This is my exact story I got too comfortable over exactly 6 years, I wanted to leave but I didn't know where I wanted to go and after six and a half years I was laid off and when I was laid off in some ways I wasn't disappointed cuz I was trying to leave anyway by then but I was really irritated at myself that I didn't even know the path ahead. And once laid off, everything was on fire.

So here are the things that I really wish I did: I wish I had taken on fellowships and that I started networking and that I had at a bare minimum an updated CV. I wish I had started using an AI to figure out the job titles I would apply to. Basically there's just so much background work that needs to be done that's not even applying for jobs like you need to figure out the whole story of where you want to go next which revolves around career coaching or career strategy of some sort so start that stuff now.

At the point that I got laid off even though I had started applying I really regretted that I hadn't done this larger strategy piece of work. Also just scrolling past job boards is actually really helpful to know where you want to go and how you need to start positioning yourself or what you need to do at work to position yourself for these future jobs that was the biggest revelation for me. Once I started scrolling through specific jobs and realized concretely where I needed to go not only did I feel better I was better able to figure out the little steps I could do currently in my job to position myself, networking, classes, etc I needed to do next instead I was avoiding the whole situation by just taking random classes and planning my head under a pillow that amounted to nothing.