Whats your strategy to stay productive post layoff?
Got laid off again this week — number four, if we’re counting. Two as a mechanical engg in 2020, and now #2 as a SWE.
I’m back on the grind with Leetcode, getting ready for a FANG interview coming up. Have already extended it a month, will extend another couple months. Don't get many chances so I can't blow it.
In the meantime, maybe time to dive into an AI hackathon in SF.
My usual strategy’s pretty simple: fire off applications, tap the network (not much in tech), and take it one move at a time.
The first transition — from Mech Eng to SWE after that 2020 layoff — was wild. I’d already started rebuilding a web app with the Spotify API — Python, Flask, Heroku, OAuth, the works. Entered a hackathon, technically “won” because no one else finished — my kind of win.
Personal project opened the door to a remote gig in Europe, from Canada, as a QA Automation Engineer. Moved into DevOps and junior SRE work… until the company went under. Landed another remote role a few months later.
And now? Back to the drawing board — but with a bit more experience.
How do you approach this?