At the end of 2024 my world changed in an instant: I was impacted by a layoff. I had always been a star pupil who gave her all at work and BAM, all of a sudden everything my team and I worked on was no longer important. After some emotional turmoil, I started hunting for a new job and actually landed a new role within a month after my contract ended. This wasn't smooth sailing per se as it took 36 applications, 17 recruiter calls, 12 first round, 9 second round and 4 final round interviews leading to 2 offers over a period of 4 months.

In this talk I will share my post-layoff journey covering the state of tech job interview processes in 2025, things I did during my job search that led to a crazy amount of interviews but also mistakes I made along the way, hoping to provide some comfort and insights to those dealing with a layoff past, present or future.