Post by Chintan Shah

“I cannot tell anyone I got laid off.” This was the exact message I got from someone I had started coaching recently. Senior finance lead with eight years of experience and a strong track record. She had been laid off a few months ago and had told almost nobody. Her LinkedIn still showed her old role. She had not posted in months. Had not reached out to a single former colleague. She was job searching in complete silence because somewhere along the way she had started treating her situation like something to hide. And I get it. There is a weight that comes with saying "I was laid off" out loud, even when you know it had nothing to do with your performance. But here is what I wanted her to see. We are in a market where layoffs have become incredibly common. Strong managers are being let go. Directors with decade-long track records are being restructured out. Entire teams are being dissolved because a spreadsheet somewhere said the headcount needed to shrink. There is nothing personal about it, even though it feels deeply personal when it happens to you. And yet so many people carry it like it is their fault. They shrink in interviews, hedge in cover letters, and avoid being visible on LinkedIn because they do not want anyone to "see them like this." You did not do anything wrong. And the longer you treat your job search like something to be ashamed of, the harder you make it on yourself. I wrote about this in detail in this week's edition of The Mindset Newsletter, where this shame comes from, how it quietly takes over your entire search, and what actually shifts when you stop carrying it. Subscribe to The Mindset Newsletter for more insightful stories like this.