So you’ve just come off the call with HR and the person running your department. Closed the Zoom/Hangout/Teams window, then the countless others that have been logged out while you were on the call (this actually happened to me).
You rush to your dusty LinkedIn profile and begin frantically updating your work experience. If you made an impression you’ll start receiving messages of support, details are passed on. You ask for references. But I mean who is really gonna be looking at those?
But now the real work begins. You need to make it known that you are now #opentowork. This basically becomes the equivalent of getting under someone to get over someone. No time to grieve, no time to take stock of what you really want. Feeling dejected, could you have done more? Should I have said that?
The truth is, you’re probably getting let go for bullshit reasons way out of your control. The poor decisions made by those on a higher pay grade, but refuse to take accountability. If that number isn’t going up, they look down, not around.
But I digress. The last part of the frantic update is adding the #opentowork banner. If you’re anything like me, you already had it set to “visible to recruiters only”. But now it’s visible to everyone.
Look I get it, it’s there for a reason. But my god does it feel shit. You’re already in a vulnerable state. Wondering where the next paycheque is going to come from, figuring out what you can cut back on. Goodbye Netflix, goodbye Amazon Prime, goodbye cheeky takeaway. Tipping, what’s that?
You click it. LinkedIn asks if you want to post about it. ‘Hey I’ve just been dumped, looking for…’ Nah, not yet. You have faith. This will be quick. But then 1 day, 1 week, 1 month.
Every time you log in it’s there staring you in the face. #opentowork #opentowork #opentowork. That green disc hanging around your neck, your smiling face behind it. “Look at me, I’m so cheery, despite the absolute terror of not being able to pay my mortgage at the end of the month.”
I don’t know about you but it sometimes seems like I’m the only one with it on. As I scroll the feed I see success, performance gloating, and countless tips of what I should be doing to get a better chance of finding work. How I should be presenting myself. Don’t do that, do this, no not this, that. Comment “help me I’m desperate” for my 10 page .pdf.
So what can we do?
Well, what if everyone is #opentowork? I mean everyone. You, your old colleagues (though to be fair if you were let go, it’s not long until they are), the person that gave you the news after reading a Brené Brown quote 10 minutes before. Bill Gates.
With Solidarity everyone is #opentowork.
With a single click, everyone will now appear as #opentowork on LinkedIn. That’s it. No options. No menus. No payments (because let’s face it, that certainly isn’t an option right now).
No one stands alone when everyone’s #opentowork.
