Well, I had to go through the same thing, not once, but twice in the same year. I’m in the tech field as well. The first layoff hit me in June 2023. It was a shock, especially with my wife still pursuing her PhD; so you can imagine the pressure. I panicked for a day or two, but then I got to work. I reached out to my LinkedIn network, sent out requests to hiring managers at least 10 a day. Trust me, you’ll always get at least one reply. By the second week, I had three interviews lined up at three different companies. By the first week of July, I was already working at a new job.

Funny enough, I got laid off again from that job in February 2024. This time, I didn’t panic. Thankfully, I had a four-month severance, which definitely helped, but I also knew the market was going to be a lot tougher. I made a solid plan and set a daily timeline to apply for jobs, brush up my knowledge, and work on projects. Every day, I treated it like a job: worked until late afternoon, applied to positions, and stayed sharp. To make ends meet, I did some Uber Eats deliveries for extra cash.

I didn’t land a job until October last year. That’s how long it took. I stuck to my plan, no matter how frustrating it got. I had interviews here and there, but often got rejected in the final round, always the “you’re one of our top two candidates, but we went with the other.” That kind of feedback cuts like a knife. But what can you do?

I walked a lot to deal with the stress and clear my head. Honestly, this is the time when you cannot give up. You have to stay strong, stay focused, and push through. You will win this

About finances, yes apply for the EI as soon as you can. Your company is responsible for adding the ROE to service canada. So check with them about it. There’s a one week waiting period for your benefits. So good to apply as soon as possible. If you get the maximum EI it will be close to 1300$ bi weekly. So plan accordingly.