After more than 5 years of dedicating my life to a tech giant, I’ve been laid off. Now what?

I started working at this company while I was still at university, as a wide-eyed 20 year old intern that had a lot to learn, and what a bumpy road that was (at least in the beginning)!

Over time I was able to adapt and grow into the positions I was in, but I’ve also experienced the immense challenges of having to build my own career from scratch and find my place in the world without guidance.

Having been actively looking for employment for the past month or two, I’ve become knowledgeable not only about what lies ahead, but also about some great insights that my tenure has left me with.

Here are 5 invaluable lessons I’ve learned so far:

• Don’t expect hard work to pay off:

By this I mean ALWAYS be on the lookout for new opportunities. You can be the best employee in the world and still not get a promotion, simply because you have to be at the right place, at the right time and know the right people.

• You are your personal brand:

Especially after working at the same place for a while, you can start to inadvertently merge your personal brand with that of the company, and that’s fine, if you plan to stay there forever, but the job market is evolving.

If you want to advance your career then you need to become a thought leader.

• «NO» isn’t always a bad thing:

I have found that my best projects were born out of a lack of resources. Being told «no» allowed me to be creative under pressure, and think out-of-the-box.

• Embrace ambiguity:

Resilience is a woefully underrated value in today’s job economy. In order to thrive in an environment where the rules are constantly being re-written you need to make a habit of practicing self-learning every day. But to be a self-starter you need to:

• Keep motivated:

This one seems to go unnoticed by many, as it’s usually taken for granted. Motivation is key, for it will help you keep a positive outlook no matter what, especially when it comes to making that next career move.

I now have an exciting path ahead of me, a world full of possibilities that I can seize.

Although I’m being laid off, I’ve never been more certain of what I want and where I want to go. This is the legacy of a little over 5 wonderful years at one of the best companies in the world.