Facing a layoff by end of the month - career advise?

[Polak_maly]

My last day at the company is end of October, so I have one more month to go. I'm both upset and happy. Upset because I'm very anxious/nervous about my future and will probably make a dent in my FI. Happy because I did not enjoy my work-- lately I haven't felt motivated nor appreciated for things I am doing. Dealing with manager was tough. Dread going to work.

Here is a kicker-- I have IT background but no programming (I'm systems analyst currently, 2 year prior internship as PC technician so nothing impressive).

I'm 26 years old, salary ~$93k (401k match + base + bonus). Located in Boston. My 401k balance is ~$90k, Roth IRA $37k, no debt other than mortgage but my renters are covering it fully since it is multi unit building, so technically I have no living expenses except food. I have emergency savings in taxable accounts that would cover all my costs for ~2 years in worst case scenario (ie. renters stopped paying, things break in the house, etc.) without tapping into roth ira.

Issue 1: I started looking for new opportunities and it just seems that this salary is not replaceable with my 3 year experience.

Issue 2: I don't know if I enjoy this type of role anymore. But Maybe I'm simply feeling burn out, I don't know.

Here are my questions:

1. Is it OK to take a salary hit early in a career?

2. What path would you recommend for me to find a job that I truly enjoy and look forward to?

3. What should I tell my recruiters? Right now they only know that I'm looking for new opportunities and my current salary.

4. Most importantly, have you went through something similar in your career? What did you learn from this experience?

[mxt0133]

I would try to secure a position before you are laid off.  That way you will be in a stronger position to negotiate as opposed to someone that has been laid off. 

What is the reason for your layoff?  If they are being vague then you might be overpaid for your position and frankly lowering an existing employees salary is worse than just firing them, from an employers perspective.

I would try not to focus on the pay cut if you can find a position that you like with room to grow.  Are you open to re-locating?  You are in a good point in your career right now where you have some experience but not too much, read not expensive, especially in IT.

[RichMoose]

I second mxt, you should really try to get a job lined up within the next month. As far as your questions go, here's my opinion:

1) Yeah that's not a problem. Look for a job with growth opportunity that you will be happier doing. As you improve your skills and enjoy your work, you will be back up to your current salary in no time. You're actually well positioned for a salary hit because you have low monthly expenses, your average American who lives off 98% of their salary wouldn't be able to afford this.

2) Not sure what to say here, but if you want to stay in the IT world there are lots of resources on this forum and the web.

3) I would first try a find something that you would be interested in doing. Then let recruiters know. Also, let them know what your starting salary expectation really is, often they equate current salary with expected salary and that might not be the case for you.

4) I've never been laid off from any position fortunately so I've always had a strong hand bargaining. I've went through a big career change April 2013. Most people thought I took a step down from where I was, but I never looked back since and I'm much happier for it. I took a very small cut in benefits, but not salary. Lucky for me they are making cuts to benefits in my old career while my new employee improved their benefits this past January so I'm actually quite a bit ahead of where I was after counting my raises in my new job.

Best of luck! You have some difficult decisions to make.

[RelaxedGal]

I suggest including short term contracts in your discussions with recruiters.  They seem to have way more of those openings, and it would let you try out a few different positions.

I say that hypothetically, as the only time I went that route I was hired out of the contract by the first company I worked for. 

I do think you'll have a hard time matching the salary.  In Boston proper you might hit it, but the further out you go the lower the salary.  This early in your career I wouldn't sweat it. 

[Louisville]

"Advise" is a verb. "Advice" is a noun. Watch that kind of thing on your resume.

[RetireAbroadAt35]

What does it mean to "start looking for opportunities"?  Have you interviewe?  Received offers yet?  If not then you have no idea what you're worth ... and you may be surprised.

There are a million different IT roles out there.  It's kind of hard to say what a "type of role" even means.

4. Most importantly, have you went through something similar in your career? What did you learn from this experience?

I left voluntarily and took a long break from work.  When I wanted (needed?) to go back to work I was surprised by:

1) how easy it was to get an interview. 
2) that I did not have to speak to a single recruiter or apply through any web sites.  I simply started talking to people I knew from previous work.
3) I was worth a lot more than I'd been getting paid previously.  I didn't know this until I had offers in hand