How Should I Disclose This?
Have been cold emailing people but have not gotten a response.
I think a reason may be that my resume shows I am not working anymore; was part of a layoff.
Am not disclosing that I was laid off in the cold email (was advised not to), but now I think I should, so people don't assume I was fired nor that my departure was performance related.
Does anyone have advice on either (1) if I should disclose this in my cold email, and (2) how they'd want to receive (and actually respond to) a cold email from someone who was laid off?
Thank you in advance.
Bump
following.
In a similar situation.
Ive also been advised not to disclose and came to realize that many people don’t even notice the end date and ask why I want to leave..
With that said I’d be interested to see if I’d get a better hit rate with the disclosure.
Interesting.
Guess it was a bit rich of me to assume people would spend time reading my resume.
The disclosure honestly seems like a double-edged sword. Although I could see it drawing up a sense of empathy in some, there are others who would think like the commentor below - not that he/she is wrong for thinking that way, but it's certainly a view that some people will hold against us.
Potentially a hot take, but I would assume that anyone laid off was due to performance reasons. Even if a bank laid off 50% of it's class, it would only make sense to lay off the bottom 50% of performers, and I would not want to hire anyone that was in the bottom x% of their class.
To answer your question, I would lean on the side of not calling it out specifically in your email and then disclosing it on an initial call. I think different people perceive it differently though, so there's not a "best" answer.
This is a totally fair perception, especially with a lack of context, that I will have to come face-to-face with while networking and in future interviews.
With this POV, how would you navigate outreach efforts and overcome people with these sorts of perceptions?
Asking because you know yourself best, and there is probably something I could say/do that would loosen up this viewpoint. Not in my communication with you, specifically, but with people who hold similar views who I will inevitably speak with in the future.
Thanks
This x100. I get there's been big layoffs, but they are not done just completely at random (acknowledging there are exceptions before the handful of top bucket guys who got laid off come for me... but most layoffs are targeting mid/low bucket) and you no matter what are going to have to overcome some perceptions that you did poorly there. For some people that's an auto-ding.
I lean towards not calling out upfront but I would A/B test a bit... sounds like you're getting few responses as it, maybe send a few more cold emails with a short line "I recently left XYZ firm and am looking for an opportunity in ABC industry" and see if they do better.
Also - who are you cold emailing? It should only be people with open roles right now. Feel like that goes without saying, but have seen way too many laid off people just blasting emails to everyone out there as if they're still sophomores and every firm has a spot for them. Apply to / network with open roles only.
True. I plan on overcoming these perceptions by being very well-spoken and knowledgeable on my deal experience, technicals, my and their coverage areas, etc.
Haven't gotten any response from not calling out the layoff upfront, which is why I'd be open to A/B testing.
I've been emailing groups that are hiring and (mostly) groups I am interested in (that don't have postings), just because there are no new postings now; most that are posted right now have been up for a month or longer and I assume most of those processes have already kicked off.
Tbh, most people who've provided advice on the Layoff and Lateral threads mention that many opportunities they came across were not (ever) posted publicly.
That's definitely not always the case, especially given the market environment. My firm just completely exited a national platform and laid off the entirety of the personnel related to that division. In spite of them achieving several consecutive record years for volume / successful deal flow.
New leadership had significantly shifted strategic plans for the organization and, therefore, ended the division. I think it'd be fairly absurd to equate that kind of layoff with performance.
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If there is interest/need you will receive a response but try positioning it as seeking career advice.
Leave the layoff part for your story/Intro. There's no reason to assume it'll make a response more likely if you include it in the outreach.
Deleniti perferendis sint et omnis. Aperiam nihil porro maiores in deleniti totam. Fuga omnis fugiat sed labore.
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