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Ask HN: My employer has about two months of runway left. What shoud I do now?

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Re: Ask HN: My employer has about two months of runway left. What shoud I do now?

#21

Post by commandlinefan »

I was in the same situation around the end of 2017. The company was struggling, but the checks were still clearing, so I hung on, hoping for the best. We actually did get sold, but the new owners immediately shut us down (to this day I can't think of any rational explanation for why they would have done that). I found out the week before thanksgiving that I was unemployed, effective immediately.

There was a very small severance package, and I had some vested RSUs which, somehow, actually had some value (they didn't accelerate my unvested RSUs, which I thought was kind of lousy of them). I did collect unemployment for about a month before I landed the job I have now.

All in all, it wasn't a bad experience, even job-hunting leading into Christmas time. It was the first time I'd ever been unemployed and the first time I'd had 100% of my time to dedicate to searching for a job rather than having to figure out how to schedule interviews around my existing employment. OTOH, I had a pretty in-demand skillset, so it didn't take long to find something. I think it would have gotten really uncomfortable if I'd still been out of work six months later.

Re: Ask HN: My employer has about two months of runway left. What shoud I do now?

#22

Post by yawnxyz »

After I got laid off, being unemployed was the best thing to happen to my mental health — I just backpacked everywhere for a few months, and built a lot of longer-term perspective on my life.

Getting away from the perpetual "oh god I don't have a stable income" fear, even after having worked in tech for many years and accruing plenty of savings, was the absolute hardest thing in my life (it's definitely privilege to have those savings, but I never FELT that privilege; I always felt one month away from falling off a financial cliff).

(I ended up jumping into bootstrapping products/dabbling in founding startups, then "leaving" tech into clinical work as a research software engineer).

Re: Ask HN: My employer has about two months of runway left. What shoud I do now?

#24

Post by brudgers »

[random internet idea]

If sale of the company is your best upside, then it might make sense to apply to the potential buying company.

I mean if the company sells, you’ll probably be interviewed before the new owners hire, if the new owners are interested in keeping you on.

And they might not be since delaying a purchase only increases the likelihood people like you will jump ship…and because aquihires usually focus on the principals first and valued employees third.

Good luck.

Re: Ask HN: My employer has about two months of runway left. What shoud I do now?

#25

Post by joshxyz »

yawnxyz wrote: post #22

After I got laid off, being unemployed was the best thing to happen to my mental health — I just backpacked everywhere for a few months, and built a lot of longer-term perspective on my life. Getting away from the perpetual "oh god I don't have a stable income" fear, even after having worked in tech for many years and accruing plenty of savings, was the absolute hardest thing in my life (it's definitely privilege to…

a road less traveled, but one that im grateful with. sure life will become unstable, but hell it comes with freedom to take a break and try other things.

Re: Ask HN: My employer has about two months of runway left. What shoud I do now?

#26

Post by tacostakohashi »

theGnuMe wrote: post #15

Get another job lined up and push out the start date. You want multiple offers anyway to leverage them against each other.

I think this is the right answer. Even without pushing out the start date, it can easily be 1-2 months or more between applying and a start date, with various online tests, multiple rounds of interviews, background checks, etc, etc.

That being the case, I'd be applying now, and moving through the pipeline with a few possibilities, so there is something ready to go/push out in 2 months.

Re: Ask HN: My employer has about two months of runway left. What shoud I do now?

#27

Post by WheelsAtLarge »

jdileo wrote: post #6

Most important thing you've said is that "....chance that company will be purchased, but those talks have been going on for several months...." **Never, ever, ever become more committed to a startup than the founders are. A startup warrants devotion and continued work only when leadership is demonstrably committed to victory. Pls immediately begin pursuit of finding a position that thrills you!

Yup, the company might get purchased and you get laid off the next day because they need to trim costs. Or they only want the assets. Or whatever...

Start looking for a new job.

Re: Ask HN: My employer has about two months of runway left. What shoud I do now?

#29

Post by przefur »

yawnxyz wrote: post #22

After I got laid off, being unemployed was the best thing to happen to my mental health — I just backpacked everywhere for a few months, and built a lot of longer-term perspective on my life. Getting away from the perpetual "oh god I don't have a stable income" fear, even after having worked in tech for many years and accruing plenty of savings, was the absolute hardest thing in my life (it's definitely privilege to…

There is a common saying in my social circle (europe, data engineering) - 'being fired is the best thing that can happen to you', the market is still hot, plenty of jobs available, you often end up with a severance package and ... you'll finally have time to backpack through the country. Having a month for yourself, just to chill, do hobbies, backpack, mountains sometimes is a blessing.
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