anybody All right LinkedIn profile Boss hunting You don't know what boss hunting is
you can come to my boss hunting mastery workshop next Thursday It is the most complete boss hunting
lesson I will have ever given to date And I've been teaching boss hunting since 2015 Okay You
target individuals who can give you jobs And why do you want to do this you want to look
(17:33):
for those bosses because number one you want to think without limits You join a company you
don't join a job I don't want you looking at open positions just yet I want you looking at people
because companies don't hire people Systems don't hire people People hire people So let's
go to the people who can give you a job Bosses No competition for their inbox No one's sending them
(17:56):
emails wanting to work for them But you You will Not to mention you're going to totally bypass a
completely broken job search that is this world with these applicant trashing systems that are
overcrowded underfarmed And not to mention you're going to totally sideswipe or sidestep all those
ghost jobs or fake jobs that are all scams to get your data right and your credentials and all that
(18:22):
stuff You don't need to worry about any of that because you're going to be boss hunting But you're
going to start to collect bosses that align to these companies Don't worry I have lots of videos
out there on YouTube about how to do all this stuff Then there's the power story I need you to
just start thinking about the one power story that you're going to be talking to in every interview
(18:42):
And if you don't know what a power story is it is where you want to go the companies you want
to target the types of roles you want to target You're going to have a story your breadandut story
That is probably the most analogous thing that you will likely do that you've already done that
you will be able to tell a future employer This is what I did Here's how I ran the project Here's how
(19:05):
I opened the marketing unit Here's how I expanded us into into the UK Here's how I was able to build
the sales team Whatever it is here's how I sold to the customer Here's how I accounted for the books
Here's because they were just a company just like you a software as a service company Had all the
crazy accounting roles Whatever it is you're going to have one singular story Don't go don't go don't
(19:26):
go trying to answer questions like "What's your greatest weakness?" or don't burn a lot of time
on that stuff It's inefficient It's ineffective and it's probably not even you're never not even
going to need it Okay get your marketing in order Now what now what well now you can start
contacting people Step eight Okay Now if you don't know what my job search challenge is I'm not going
(19:49):
to go into great detail but many many years ago I was look I was trying to articulate for you a way
for you to spend the least amount of time with the least amount of overwhelm doing the most effective
activities when it comes to probability of getting your next job The job search challenge was formed
(20:13):
Basically you want to do this on a day in and dayout basis The discipline the consistency
three companies a day Three different companies Company A companies ABC DEF GHI You want to have
three different people meaning one person at that company preferably a boss if not a boss
It could be a teammate It could be a recruiter an HR person preferably a boss or somebody who
(20:37):
can introduce you to the boss or somebody who can introduce you to anybody at that company
three a day That's three unique people not three people at the same company And then you're going
to send three messages Meaning you're going to send an actual boss hunting message a networking
message some kind of message to somebody not a system that actually moves you toward getting
(21:02):
an interview at that company If you're doing this right about every 3 days you should have an
interview Seriously you should bet about one for every seven and a half That's average stats Okay
So this is job searching This if you stay inside the day you designed because you're laid off and
(21:23):
you're not working should be an absolute piece of cake if done properly Meaning I'm not saying job
searching is a piece of cake Job searching sucks and it's hard even in the kindest of markets But
I'm telling you when you start to become focused on these goals you're going to win And let me let
me let me tell you a little story here Um every time that I do anything uh you've probably heard
(21:50):
me say um you know only 3% of you buy something from me right that's probably true And that means
97 out of every hundred don't don't buy anything But every one of those 97 people are meaningful
to me And I send them an email And every time you open it and get some benefit it's meaningful to me
(22:12):
And I don't say "Well only three people buy." I say "No I need to talk to a hundred 97 get some
good information and hopefully their lives are better." And three of them reach in their pocket
put their money into Milew Walk Academy invest in themselves and invest in my business And now I get
to serve them at a deeper level And so it isn't that it's 97 nos It's just that it's three yeses
(22:37):
It takes me a hundred to make three And I had this recruiter and I said to her her name is Jen I love
this woman She was awesome I loved having her on my team and she was formerly a client Then
she came to work with me And I said to her "Jen you're not a corporate recruiter anymore You're
an executive recruiter." Which means you're going to hear no a lot You're going to hear it from the
(22:57):
candidates and you're going to hear it from the clients Here's what I need you to do I need you
to realize from right now that there's 22 days in the month 20 of those days you are not going to
get paid Zero You're going to get no no no no no Empty It's empty Two of those days you're going to
make placements Those placements are going to be worth 50 or 100 grand That's it So 22 days you're
(23:22):
going to win once every 10 days That's all you need to know assuming you never stop If you stop
you're going to be in trouble Now you could do the math and say that means you make 50 grand a month
okay or whatever it is that you make So can you live with 22 days of you being disciplined doing
(23:45):
