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From Work Ties to Network Allies

How Alumni Connections Keep You In Tech

May 11, 2023

📰 In this week’s newsletter:

  • 🎓 The Warm Embrace After a Layoff

  • 🚀 How Alumni Groups Get You Back in the Game

  • 🤖 Tools for the Job Seeker

  • 📈 Pulse of the Job Market

🎓 Alumni Networks - The Warm Embrace After a Layoff

The events that follow after a layoff can feel chaotic, confusing, and very isolating. Access to your work email, Slack channels, Okta logins, and key documents have been lost in a snap of a finger. In such a disoriented state, it’s hard to know what to do next. Enter the Alumni Network.

“It was a little bit like getting an invite to a secret after-party. When I left my last job, I received an invitation to a Slack channel for former employees. It was as if I’d stood up from my desk, crossed the office and opened a back door where — surprise! — all my old work friends who had moved on before me had gathered.”

Sophia Smith, Financial Times article

🫂 What are Alumni Networks?

Alumni networks in tech are like a circuit board that can connect you to a wealth of opportunities alongside other former employees from the same company.

These networks can take many forms such as Slack Channels, LinkedIn Groups, Facebook Groups, or even something as simple as a group chat.

🚀 How Alumni Groups Get You Back in the Game

  1. Jobs - Job hunting and referrals / spreading the word about open positions among alumni is quite common. After all, there are many individuals in these groups that can truly vouch for your abilities and how amazing you were to work with.

  2. Financial Guidance - Such as how to navigate severance agreements, should you hold onto your RSUs, etc.

  3. Freelance / Consulting - It turns out there are a lot of people who will pay for the skills you’ve acquired while working at your tech company. Aside from jumping back on the hamster wheel at another company, many will start their freelancing careers using sites like Upwork or TopTal.

  4. Finding Cofounders - In the same vein as freelancing, so much talent has been unleashed during a layoff and it’s often the push many soon-to-be entrepreneurs needed to start their own company. Trust is needed among cofounders and there is trust abound in these groups.

  5. Talking shit - this has very cathartic properties and I’m sure you won’t need much guidance here.

There’s no right or wrong way to create, or exist within, an alumni group. The only goal is to help one anther through this time and help with opportunities any way you can.

How do I find MY Alumni Network?

Traditionally these alumni groups operate underground and are not advertised publicly online, so here are a few ways you can find yours:

  1. Layoffs.fyi - This site has a ‘List of Employees’ tab that contains thousands of links to lists of employees impacted by layoffs. If you find your company in there, you may find a gold mine of names that you could reach out to.

  2. LinkedIn Groups - as much as we hate on it, it’s where the people are at. Some of the larger companies have 50,000+ alumni members in their LinkedIn Groups. Definitely not a bad place to start your search.

  3. DMs - If you didn’t hold on to your coveted black book of work email addresses, get on the socials and DM your people. Someone is bound to have heard whispers of where this group exists (and how to get invited).

  4. Start Your Own - When I was let go at Airtable, a few other alumni saw a need and created the Airtable Alumni Slack. There’s now 250+ alumni in there, and 6 months post-layoff, I am still continuously meeting new people in there to collaborate with.

  5. Think Outside the Channel - Just like church doesn’t need 4 walls and priest, an Alumni group doesn’t need Slack or LinkedIn. Shopify Alumni took it to the next level and built their own directory website of 2000+ laid off Shopifyians https://weworkedatshop.com/ 

Just one way you may catch wind of your Alumni group. (Shoutout to Steven for connecting all the Airtablets!)

🤖 Tools for the Job Seeker

Wonsulting.ai - Be more, earn more, faster than ever with a growing suite of AI powered job search tools for resumes, cover letters, networking and more!

Jobcase - Jobcase is where millions of workers come together for the answers, support & motivation they need to get ahead.

📈 Pulse of the Job Market

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its April 2023 Jobs Report last week and there finally seems to be some rosy news. Below are some of the key takeaways from the report.

  • Employers added 253,000 jobs and unemployment declined to 3.4% in April, according to the latest report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

  • Not only was unemployment low, but more workers are entering the labor force. The participation rate for workers ages 25 to 54 is the highest since March 2008.

  • Payroll growth is declining, but the current pace of job gains is still more than strong enough to keep the unemployment rate low.

Job Seeker Takeaway - The latest jobs report shows that the job market accelerated unexpectedly in April, with employers continuing to hire across the economy. This is good news for job seekers, as it suggests that there are more job opportunities available. Additionally, the unemployment rate dipped to 3.4 percent, which is the lowest it has been since the late 1960s. However, it is important to note that there may be a seasonal surge in unemployment as new college graduates enter the labor market, and the job market could face risks in the coming weeks and months.

*Initial Jobless Claims measure the number of individuals who have recently filed for unemployment benefits for the first time in the past week.

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