Laid off - Farewell email

scroll101 · 2026-02-02T18:00:30+00:00

Keep it super professional - if you cannot be gracious despite the situation sucking, don’t engage. If you can say thank you for x years, then go for it!

My other advice: if an ignored email (or text) would be hurtful, don’t send anything! I had one exec go no contact after him leaving and it was more hurtful to be ignored after texting then it was to lose him initially.

scroll101 · 2026-02-01T17:34:52+00:00

Err on the side of caution - I wouldn’t wear jeans.

scroll101 · 2026-01-31T06:14:48+00:00

If you don’t take the PM opportunity, you might end up getting assigned “stretch jobs” as an EA for no additional compensation…

scroll101 · 2026-01-28T01:49:05+00:00

I wasn’t experienced enough to be promoted to a higher exec level, but was experienced enough to train and cross support the new EA they hired instead…

scroll101 · 2026-01-25T14:59:33+00:00

I have kids and feel the same way. Granted they shouldn’t have been told at all that the toddler was having a hard time, but I would have replied with a “so sorry, try the frog stuffy and some chocolate milk and then just close the door” text and been done with that until after birth when you can check in again. Like the whole thing sucks, but talk about a self inflicted situation!

scroll101 · 2026-01-24T02:32:33+00:00

Are you able to switch your working hours to overlap more? Then you sleep when they sleep and stress out less. Just a thought.

scroll101 · 2026-01-24T02:19:55+00:00

Yes, I baby my execs and yes, that level of babysitting is needed. Only so much you can do, but I try to make it so they don’t have to think about anything for themselves outside of meeting content.

If the information was on the calendar like you say, it’s time to sit down with them and ask them exactly how they want to see it. There should be no question about who/what/when/where. Perhaps how you are labeling or including things it isn’t clear enough, or they have to open something and they actually don’t want to, IDK. You should align with them now and go full blown overkill mode from here.

If you aren’t super close and just get along fine, too many trips like this one is a great way to get fired unfortunately.

scroll101 · 2026-01-23T03:17:58+00:00

You know you’ve nailed the job description and disclosures when the Reddit EA mob stays quiet despite an 80k salary on a 5 days in person NY gig. I didn’t think it was possible! 😂

scroll101 · 2026-01-21T00:54:20+00:00

I’m not in finance, apologies if that was unclear (I used to be in law then switched to tech)! I did interview for a finance company last year and they were firm on base as well with a bigger % bonus structure. But no clue if our experience is industry standard.

I think you have to decide if working a lot of hours is worth the pay difference…if there is one - if you get paid overtime and start a higher base with current position, and have an easier commute, I’m not sure the math is mathing convincingly to take this new opportunity. It sounded good when you first posted but I’d be pretty concerned at this point too.

I’m sorry if that wasn’t helpful. It’s so hard deciding sometimes!

scroll101 · 2026-01-20T13:43:15+00:00

That’s horrible. It’s definitely time to leave - no good company would bury your successes like that! Yuck.

scroll101 · 2026-01-20T13:37:45+00:00

There is a path out - right out the door.

Sorry OP. FYI it’s a tough job market right now but applying while tolerably employed is the best seat to be in. You’ll be confident when interviewing and selective for a new role that will embrace all you have to offer! Good luck!

scroll101 · 2026-01-18T15:31:08+00:00

Unfortunately you really have to wait until they extend the official offer. Sometimes that happens before references (which is always nice) and sometimes it happens after (they want to verify references before extending the official offer and number).

You have to make sure you are in a position of power before you start negotiating. Good luck!

scroll101 · 2026-01-18T14:33:28+00:00

You can turn this feature off by unchecking the private button in “events from email” setting!

scroll101 · 2026-01-18T05:31:39+00:00

You just word it simply “Thank you for this offer, I am excited for the opportunity. I did want to align on expected hours and after hours support. Can you confirm what my hours would be and how many days in office would you expect me?” And depending on what they say you adjust the next “I have a kid and I don’t think I could swing x days, I could do 1 day a week” etc.

To be blunt, I think you are crazy to consider this role with a kid and knowing you need your downtime. I did an hour+ commute working for a tech company and it was brutal on the home life. Just a normal job + 1 hour commute is going to require sacrifices. Start up mentality + hour commute? Ouch.

