I was let go a couple of months ago. Started looking for another job months before that. No luck so far. Most offers were not even worth considering. I’m not looking for anything spectacular, just a decent job with equal or slightly lower pay. I worked with Nielsen for years. Now I’m not sure if it’s just me, or Nielsen on resume is not exactly attractive, or the job market is that bad. What’s your experience?
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Took me 6 months. It isn't you, it's the market : (
After being a long time employee of Nielsen, I was laid off in 2023. It can take AT LEAST 6 months to find a job. Remote tech jobs are highly competitive. If you want fully remote, then go through a contracting company. That will be easier. Look at the job postings and if they mention certifications, get them. In fact, get an additional certification that sets you apart from the rest of the people. If you're in tech, then get a certification for a soft skill. If you're in management, then get a certification for a tech related (like AI fundamentals or Cloud fundamentals). Then, study, study, study and apply, apply, apply. For me, this was a 6 hour per day endeavor. Get up early, look for any new jobs online, tailor my resume for the particular job, create a cover letter for the specific job, and apply. Keep a spreadsheet with the details of each job you applied to. The afternoon was for webinars about LinkedIn usage and getting past the ATS (automated scanning system used on resumes) and interview skills. Making sure you've mastered your "SMART" stories for the interview. Then certain days/weeks you have to reserve for getting the certifications. Create study sheets and study daily. Practice interviewing. You have to know your stuff like the back of your hand. For the tech jobs, there are six separate interviews normally (if you include the H/R screening). It will take time. After 4 months of applying, I kicked it up, meaning I did all of the above and lived and breathed the stuff. Then I started getting call backs and finally landed my permanent, fully remote dream job. It is so competitive out there, but if you treat landing a job with the same effort as a full-time job, then trust that you will be successful. That's the ugly truth. It was not fun, but I'm glad I'm on the other side of this. I don't ever want to go through that again. My heart goes out to everyone. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!
It takes 3-6 months, just keep at it and don’t give up
It also depends on what you do. Tech field is difficult. Salaries have come down, remote is frustratingly difficult to find, a lot of these roles are not in the US now, and endless waves of layoffs industry wide, so finding another job in a timely manner is a pain in the a-s. Even PM jobs are tough to stick, that career path has been hit hard too industry wide with layoffs. And then AI scrambling but a lot of these companies have no idea what they even mean by AI or what they want. Ridiculous. Just expect the jobs to look different (likely no longer hybrid or remote), be prepared for salary reduction and if it doesn’t happen then awesome you won the lotto! Ride this out until things eventually improve. AND UPSKILL however you can.
You have to be willing to make less than what you made before and work your way up.
I was able to find a job quickly, but originally made $9 an hour less than I made at Nielsen.
I started at my dream company in their call center. This is your foot in the door to your dream company.
Within 6 weeks I was promoted (to a different department - internal
Only role) and making the same amount I was working at Nielsen at a MUCH better company.
They ate up that I was willing to “clean the toilets” (so to speak)/work from the bottom up. Took some a-s kissing and a good, “yes!” attitude, but it totally worked.
• Comparable jobs are plentiful.
• Jobs that exceed what Nielsen offered are also plentiful.
• Remote jobs are not plentiful, and highly competitive with what little is there.
Not being able to find a remote job does not mean the job market is terrible, at least for those with transferable skillsets or an education.
Seeking $10 to $17 hr jobs usually means none of the above apply, which isn’t a put down but the reality. Work on your skills and education and manage your expectations with finding remote work and you’ll be fine with finding another position.
I got a job 7 days after the layoff that was a 56% pay cut. I did this so I would get severance plus a paycheck. This job was not in any of my career fields but i took it anyway. It took me three more months to find a job that is only a 20% pay cut now and in my career field. Unemployment office will flat out tell you to not expect anywhere nielsen level of pay for your new job. It is an unfortunate but harsh reality. If you were making 17ish as a survey taking employee you will more than likely be making only 10 to 13 elsewhere.
Nielsen on your resume is fine. The job market blows, and hiring greatly slows for the holidays and end of year company financing especially if their Q4 ends in Dec-Jan. Salaries have fallen, I had to take a 15k pay cut. I still have members of my former team looking and they were cut last April into May. Lots of competition out there especially if your job/career path is one that’s being outsourced across the country (customer service, many tech roles especially QA, junior-mid level developers, etc etc). There’s no option but to keep trying. Su-ks for most folks.