how2notdieblog

“I was just laid off. What do I do now?”

That seems to be the most common thread in nearly every other post trickling through my LinkedIn feed lately.

And with the recent Disney + Pixar layoff posts showing up in my feed, I keep thinking back to the day management approached me to tell me they were “reducing headcount.”

Reducing headcount.

Such a clinical way to describe something that will completely turn someone’s life upside down.

I remember how it felt hearing it.

After nearly a decade with Disney, I felt like just a number.

And then came the question so many people are asking right now… “what do I do now?”

So, here’s a job-searching tip from someone whose resume makes absolutely no sense until you look at the common thread (keep reading )

STOP starting with the job boards.

START with the organizations.

Make a list of the companies, nonprofits, associations, causes, brands, and communities you already interact with & genuinely believe in.

Who do you follow?

Whose mission do you care about?

What orgs are doing work you already talk about when nobody is paying you to?

Where do your lived experience, professional experience, unique skills, & interests overlap?

Then go look at their careers pages!

& if they don’t have the right role today? Check back often.

The best opportunities aren’t necessarily the ones that appear when you type your preferred job title into LinkedIn.

Looking back, the thread throughout my own very non-linear career is this:

I spent nearly a decade at Disney because hospitality, creating experiences, and connecting with people genuinely mattered to me.

I created How2NotDie.com because I kept encountering things during my own diagnostic odyssey that made me (& my Mom) think, “someone really needs to write this stuff down.”

That grew into writing, advocacy, accessibility work, nonprofit volunteer work, & relationships with organizations serving communities I genuinely cared about.

& eventually, some of those interests and experiences became part of my career.

My resume has included everything from hospitality management, FairyGodmothering in Magic Kingdom, leading VIP experiences, immigration compliance, opening team of 2 new DCL ships, nonprofit community engagement, healthcare, advocacy, accessibility, blogging…

…&, yes, if you’re new here, OSHA forklift operator certification at ESPN.

On paper? It looks a little wild.

In reality? There has almost always been a common denominator:

People. Community. Access. Making complicated things a little easier for someone else.

So when you’re at the point of asking what kinds of jobs you should be searching for, be sure to start with the right questions.

Instead of asking:
“What job title am I qualified for?”

Try asking:
“Who is doing work I would genuinely be excited to contribute to?”

Make that list!

Follow those orgs. Learn about them. Connect with the people doing the work. Check their career pages often.
Remember: The right organization with the wrong opening today might have exactly the right opening six months from now.

Then, when the right opportunity appears, you aren’t trying to manufacture enthusiasm for a company you discovered 11 minutes ago while filling out application #37.

You already know why you want to be there!

Being intentional about where you want to work makes it much easier to figure out what you want to do there.

Losing your job might be the thing that starts your job search.

But it doesn’t have to be the thing that defines where you go next.