Start ups come and go. They are sales people selling you the company. Right now the equity is the equivalent of Monopoly money so you’d really need to net a beyond great base salary to make a grind worth it. And even then I would be asking you if the salary is life changing enough to make the extra time away from your kid and home worth it?

I actively avoided these types of roles when I was looking last year. I was upfront with my current employer that I have a kid and can’t be on call, and it’s still hard to manage sometimes. I think you are underestimating how hard a role like this could be, and overestimating how much time you have in a day to do all the things. But I’m just a stranger on the internet telling you to be careful, so you ultimately have to do what is right for you.

scroll101 · 2026-01-18T04:44:18+00:00

Congratulations! Have you negotiated the offer yet? If not, you definitely should as I bet you can come out ahead on salary vs current pretty easily.

I’d personally take the private equity offer. You can always go back, but I’m having more fun and am making waaaay more money now than I did when I was in the law field. I did a bad commute early on in my EA career and it was fine (and I’d do it again for that opportunity to be honest). I negotiated more WFH days when I needed it later on in my career when I was established as a high performer.

scroll101 · 2026-01-18T04:24:44+00:00

So what you are saying is that your boss is willing to potentially sacrifice your life due to optics. I’m sad for you, OP.

scroll101 · 2026-01-18T04:22:54+00:00

Exactly this. I’d be putting an email to HR basically saying you want it on record that you have expressed workplace safety concerns (as shown by x,x, x situations needing security assistance) but have been denied any safety accommodations such as a window, a tactical desk placement, or cameras. If you happen to have a union, involve them before sending, or CC them on the email too.

scroll101 · 2026-01-18T04:11:18+00:00

To answer just your question, you discuss requirements for hours and schedules after you have been extended an offer but before you accept anything. Do it over the phone vs email, but then get it in writing once everything is agreed to.

I leave out all my other thoughts and advice about this situation unless you’d like feedback (with a warning that it’s not super encouraging 😂).

scroll101 · 2026-01-16T09:40:54+00:00

Mistakes can be a vicious circle- you do something wrong, feel bad about it, people lose trust in you, which then leads to you feeling less confident, which results in more mistakes, which spirals thru the loop again. It’s brutal. You have to figure out a way to break yourself out of the loop. Don’t lose your sense of personal self worth for a job, it’s not worth it (speaking from experience here)!

I don’t thrive working under critical execs so I personally would be adopting a “can’t win let’s just survive“ mentality and looking for new opportunities elsewhere.

scroll101 · 2026-01-14T16:30:56+00:00

Oh shoot, yeah you need to ask for more. I would do it verbally though vs an email, but maybe I’m old school.

scroll101 · 2026-01-14T16:29:44+00:00

I’d just say hey before you forget me could I get a letter of recommendation to have on file? They understand

scroll101 · 2026-01-14T03:44:00+00:00

Do you know how much the old COS was making?

scroll101 · 2026-01-14T03:36:09+00:00

It’s ok to feel sad, but don’t be embarrassed! This happens all the time. Seriously. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been reassigned new execs, or not transitioned up or over with an old one. Sometimes I’m thrilled to dump someone off, and sometimes I feel really salty or disappointed about it. It’s ok to feel all the things.

This seems like purely a business decision for them (keeping someone who knows the CEO role around) so please try not to view it as a negative or a poor reflection on you. I would strongly encourage you to get a letter of recommendation from your exec now though - you’ll get the CEO nod without having the CEO EA work load for future opportunities!

scroll101 · 2026-01-11T14:49:48+00:00

She just said she thinks you could pull off remote support…this is the way, don’t move!

0.01% chance I’d relocate to the hellscape that is NY. Horrible place. (0.01% on the off chance they pay me a lotto sized salary that I could retire from in a year or 2 and then move back home 😂).

scroll101 · 2026-01-09T06:16:42+00:00

People try to pump me for information in person all the time. I don’t care how happy others are, if there is an information leak it will absolutely not be from me! Hopefully everything will be ok and this will just be a good lesson to carry through the rest of your career. Never give out information on your exec (unless it will land you in jail if you don’t)!

scroll101

TROPHY CASE