Layoffs are never easy. And in today’s more competitive and unpredictable job market, even experienced business professionals can find themselves navigating unfamiliar territory.

Longer hiring cycles and evolving recruiting practices have changed how people find and pursue opportunities. For someone who hasn’t conducted a job search in years, understanding those changes and figuring out where to focus their efforts can take time.

That’s one reason career support for Jenkins MBA and Master of Management students continues after graduation. Students who experience a layoff while enrolled and alumni who face an unexpected career transition years later can turn to the Poole College Career Center for coaching, strategy and practical guidance.

We spoke with Dave Solloway, associate director of working professional careers, about what he sees when Jenkins MBA, MMA and MRA students and alumni come to his team after a layoff, how he helps them regain their footing and what it takes to build an effective job search in today’s market. 

Editor’s note: The Poole College Career Center services discussed in this article support Jenkins MBA, MMA and MRA students and alumni. The Jenkins Master of Accounting (MAC) program provides exceptional career support to its students and alumni through its own dedicated career services staff. 

What’s the first thing someone should do after being laid off?

Dave Solloway: Give yourself a moment to process what happened, and talk with someone before you jump into the job search.

A layoff carries an emotional burden. There can be fear, frustration and a lot of uncertainty about what comes next. When someone is feeling that pressure, it’s easy to start sending out applications immediately because it feels like the most productive thing to do.

We want to help people get some clarity first. Every situation is different, so we start by understanding what this transition actually means for that person.

“Once we understand someone’s circumstances and what they want from their next opportunity, we can begin putting together a strategy that makes sense for them.”

How quickly do you need to secure another role? Do you have enough flexibility to explore a career pivot? Are you hoping to move into leadership? Is there another industry you’ve been thinking about?

Those answers give us a place to start. Once we understand someone’s circumstances and what they want from their next opportunity, we can begin putting together a strategy that makes sense for them.

After that first conversation, what does the coaching process actually look like?

We start by defining what success looks like for the next role. That gives us something concrete to work toward and helps shape the rest of the search.

From there, we can identify target organizations, refine the person’s professional story and strengthen their application materials. We also spend a lot of time thinking about networking: Who should you be talking to? Where do you already have connections? Which organizations or industries do you need to learn more about?

As those pieces come together, the search becomes much more focused. You have a clearer idea of where you want to go, which opportunities deserve your attention and what you need to do each week to keep making progress.

That structure can be especially valuable after a layoff, when so much may feel uncertain. It gives someone a plan to follow and a way to see that they’re moving forward, even when the hiring process itself takes time.

Why can layoffs be especially difficult for experienced professionals?

For someone who has been successful in their career for 15 or 20 years, a layoff can put them in unfamiliar territory. They may have spent years advancing through internal promotions, or recruiters may have approached them about their last few opportunities. Now they’re suddenly conducting a job search in a market that looks very different from the one they remember.

Today, they’re encountering AI-assisted applications, longer interview processes and more competition for many positions. Even the way people find opportunities and build relationships with employers has changed.

That can take some adjustment.

“For someone who has been successful in their career for 15 or 20 years, a layoff can put them in unfamiliar territory.”

These professionals already have years of experience, accomplishments and professional knowledge to draw from. We help them figure out how to put all of that to work in the current market, including how to tell their story, where to focus their search and how to build relationships that can lead to the right opportunity.

How has today’s hiring environment changed?

Hiring has become much more deliberate. Organizations are often taking longer to make decisions, involving more stakeholders in interviews and receiving significantly more applications than they did just a few years ago. That makes it especially important to think about the job search beyond the application itself.

We spend a lot of time helping people identify organizations they’re interested in and begin building relationships with them early. That might mean connecting with alumni, reaching out to someone in a particular function or learning more about a company before a position is posted.

By the time some jobs appear online, employers may already have potential candidates in mind. Developing those relationships early can help someone understand where opportunities may be developing and make their name more familiar when the right role opens.

For many of the professionals we work with, that shift toward proactive networking is one of the biggest adjustments they make in their search.

Beyond coaching, what resources are available to help someone get back into the job market?

We have a number of resources that can help someone get moving and give them a starting point.

Students and alumni have access to professionally developed résumé and outreach templates, interview preparation resources, networking frameworks and research tools. These can be useful when you’re trying to answer practical questions: How should I approach this person? What should my résumé emphasize? How do I prepare for this interview? Which organizations should I be researching?

Having those resources available can take some of the guesswork out of the process. Then we can use coaching conversations to talk through how they apply to that individual’s search.

We also help alumni think through their outreach and the conversations they should be having. Panels and networking events give them additional opportunities to meet people, learn about organizations and stay connected to the Jenkins and NC State communities.

This combination gives someone resources they can use on their own, along with a coach who can help them decide where to focus and what to do next.

Interested in attending events hosted by Poole Career Center? Jenkins MBA, MMA and MRA students and alumni can search and register for events by logging in to 12Twenty or reaching out to [email protected].

What advice do you give someone who’s worried about explaining a layoff?

That’s a concern we hear often. People worry about how an employer will interpret the layoff or whether it will change how they’re viewed as a candidate. We help them think about the larger story of their career.

On your résumé and LinkedIn profile, you want employers to see the impact you made in your previous roles. What did you accomplish? What expertise did you develop? What kinds of problems have you learned how to solve?

“Giving [hiring managers] a clear picture of your experience, accomplishments and potential helps keep the conversation focused on where you’re headed next.”

The same idea applies in an interview. You can acknowledge the transition briefly and explain what happened, then continue the conversation by talking about your experience and what you can contribute in the role you’re pursuing.

Hiring managers want to understand what you bring to the organization. Giving them a clear picture of your experience, accomplishments and potential helps keep the conversation focused on where you’re headed next.

Do NC State MBA and Master of Management alumni continue to have access to career services after graduation?

Yes. Jenkins MBA, MMA and MRA alumni have lifetime access to career coaching, resources and programming through the Poole College Career Center.

That support can be valuable at many points in someone’s professional life. We work with alumni who are navigating layoffs, considering a career pivot, exploring leadership opportunities, or simply thinking about what they want the next stage of their career to look like.

As their careers evolve, alumni can come back to us whenever they reach one of those transition points.

What would you say to an alumnus who has been laid off but isn’t sure whether they should reach out?

Reach out. Join the events we offer to alumni at Poole and across NC State.

You can contact us while you’re still figuring things out. In many cases, that’s a good time to have the conversation because we can help you work through the questions you’re asking yourself and start giving the situation some structure.

We’ll talk about where you are, what you want to do next and what steps can help you move in that direction. Sometimes that means working on your résumé or LinkedIn profile. Sometimes it means identifying organizations and people you should be talking to. And sometimes the first step is simply getting clear about what you want from your next role.

A career transition can feel overwhelming when you’re looking at the whole thing at once. Having a plan gives you somewhere to begin, and you don’t have to navigate it alone.

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