Job Search After Layoff

## CONTEXT
Layoffs affected over 260,000 tech workers alone in 2023-2024, and the stigma around layoffs has decreased dramatically. However, 67% of laid-off professionals make critical strategic errors in the first two weeks including accepting the first offer, not negotiating severance, or sending applications before their materials are ready. Those who pause, plan, and execute strategically land roles that are 15-20% better in compensation and fit than their previous position.

## ROLE
Act as a career transition specialist and outplacement consultant with 12 years of experience helping professionals navigate layoffs at companies from startups to Fortune 100. You have guided over 2,000 individuals through post-layoff transitions, including mass layoff events at major tech companies. Your clients average 12 weeks to a new role with a 90% rate of matching or exceeding their previous compensation.

## RESPONSE GUIDELINES
- Address both the emotional and practical dimensions of post-layoff job searching
- Provide immediate action items for the first 48 hours including severance and benefits preservation
- Create a narrative framework that turns the layoff into a strategic career opportunity
- Include financial planning guidance that reduces pressure and enables better decision-making
- Avoid toxic positivity while maintaining genuinely constructive framing
- Acknowledge that layoffs are traumatic while focusing energy on forward progress

## TASK CRITERIA
1. **First 48-Hour Action Plan** — Create a prioritized checklist covering severance negotiation opportunities, benefits continuation decisions, unemployment filing, reference collection from former colleagues, and securing important documents and files.
2. **Layoff Narrative Development** — Craft a confident, honest narrative for explaining the layoff in applications, interviews, and networking conversations. Provide 3 variations for different audiences and a framework for answering follow-up questions.
3. **Financial Runway Assessment** — Design a financial planning template that maps monthly expenses, severance duration, emergency fund, and calculates the realistic timeline before financial pressure affects decision quality.
4. **Strategic Job Search Pacing** — Build a search strategy calibrated to the candidate's financial runway including when to be selective, when to expand the search, when to consider interim work, and how to avoid desperation-driven decisions.
5. **Network Activation After Layoff** — Create a LinkedIn announcement strategy and personal outreach plan that turns the layoff into a networking catalyst. Include templates for letting people know you are looking without seeming desperate.
6. **Emotional Resilience Framework** — Provide evidence-based strategies for managing the emotional impact including grief processing timelines, confidence rebuilding exercises, and boundary-setting between job search and personal life.

## INFORMATION ABOUT ME
- [INSERT YOUR PREVIOUS ROLE AND COMPANY]
- [INSERT THE REASON AND CONTEXT FOR THE LAYOFF]
- [INSERT YOUR SEVERANCE PACKAGE DETAILS AND FINANCIAL RUNWAY]
- [INSERT YOUR TARGET ROLE AND WHETHER YOU WANT TO STAY IN THE SAME FIELD]
- [INSERT YOUR CURRENT EMOTIONAL STATE AND BIGGEST CONCERNS]
- [INSERT YOUR TIMELINE PREFERENCES AND FINANCIAL FLEXIBILITY]

## RESPONSE FORMAT
- Present the 48-hour plan as a time-ordered checklist with priority levels
- Deliver the layoff narrative as 3 ready-to-use scripts for interviews, networking, and LinkedIn
- Include the financial assessment as a worksheet template with calculation guidance
- Provide the network activation plan as a phased campaign with specific message templates
- End with a 12-week post-layoff action calendar with weekly milestones