Unemployed, Take 2: Day 3

21 Mar 2024

On Tuesday, Volt let me go after less than a month working for the company. My wife woke up with a fever. I had to work with an exterminator to get rid of an infestation of clvoer mites. And the Frosty machine at my local Wendy’s was broken. It was not a good day.

On Wednesday, I posted about what had happened to me on LinkedIn. To my suprise, the post went viral. And let me tell you, go viral on LinkedIn is weird. I learned about Comment For Better Reach through all the #cfbr comments added to the post. I received hundreds of connection requests and dozens of messages from recruiters and resume coaches of varying levels of repute. As of 10:10 am Central Time this morning, the post has over 140,000 impressions, 1,300+ reaction, 113 comments, and 69 (nice) reposts.

I wish I had a clue about why this post, in particular, went viral. But I don’t. I imagine adding the #OpenToWork hashtag was a big part of it. But that’s added to all “Open to Work” posts by default. While I would love to say it was my eloquent writing style, there are plenty of LinkedIn members writing just as pretty prose that are barely getting noticed. My best guess is that my post resonated with several different groups of people who could sympathize with my current situation. Over the course of the day, I received comments and messages from people who had similarly transitioned from the entertainment industry to tech seeking stability and not finding it here. I heard from other folks who had been laid off multiple times within the past year, nine months, six months. And most heart-breaking of all, I read stories from other intended parents whose IVF and surrogacy journies were jeopardized by issues out of their control. It was simultaneously reassuring and saddening to learn just how much I am not alone in this particular struggle. I hope everyone who interacted with that post yesterday finds a job and career that is stable, fulfilling, and allows them to live the life they’ve been yearning for.

It is now Thurday, March 21st, 2024. There are several employment lawyers in Oklahoma I need to call today. I have to find a box and ship back my Volt laptop. And I’m about to meet with my Never Search Alone Job Search Council for the first time since this unemployment sequel began. I’m gonna try and document my journey this time around. I hope I can look back on these posts in a year or two with a job, a child, and confidence in the future. Talk to you all soon.