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Got a surprise 30 day layoff notice last Tuesday. Do I tell interviewers or keep it quiet?
So last Tuesday my manager pulled me into a room and said my contract at the Denver office ends in 30 days. No warning, no write-up, just budget cuts. Now I have two job offers in front of me and I genuinely can't decide what to say when they ask why I'm leaving. One friend says tell the truth, layoffs happen and it's not your fault. Another friend says say nothing and just frame it as looking for growth, because some hiring managers hear "laid off" and quietly move your resume down the pile. I've got 9 years of experience and a family counting on me, so this feels like a $20k a year decision, not a small one. Has anyone here been laid off and actually tested both approaches with real results?
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stellat8710d ago
I read a piece from a career coach who tracked this exact thing with a group of people in tech, and the ones who gave a short, calm version of the truth got callbacks at about the same rate as the ones who dodged it. What hurt people was being vague or acting weird about it, because then the interviewer starts guessing at the worst case. A quick line like "my role was cut when the Denver office trimmed budget" and then moving straight into why you want their job works fine. Lying or hiding it can blow up later when they do a reference check and your old manager says the contract ended. With 9 years behind you, the layoff is a small blip, and most good hiring managers have been through one themselves. If a company quietly drops you for being laid off, that tells you something about them anyway.
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