Should I tell my inner circle I was laid off, or keep it quiet?

Tell the 5–10 people whose opinion you actually trust. Not your whole network. You need intros from people who know your work, and those come faster when they hear it directly from you — not from a LinkedIn badge.

How long do I have to sign my severance agreement?

In the US, if you're 40 or older, federal law (OWBPA) gives you 21 days to consider and 7 days to revoke. Under 40, it's whatever the document says — often 7–14 days. Don't sign before a lawyer skims it, especially for non-standard clauses.

What about COBRA and health insurance?

You usually have 60 days from your last day of coverage to elect COBRA, and it's retroactive if you elect within the window. Check if your state has a cheaper mini-COBRA or a marketplace plan — COBRA is almost always the most expensive option and you rarely need to rush the decision.

RECOVERY

Week 1 After a Tech Layoff: Stabilize and Assess

Week one is not for applying — it's for stabilizing. Severance review, unemployment filing, health insurance, and a quiet inventory of what you actually built.

Updated Apr 19, 2026

Week 1 After a Tech Layoff

Week one is the stabilization week. You are not job-searching yet. You are building the base the search will run on. The people who try to skip this step end up three weeks from now with a broken resume, a panicked LinkedIn post, and no unemployment claim filed.

The five things that actually matter this week

1. Read the severance agreement line by line

Look for non-disparagement (usually fine), release of all claims (usually fine), non-compete (probably unenforceable for a SWE in most US states, but read carefully), and any clause that forbids you from working for a competitor list (that list matters). If anything looks unusual, a 30-minute consult with an employment lawyer costs $0–$300 and is worth it if severance is more than 4 weeks.

2. File for unemployment

Do this by end of week one. The benefit clock starts when you file, not when you lost the job. In the US, eligibility and amount vary wildly by state — California pays differently than Texas. File even if you think your severance disqualifies you; most states let you start collecting once severance runs out, but the claim has to already be open.

3. Sort out health insurance

COBRA, marketplace plan, or a spouse’s plan. You usually have 60 days to decide on COBRA, and it’s retroactive — don’t rush this one but don’t forget either. Set a calendar reminder for day 45 if you’re still deciding.

4. Tell your inner circle. Not LinkedIn.

Five to ten people, max. The ones who will actually remember to send you an intro when something crosses their desk. A text message, not a group email. Something like: “I got caught in the round at [Company] this week. I’m good, taking a couple weeks before I go hard on the search, but if you hear of anything in [your area] I’d love to hear about it.”

This one action generates more pipeline than a week of cold applications.

5. Inventory the last two years

Open a doc. Write down every project you touched, every incident you handled, every metric you moved, every system you shipped. Include the stuff that isn’t on your Jira board — the mentorship, the design docs, the times you unblocked someone. Memory of this fades fast; capture it while it’s still vivid.

You’ll use this document for the next six weeks. Every resume bullet, every behavioral story, every “tell me about a time” answer comes out of this file.

What not to touch this week

LinkedIn. Don’t change the headline. Don’t flip “Open to work.” Don’t post. Two weeks minimum.
The resume. You’ll rewrite it in week two. Any edits you make now will be in the wrong emotional voice.
Cold applications. Zero this week. An application sent in panic reads as panic to the reader.
LeetCode. Don’t. Not yet.

What the week ends with

By Friday you should have: severance signed or under review, unemployment claim filed, health insurance plan, ten people told, and a messy accomplishments doc of roughly 2–3 pages.

That’s enough. That’s actually a lot. Week two — when you start building the search infrastructure — goes much faster when these five things are already handled.

Frequently asked questions

Should I tell my inner circle I was laid off, or keep it quiet?: Tell the 5–10 people whose opinion you actually trust. Not your whole network. You need intros from people who know your work, and those come faster when they hear it directly from you — not from a LinkedIn badge.
How long do I have to sign my severance agreement?: In the US, if you're 40 or older, federal law (OWBPA) gives you 21 days to consider and 7 days to revoke. Under 40, it's whatever the document says — often 7–14 days. Don't sign before a lawyer skims it, especially for non-standard clauses.
What about COBRA and health insurance?: You usually have 60 days from your last day of coverage to elect COBRA, and it's retroactive if you elect within the window. Check if your state has a cheaper mini-COBRA or a marketplace plan — COBRA is almost always the most expensive option and you rarely need to rush the decision.