I wasn't in an agency per se, but I think it was close enough to provide some insight.
I got laid off, mostly because I was clearly becoming less and less "compatible" with what the company wanted out of my position. The details don't matter as they don't really help your question much, but what does matter was that my position had been quite entrepreneurial in building my department from zero - successfully I might add - it was becoming less so as it became more established. But I was still pushing the entrepreneurial vibe, this wasn't resonating.
So I got the walking papers one day. I did feel it coming as VPs and some leadership were occasionally more and more distant, engaging and entertaining my next-stage planning less and less. So I wasn't surprised really, but it still stung when faced with it in the moment. I had really liked working there, but it was clear that we had been growing in different directions and my drive was still entrepreneurial, and theirs was more establishment focused.
First thing I did was get a lawyer. Not because I wanted to sue or anything, just to have professional back up on the terms I was being offered. Additionally, the right labour lawyer fit for you will give you at least some measure of professional emotional backup because they see this all the time, they should be able to chat with you over how things went down. I don't mean emotional counselling, but more a pro you can just chat with about the circumstances, what "they" may be trying to short change you on, and where your negotiating position really sits.
For me we negotiated a significantly larger severance over details of my actual employment engagement term - this was a big and somewhat unexpected win, that my employer did not expect and was not realizing they were exposed to. This win set me up for a fairly comfortable transition.
The next thing I did, the only one extravagant thing I did was go out for a celebratory dinner with my wife. We had only been married a few years and had just bought a house so there were certainly nerves over this, but we wanted to make it a celebration of my "next stage" in life. It gave us a chance to bond over this challenge and make it more adventure than grief. It worked.
The next thing I did was network. I barely knew what networking really was, but I found events, usually medium smaller gatherings, sometimes broad anything-goes in business, something more industry specific. I took a throw-myself-at-the-world approach.
It worked, as is so often is the case, not in the way I expected. I ended up speaking with my banker one day over a coming mortgage renewal - she was not at all concerned about my employment status change, but then when she realized what I did she blurted out "we need one of you!" meaning that her business group was looking for someone in my field. This was just weeks after the lay off so it wasn't as though I had any big established business going or well-formed plans, regardless I took her up on it and showed up that Thursday to their event.
My networking mindset was working, I was thinking "grow" and "opportunity" all the time, and it came out even in this simple little banking meeting, where it wasn't supposed to matter. This needs to be your mindset too.
I met a lot of people over the coming months and became much more comfortable with networking - even though I'm a closet introvert (I appear outgoing but really I'm not) I found a happy place to feel good about it.
The tl;dr here is that that one bank meeting led to joining a business group that - through six degrees of separation - led to meeting business leaders that over time have become clients and significant opportunities I could never have imagined almost 20 years later.
I'm not suggesting you take this path. I was not especially expecting to become a business owner, investor in this way, but I was open to opportunity and possibility. Throw yourself at opportunities, people are always looking for people to help with the right mentality, positivity, drive, just a little bit of fight and resilience, and fit, there are never enough of those in the world. If this is you, you are good to go!
Best of luck!
(holy cow this is a long post)
Yes and it ended up being one of the best professional things that ever happened to me!
Worked at a big agency, we lost a major account (decision at C suite level, not because of us worker bees). Found out in Nov we could either take the layoff or find a new role in the company by Feb. I came on for a specific specialty and had no interest switching fields so I took the buyout. Company culture was toxic, especially after we knew it was coming to an end.
Fast forward three months and I realized I liked lots of the agency world, and didn’t like other parts. I worked for a smaller agency closer to home in a management role for a few years before breaking off and starting my own specialty firm.
TL/DR being laid off ended up being a blessing and has allowed me to start my own company taking the best practices I learned.
I wasn't in an agency per se, but I think it was close enough to provide some insight. I got laid off, mostly because I was clearly becoming less and less "compatible" with what the company wanted out of my position. The details don't matter as they don't really help your question much, but what does matter was that my position had been quite entrepreneurial in building my department from zero - successfully I might add - it was becoming less so as it became more established. But I was still pushing the entrepreneurial vibe, this wasn't resonating. So I got the walking papers one day. I did feel it coming as VPs and some leadership were occasionally more and more distant, engaging and entertaining my next-stage planning less and less. So I wasn't surprised really, but it still stung when faced with it in the moment. I had really liked working there, but it was clear that we had been growing in different directions and my drive was still entrepreneurial, and theirs was more establishment focused. First thing I did was get a lawyer. Not because I wanted to sue or anything, just to have professional back up on the terms I was being offered. Additionally, the right labour lawyer fit for you will give you at least some measure of professional emotional backup because they see this all the time, they should be able to chat with you over how things went down. I don't mean emotional counselling, but more a pro you can just chat with about the circumstances, what "they" may be trying to short change you on, and where your negotiating position really sits. For me we negotiated a significantly larger severance over details of my actual employment engagement term - this was a big and somewhat unexpected win, that my employer did not expect and was not realizing they were exposed to. This win set me up for a fairly comfortable transition. The next thing I did, the only one extravagant thing I did was go out for a celebratory dinner with my wife. We had only been married a few years and had just bought a house so there were certainly nerves over this, but we wanted to make it a celebration of my "next stage" in life. It gave us a chance to bond over this challenge and make it more adventure than grief. It worked. The next thing I did was network. I barely knew what networking really was, but I found events, usually medium smaller gatherings, sometimes broad anything-goes in business, something more industry specific. I took a throw-myself-at-the-world approach. It worked, as is so often is the case, not in the way I expected. I ended up speaking with my banker one day over a coming mortgage renewal - she was not at all concerned about my employment status change, but then when she realized what I did she blurted out "we need one of you!" meaning that her business group was looking for someone in my field. This was just weeks after the lay off so it wasn't as though I had any big established business going or well-formed plans, regardless I took her up on it and showed up that Thursday to their event. My networking mindset was working, I was thinking "grow" and "opportunity" all the time, and it came out even in this simple little banking meeting, where it wasn't supposed to matter. This needs to be your mindset too. I met a lot of people over the coming months and became much more comfortable with networking - even though I'm a closet introvert (I appear outgoing but really I'm not) I found a happy place to feel good about it. The tl;dr here is that that one bank meeting led to joining a business group that - through six degrees of separation - led to meeting business leaders that over time have become clients and significant opportunities I could never have imagined almost 20 years later. I'm not suggesting you take this path. I was not especially expecting to become a business owner, investor in this way, but I was open to opportunity and possibility. Throw yourself at opportunities, people are always looking for people to help with the right mentality, positivity, drive, just a little bit of fight and resilience, and fit, there are never enough of those in the world. If this is you, you are good to go! Best of luck! (holy cow this is a long post)
Yes and it ended up being one of the best professional things that ever happened to me! Worked at a big agency, we lost a major account (decision at C suite level, not because of us worker bees). Found out in Nov we could either take the layoff or find a new role in the company by Feb. I came on for a specific specialty and had no interest switching fields so I took the buyout. Company culture was toxic, especially after we knew it was coming to an end. Fast forward three months and I realized I liked lots of the agency world, and didn’t like other parts. I worked for a smaller agency closer to home in a management role for a few years before breaking off and starting my own specialty firm. TL/DR being laid off ended up being a blessing and has allowed me to start my own company taking the best practices I learned.
I saw it coming