from Hacker News

Ask HN: How to Approach Being Laid Off?

by OulaX on 6/23/23, 7:53 AM with 2 comments

I just heard my employer is laying me off in the upcoming month due to financial issues the company is going through.

I was expecting this, but I was not really expecting it this soon!

Now, I'm completely freaking out, because getting a job in my situation is difficult.

1. I'm from Iraq, and I currently live there. This is a deal breaker for almost 70%-80% of companies, because they don't want to work with an Iraqi for lots of reasons.

2. I have 3 years experience in the field, 2 of those years are in training not software engineering, 6 months paid internship, and 5 months as a Junior Software Engineer.

3. My current employers was US-based, and I was enjoying working with them. The work was fully remote ofcourse.

4. Software Engineering jobs are almost nonexistant in Iraq, even if I find one, the salaries here are barely enough to get by unfortunately.

5. I can't afford moving to a different country at the moment, and without a job I'll slowly eat into my savings.

6. Applying to jobs that give out Visa sponsorships also won't work, I don't think companies are going to go through the hassle to hire someone who is still a junior / mid-level engineer.

If you were in my position, what would you do? How would you approach this situation?

  • by kidgorgeous on 6/23/23, 8:20 AM

    create a profile on upwork and fiverr. dedicate a couple of hours a day to prospecting