For laid-off tech workers

Laid off in the 2024–26 wave. Severance window ticking, a lot of competition from also-laid-off engineers, and most of the standard career advice doesn't apply when the market is this saturated.

What's hard about your situation

The 2024–26 tech layoff cycle changed the math on the job search. Three things you're dealing with that didn't apply five years ago:

  • Your replacement pool is enormous and identical. The senior engineer applying alongside you was probably laid off the same week from a similar company. Generic "experienced full-stack engineer" framing puts you in a pile with thousands of people indistinguishable on paper.
  • You have a runway, not unlimited time. Severance window plus emergency fund gives you a real deadline. That deadline changes the math: you can negotiate harder on early offers because you have months, but every week of "I'll wait for a better one" is a week of compounding pressure.
  • The "why did you leave your last job?" question is now a "why were you laid off?" question. The right answer is short, specific, and doesn't apologize. "Company restructured the entire division" lands; "It was a difficult time and I'm grateful for the experience" reads as cover.

The single biggest unforced error laid-off engineers make is under-negotiating the first offer because they feel "lucky to have it." That's usually $15–40K left on the table.

The five free prompts you'll use most

  1. Writing a Resume — refuses to inflate, which matters more now that recruiters are scanning ten thousand similar resumes. The verification table catches anything that won't survive a second-round technical interview.
  2. Writing a Cover Letter — kills the generic "I am passionate about your mission" opener that every laid-off applicant is sending right now.
  3. Salary Negotiation Email — the most important prompt for this specific situation. Laid-off engineers leave money on the table because they feel grateful for the offer. This is the script that recovers it.
  4. Job Interview Prep — drills you on "why were you laid off?" and the technical questions, without producing canned answers that interviewers can hear coming.
  5. Follow-Up Email After No Response — applications go quiet faster than ever right now. The follow-up nudges (without being needy) that bring them back.

The deeper version: The Job Hunter's AI Bundle

The bundle's Module 5 (salary negotiation) is the part that pays for itself fifty times over for laid-off tech workers. The market is brutal on offer ranges right now, and most laid-off candidates accept the first offer because they're worried it'll evaporate. The bundle's BATNA worksheet, walkaway-math calculator, and 8 negotiation scripts (including the explicit "I have a competing process" script) are built for exactly this situation.

Get The Job Hunter's AI Bundle →

$39 · 30-day no-questions refund.

One specific story

A senior platform engineer laid off from a Series-D fintech in March used the resume + cover-letter prompts for the first wave, got 12 phone screens, narrowed to 3 onsite cycles, ended with 2 offers. The first offer was $185K base, which felt good after 6 weeks of silence. He used the salary negotiation email prompt + the BATNA framing — countered to $215K with specific comp data and a real competing process. Final offer: $210K + $15K signing. $40K in his pocket from a single email he was scared to send.

Where to start

If the resume hasn't gone out yet: start there. If you're mid-process with offers coming: jump straight to the negotiation email. If applications are going quiet: the follow-up is what brings them back. And if you want the deeper version of negotiation specifically, the bundle pays for itself in one counter-offer.

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