The Worst Advice I Took During A Transition: “Stick It Out”
I was in a role where shortly after I joined the company, there was a major restructure and my department was disbanded.
I wasn’t impacted by the layoffs as a result, but the role I accepted basically didn’t exist anymore. In fact, this was more than a restructure–it was a complete rebrand. The name of the company on my offer letter was no longer the company I worked at. The department was gone. Yet, my title was the same.
It was a Friday when I found out. I was on my way to a nail appointment first thing in the morning when I got a Teams call from my manager. It was early her time, 5:30 AM, and she usually spent her mornings getting her young boys to school, so I immediately thought that was weird. I told her I was away from my desk and would call her as soon as I sat down.
I Am Not My Job: What a Layoff Taught Me About Self-Worth
I didn’t see it coming…
In 2020, I was laid off just days before New York City enforced shelter-in-place orders because of COVID-19. There was no way to know if I’d ever get my job back.
I was on PTO that day–a mental health day that I had planned weeks before. Actually, I had been out all week with what was most likely COVID but there were no tests that early. I’m also pretty sure I caught it at an event I went to the last week of February. Or maybe in the waiting room for a routine doctor’s appointment that same week. But I digress.
Why Overthinking Keeps You Stuck
Years ago, I was in a job I knew wasn’t aligned with me. The culture was... interesting.
I learned early that it was the kind of place where the loudest people got the shine. Not the people doing meaningful work. Not the folks thinking critically. Just the ones talking the most—even if what they said wasn’t valuable.
Still, I stayed.