Employer acquired. UX Design position eliminated. Need advice.
My employer of 6 years was acquired. The new Canada-based company has eliminated my position—I've been working remotely from California for 5+ years as a UX design team-of-one and lately have also been contributing a lot to our css code. I have a job until December 31. This was my first professioanl job; I have never been laid off. I don't know what next steps to take other than apply to jobs and attend meetup events to tell people I'm looking. I've set my LinkedIn job status to available. I might be able to take a job in Toronto as a front-end developer but I want to make my career design, not dev. I feel like I have to choose between unemployment and moving far away for a different career. I'm struggling a lot. It feels overwhelming to be in this situation. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
First step is always a freakout, but then you’ll calm down. People get laid off all the time due to restructuring, acquisitions, budget cuts, etc. and often go onto bigger and better things. The good news is you have a solid 5 years of experience in UX design which should be plenty to get you interviews. Reach out to your network and ask if anyone’s companies are hiring. Ask for referrals. Ask for resume feedback. Make sure your best recent work is in your portfolio. I promise you’ll be ok! California has many design positions, you’ll be fine. Also read up on interviewing well because that’s a skillset in and of itself. Practice as much as possible.