Recognizing Grief in the Job Search
If you needed permission to not be ok, consider this it.
No matter where you are—whether in your job search or pausing after a layoff—know you are seen, held, and cared for.
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You know what we don't talk about enough in the job search? Grief. I was coaching a client recently and she had just been laid off after 12 years at the same institution, a place where she had desired to grow and retire from. And at the end of one of our sessions, she just started crying. And my response? "Hey, let's just sit with this for a minute."
That moment stuck with me because so often we rush this part, especially as women because we feel like we have to bounce back. We have to all be fine for everybody else. Am I right? We're gonna continue updating our résumé. We're going to post on LinkedIn. We're gonna get to networking.
But losing a job, especially one that you've had for years, isn't just losing a paycheck. It's losing a chapter of your life. The people, the identity, the rhythm of your days.
I've been there too. When I was laid off from Airbnb, I was so disappointed. Airbnb was my swan song. This is where I wanted to develop my career. This is where I wanted to retire.
And even though other doors opened, I still needed to mourn what I thought would be.
Another client told me that he planned a weekend getaway just to process everything. Not to wallow, but to honor it.
Because leaving a role after years of showing up deserves recognition.
So if you're in that space right now, pause, let yourself feel the sadness.
You don't have to stay there forever, but you do need to acknowledge it.
Grief isn't a weakness, it's part of the reset.
And when you give yourself permission to feel it, to go through it, you make room for what's next.
