If you’re one of the many recently laid off tech workers (like me), this post is for you. There are no magical answers or solutions included, but perhaps some inspiration to be found.
I remember the first tech bubble bursting – the original dot com bubble burst just under a year into my first tech job – I did partner training and support for backend e-commerce software. When the bubble burst, it was a huge blow for me, and with so much available talent on the market, finding a new job felt impossible.
Being young, and living in a country where education is free (Denmark), I went back to school and studied media production. I ended up combining both worlds, when I got involved with a young media company. At the time, barely anyone had heard of istockphoto.
My work there in turn led me to visit Seattle, where I met a local coworker, fell in love and ended up staying. I later shifted into the gaming industry, combining my passion for games with my tech roots with media production training.
Your background and journey will be different but my point is this: now is a good time to be open to new opportunities and directions – especially if you’re young and not yet responsible for children and mortgage payments.
It doesn’t have to be a change to a completely new career. For me, it came out to be more about naturally expanding my skill set to overlap with a different industry, or a new discipline within the same industry – that would open new doors.
Where ever the journey takes you, good luck and I’ll see you out there.
