Where you are
The layoff was not your fault. The next six months are your move.
However professionally it was delivered, a layoff lands as an identity event, not just a financial one. The order of operations matters more than speed - and most of the conventional urgency is wrong.
First: the practical emergency
Before anything strategic, the week-one list: understand your severance offer before signing (you usually have time, and sometimes room to ask - our coaches work alongside your attorney, never in place of one), file for unemployment without shame, sort health coverage, and write the two-sentence version of what happened that you can say without flinching. Beth Kowalski spent fifteen years as an HR director; she has sat on the delivering side of these conversations and knows exactly which levers exist.
Then: the beat before the sprint
The instinct is to update the resume the same afternoon and start applying from adrenaline. Applications sent in that state read exactly like what they are. A short deliberate beat - one to three weeks of stabilizing, not six months of drift - produces a search that starts from footing instead of freefall.
Then: the search as a project
The Job Search Sprint turns the search into an operating rhythm: forty named targets, materials rebuilt to CPRW standard, warm conversations instead of portal roulette, interviews rehearsed, and the offer negotiated properly - severance math included. 87% of Sprint clients accept an offer within six months.
The part nobody says out loud
Some clients discover, once the shock fades, that the layoff ended a job they had been enduring for years. If any part of you suspects that, a clarity conversation before the search saves you from sprinting straight back into the wrong field. We will help you tell the difference honestly.
FAQ
Asked from exactly where you are
Should I take the first offer I get?
Usually the honest answer is: evaluate it like you had options, because you have more than the panic suggests. We run every offer through the Offer Decoder - severance runway, benefits deltas and all - so the decision is math plus values, not fear.
Can I afford coaching right now?
A fair question to ask out loud. Some clients use the professional development stipend in their severance package (more common than people think - ask). Others start with the free consultation and a single targeted session. We would rather point you at the two highest-leverage moves for free than sell an anxious person a program.
Next move
Start with a free conversation.
Thirty minutes, no prep, no obligation. Tell us where you are; we will tell you honestly whether coaching is the right tool - and which coach we would put in your corner.
Free 30 minutes · In the studio or on video · An honest read, either way