your stuff building your book of business building your client portfolio so once you understand that
that no or silence or whatever that activity is valuable right so I could think of it as well
it's X dollars per attempt or I only won twice No I want you to think if you send out three
(24:09):
candidates and you get one every three then you're going to then you're going to be get cashing a
paycheck every week if if you can maintain that So we look at the sendout number It's how much do you
make every time you send a candidate to a client even if they don't hire the candidate you need to
(24:31):
think in those terms Every time you send a message a boss hunting message a networking message
there's money attached to it in the form of a job Okay now how many of those you're going to need to
send I don't know exactly but it depends who you are It depends how effective you are depends how
consistent you are It depends what you your the value you can contribute the industry you work in
(24:55):
There's so many factors but the point is you need to start thinking in terms of yield per attempt
That way the attempt doesn't look like a goose egg to you It looks like that's one closer to the
payday Okay So so so I need you to think in those terms Okay Who's who's tracking with me right x
(25:16):
number of clicks likes wants phone calls email opens or whatever That's what I'm talking about
Now number nine you can call your network Now you can call your network in accordance with number
(25:36):
eight Hey I'm not a massochist Right Right You can call them in these terms Right So if you have a
company you want to work for and you got a buddy who works there call them Right So but notifying
your network But now what are you going to say hey I'm targeting these companies You know anybody
there no You got anything at your company no You know any other companies I should be looking at
(26:00):
that I didn't tell you about no I don't know Yes Okay What about over there like you actually have
specific questions When you have specific questions it's easier to get responses When
you say "Do you know of anything?" Huh i haven't talked to you in five years Do I know of anything
i don't even know what you do now Right you get what I'm saying okay on actually I if you want
(26:26):
more on this actually I didn't I didn't expect to show this to you but I I think I want to show
this to you now if you want more on like this step this step okay about how you network I want you to
go to this page it's my case studies page cara can you drop this in the chat please if you go in here
(26:50):
Jane this one it's about a half an hour lesson and John Where's John here These two individuals both
talked about how they did this backwards that they went to the market first They didn't they didn't
have their stories in order because they did this out of sequence Okay So so I want I want to make
(27:14):
sure that you're in there Now we're on number nine Number 10 is I want to make sure that you're
building your skills And my strongest suggestion would be to grab my latest book The Zebra Code a
step-by-step guide to mastering career skills that make you a standout professional Will give you the
entire blueprint for how to build the right kind of skills that going back to the second session
(27:37):
in this in this entire three session package where we talk about becoming indispensable and building
skills and the ones that are transferable and the ones that are foundational That's what the zebra
code teaches you That will give you the best ROI on your skill building It will give you the best
skills to build the greatest ROI on your career Now additionally there might be certification
(28:01):
training that you want to take And I get asked that a lot Should I take certification training
my answer to that is always you're perfect the way you are and I would rather you test and bring
yourself to market and see how the market responds to you in your current state versus you spending
(28:22):
time going and doing something for advertisement and marketing purposes If on the other hand you're
telling me Andy I'm in it for the long haul I know that getting an MBA or a PMP certification
or some storage certification or this networking certification is going to pay dividends and it's
it's going to teach me to be better a better network engineer a better businessman a better
(28:45):
unit leader a better seller Awesome I'm all in you do it because you know you're going to use
it and you're not going to switch and you you're not thinking well I want to make a change and I
should get this administrator's uh certificate and then and then you don't and you don't go
that route I don't want you burning time because you're putting some letters after your name that
(29:06):
are generally meaningless you have no practical experience with and you're not ever going to use
So I don't want you to do that Okay but I do I do want heavy professional development at all times
whether you're laid off or not Okay recapping recapping Attach meaning Do it quickly Speaking
(29:26):
of get your story in order a shutdown story Watch my video on the best way to explain a
layoff in a job interview Make sure you can get somebody to be a reference A reference please
That's better than a reference letter Get your finances in order We know that Don't forget the
interview intervention book package It's very budget friendly Um design a routine Literally
(29:51):
make this a step It only takes 10 minutes but get a routine down and stick to it Don't go
call anybody yet Just a reminder Put your plan together Then what get your get your marketing
material together Then what then loop the job search challenge I got a playlist a free playlist
on my YouTube channel on that Then leverage your network as part of your network map in accordance
(30:18):
with where you want to go Not who you know but where you want to go and who can take you there
And then get the zebra code I mean it's the best money you'll ever spend Okay now if you enjoyed
that that was my little three-part series that I think was able to wrap up in like 75 minutes total
If you watch these all in a row if you enjoyed it click the like button Uh if you're here with me
(30:41):
live we're going to be going to the Q&A If you're watching this on the recording I'll see you next
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