Do this to Maximize the Start of the Spring Season - Knockout Newsletter 3/14 🥊
by The Final Round
Welcome back to the Knockout Newsletter, brought to you by The Final Round. Every other Tuesday, we send you insight to help you knock out the competition, advance past the final round interview, and grow in your career.
Thank you for joining us in the ring. Let’s go.
What’s New?
Revisiting the Layoff Care Package
In case you might have missed it, a few weeks ago, we released our Layoff Care Package. It includes over 20 pages of free content to help you, your friends, and/or your loved ones navigate through a recent layoff. Tech layoffs (and layoffs across many sectors, for that matter) aren’t stopping, and we hope that this resources helps you advance past that final round interview and land a new, dream-role.
Why Should You Care?
What exactly does this guide include?
50+ pieces of career advice from Recruiters & Hiring Managers
The best free job-search tools including new AI tools
14-step Game Plan to help you secure offers
And more…
So go ahead. Jump right into the Layoff Care Package, and let us know what you think!
Use Spring Break as a Reset Button
Like any holiday, Spring Break is a great opportunity to kick back, relax, set the clocks forward and enjoy time with family and friends. And just like any holiday, that should for sure be the priority. However, given it’s been almost three months since the start of the new year, its important to take a step back and think about the goals you set for the new year. Are you hitting them? Are you on track to hit them? Or are you going down the wrong path?
Fortunately, Spring break provides college students with some much-needed time to reset. Give yourself time to be prepared for when the semester starts back up again.
Here are a few steps you can take to help you accomplish this:
Sleep… naturally. Spring break means you likely have a lot more time to sleep in past that usual 7:00 am alarm. Let you body get the rest it deserves, and turn that alarm off if you can. Your body will thank you next week when you’re feeling a lot more energized.
Clean and organize. Heavy amounts of studying during midterm week likely mean your room isn’t in tip-top shape. Get some cleaning done. And on top of cleaning your room, try to organize your studying habits such as cleaning your Google Drive, note books, and backpack. Not only will it clear your physical space, but your mental space, too.
Travel… smart. Spring break is the perfect time to go on a trip with some friends. Always be smart about where you go and with who, and be careful about travel scams that are all too common around this time.
Start up that hobby. School has been keeping you busy, but that’s on pause for a little while. Start up that hobby you’ve been telling yourself you don’t have enough time to work on. Now’s the time!
Review your New Year’s Resolutions. Are you still hitting your goals? Why, or why not? Ask yourself these important questions, and put yourself back on the path to success.
Knockout Quote
Spring Break also provides a great opportunity to get ahead in your career, whether it is listening to our podcast episodes with over 30 recruiters, or watching our Youtube and TikTok Content. Just take a look at how Brandon (featured above in the Knockout Story) leveraged the TFR content to land his dream job at Deloitte!
Business Buzz
💰 Employment Again Show Sharp Rise
The U.S. jobs market added 311,000 jobs in February, about 100,000 above expectations, according to a recent report from the U.S. Labor Department. Even so, the unemployment rate rose .2 percentage points above expectations, (3.6% from the expected 3.4%) due to the highest labor participation rate since March 2020 (62.5%). Labor participation rate is the amount of people 16 and older who are either employed or actively seeking employment, divided by the total non-institutionalized, civilian working-age population (Investopedia).
Again, though the tech sector is taking a hit, other industries are booming. Payroll raises increased by 4.6% instead of 4.8%, demonstrating signs of easing inflation.
🏦 What the Silicon Valley Bank Crash Means
On Friday, the Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, a scary sight for businesses, investors, and other banks across the world. Firms in the U.S. and overseas are trying to figure out what steps to take next, as the bank fallout could means a lot of chaos for those seeking to get their money back. Though the FDIC insures up to $250,000, those with more involved are certainly scrambling.
Shelf Engine CEO Stefan Kalb has already felt the pain of the collapse. “It’s been a brutal day. We literally have every single penny in Silicon Valley Bank.” Kalb, who has millions tied up with the bank, now hopes SVB will be sold this week or it could mean temporary layoffs for employees.
🐤 Meta is Back to Layoffs
Meta is planning to layoff more employees over the coming months. These cuts will amount, in total, to around the same number as last year—or, around 13% of the workforce. These layoffs are expecting to begin this week.
In addition to these layoffs, Meta plans to cut some projects as well. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has labeled this year a “year of efficiency,” further emphasizing the need for cost-cutting which will come in the form of a smaller workforce. The company has already cut its New Product Experimentation, a unit created in 2019 to help build new apps. If the layoffs predictions are true, this could mean as many as 11,000 jobs will be cut in the coming months.
What this Means
Put simply, we expect tech layoffs to continue. The need for the post pandemic-rebound is evident, but we’re not there yet. Reference our layoff care package—it’s very likely there’s someone you know who might need it.
The Final Question
What are you doing with your time off? Have you checked in on your New Year’s Resolutions yet? Let us know by leaving a comment below!
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Written by Bryan Hanley; Edited by AJ Eckstein