Is any one else in between roles due to lay offs?
I was laid off in December - joined the company in August from a really successful sales career. Nothing was working - networking helped with sanity but didn’t yield anything as companies weren’t serious about hiring. I did some consulting projects, and landed a role where I was paid only commission. Everyone knew it was my second/part time priority given I have bills. I closed a few deals and made some money - this lead to a full time offer, and I came in with strong negotiation power. Consider reaching out to Series A+ startups and offer ‘fractional work’ - it worked for me.
Plus one to this. I took a year off after a highly successful 9 year run turned into a layoff during a 2023 reorg. I did two fractional roles for about 6 months then landed a director role at a seed funded AI startup and rolled a $225k base to manage and build a small sales org of 5 people.
10 years experience quota-carrying in my field, multiple, p-clubs. Out of work since August. Companies that actively recruited me in the past won't even offer a screening call now with a referral from a current employee. It ain't just you. Hang in there.
THIS! I've a shelf full of sales and leadership awards, multiple top performer, multiple presidents club, former salesperson of the year. And referrals MAYBE get me a screening if I'm lucky. I'm also a couple of years on the other side of 40 so I'm sure some good old fashioned ageism has been happening as well.....but what can we do other than keep showing up.
Ageism absolutely rife out there. Can’t prove anything of course but similar to others - 7 years of top performance and redundancy - over 40 and can’t get an interview
Yup just got laid off this month. They were very dishonest about how well they were actually doing.
Yup - me too. I was in an SDR role and got let go 2 months after ramp along with most of the rest of the reps who were hired around the time that I was. Been 3 months and starting to get discouraged. I was pretty optimistic in January but now I'm not so sure. I've applied to about 25 different SDR roles, and I've gotten a couple of interviews but no 2nd rounds yet.
Yes, I was laid off this month. Not a great time to be on the SLED team... lots of folks in my network had also gone through a layoff recently and their advice was dont even bother with blind dropping apps as its incredibly competitive right now. Probably obvious but bears repeating - lean on your network for referrals and make sure you've contacted the recruiter via email or LI message right after submitting an application. Record a quick loom about you, your accomplishments or deals won, why youre a great fit, why you like the company, etc. Ive done this on every app I've submitted so far and have pretty good hit rate on getting interviews. Even the ones I got rejected from provided context on why with this approach. Layoffs suck, remind yourself its not an indictment on you OP, just a tough time to be in a GTM role in general. Good luck!
I'm an AM (mostly growth within an exising client portfolio) based out of London, and was let go in June 2024. I took the summer off (it was dead anyway), and then started looking in October. The market was crap. Things then shut down for Christmas; I got some traction (and interviews) in January/February, but didn't quite get over the line for an offer. It's now April 2025 and, whilst i've a handful of interviews at various stages, it's still clearly a VERY competitive market; lots of (good) candidates out there, potentially a whiff of ageism, and companies able to pick and choose exactly what they want. Would love to hear from similar folks out there. I remain optimistic!
I am also of the belief that ageism is in play. I have had a number of 2nd round interviews, and the reasons for not progressing sounds like it's from the movie The Secret of My Success (I'm too fat, too old, too short...).
Dare I ask how old you are? I am male, and turned 50 in January, but would argue I could pass for 42!
Yes, let go in August 2023 and had a few roles I have passed on, but it is getting harder to get interviews. Companies are looking for specific skills and from like domains to reduce ramp time. I have even been referred to the hiring manager and have over 20 years of experience, and they either chose candidates internally or right from a competitor.
I went 8 months without a job in 2018. It nearly broke me (figuratively and literally). Depending on your situation, my advice is to take whatever you can get, just to get back on your feet. Humans (especially hiring managers) are hardwired for risk avoidance, and will tend to favor candidates that are employed.
I have been laid off since mid-November, and I have had several interviewers. Some go as far as five interviewers or presentation/demo products. I'm still searching but have started my consulting gig for the industry I was in. It sucks out here but with as many of you having experience and skills, use it to your advantage! Hang in there and if anyone is open to talking or partnering in any kind of way, reach out.
Got clipped in January- total surprise, honestly. It's been difficult to even get an interview, even with a dialed-in profile and resume. What's crazy is I'm not getting offers from people I've just sold to that have openings. I'm in a space where I've partnered with a company to provide the service I'd been selling for the past five years. Sold a nice logo working directly with the CEO. Cold outreach, landed a meeting, sold him on two calls. When I mentioned the open position they have, he just offered an affiliate relationship, which is cool, but what does it take to land a role?!
I returned to work 4 months ago after 16 months of unemployment. Got caught up in a layoff. 15 years sales experience, all the bells and whistles and of course a history of consistently exceeding quotas. I struggled out there. Never experienced so many rejections. Employers are nitpicking and hiring internally a great deal. I found some orgs that were offering resume workshops, job search tips, workshops on using AI and I found a scholarship program to learn coding to keep myself sane and busy. Its an extremely tough job market. It is not just you. Stay strong and keep grinding, you and your next role will find each other.
What would you say helped you the most in your job search, and getting hired?
Yah. I've found that reaching out to on-site opportunities has been the best way to get interviews. Though I've had some surprises for remote roles. I took an entry lvl SDR role just to keep my sanity. And that's with decades of sales, SaaS, and leadership experience.
Was laid off in September 2023 and took 8 months to find a role. Did a little over 300 applications and had around 20 interviews before I found a crappy startup. Let go from there last month and am seeing how brutal the market still is. We're kind of in the middle of a perfect storm. Economic uncertainty + a drastic change in how selling is done which most have not caught onto yet + extreme buyer fatigue from sales automation and AI. I'm just going to focus on getting my own business going and try to see if I can land some contract work (PM or commission only sales) to get me by in the meantime. Don't see many other options.
I would think a lot of folks are. Make sure to be active, network aggressively with hiring managers, and make sure to dial in a profile of what your ideal next role looks like. If you haven't added a RepVue candidate profile do that as we're in early stages of our AI based job matching beta, and you never know what kind of opportunities we'll put in front of you. Good luck! ✌️