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Discussion on: They say search for a new job while you still have your old job. But when do you think you should start looking?

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philliprichdale profile image
Phillip Richdale

I start looking when I get bored.

Getting bored is usually a sign that efficiency and/or mission purpose in my silo is dropping and layoffs are coming soon. I'm usually spot on with that suspicion. Whenever I start looking for job offerings even just out of curiosity a reorg or offer of exit usually is less that a year away, often just 6 months or so.

When that has happened and someone comes and offers a severance package I take the money, do a polite exit and run. It's usually 6-9 months later that I hear that the entire team was laid off from one day to the next with no severance ar all.

You have to know how businesses work to deal with this sort of thing without taking it personally. That's an important skill and mindset to maintain sanity as a dev.

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w3ndo profile image
Patrick Wendo

This seems like a pretty great intuition to have.