Whatever you do, build.

At this point, everyone either has or knows someone who has been laid off in the past handful of years. I can say first hand after three layoffs in two years, it’s never easy. In fact, I would argue it gets harder every time. Every time you think you have a stable ground, the rug gets pulled. A chance to catch up on debt and bills, nope! A company that values your skills and ability to get the job done, fat chance. It begins to set this picture of what you might look like when the money finally runs out and you’re on the street, through no fault of your own. You apply yourself, dedicate yourself to your craft, profession, and skill set, and you’re in the same spot. Multiple times. To be blunt: shit sucks.

I started my career with the assumption that, with my degree in Computer Science and experience in software development, I’d be set. Maybe not absolutely comfortable, but in a stable profession. That’s what my parents told me, my academic advisors, and even my mentors throughout my college journey. Instead, I would say my entire life post-bachelors has been a pinball machine of positions and organizations. Companies that considered me the “rockstar” and the “vital member of the team” after four people left, or even the “backbone” after a COO stepped down. Putting in meaningful effort to a company because you care for the industry, the problem they’re trying to solve, or the culture the company provides, doesn’t impact the outcome. No matter how good you seem to be doing, the out-of-cycle meeting appears on your calendar all the same.

All of this to say: life is often unstable. Some of that instability is the fun of it all, but not when you depend on stability to feel…normal, successful, important and valuable. When you get laid off multiple times, none of those adjectives come up when you get asked “tell me about yourself” at a networking meeting, or a coffee chat, or another interview that will stonewall you with no feedback. You feel imbalanced, unstable and frustrated. What does it mean when all of these touch points start to feel like they’re going nowhere?

It means you have to build.

Build something. Anything. Preferably something that excites you. But build nonetheless. Building can take a number of forms, and I don’t want to generalize, so I’d rather share what I’ve built in the span of these pitfalls. These points of wondering where I am going to get to my next meal, or the breathing room to stay in my apartment for another month. It’s important to reflect and explore your wins frequently while building.

I built tangible things.

For me, I have nearly a decade of experience in software engineering, and I love the work. Websites. Applications. Tinkering with something computer related. I participated in a number of hackathons that kept me busy while I was finding my next role. What this did was establish and reinforce that yes, I’m still skilled in what I do, and that these pitfalls do not define my ability.

What skills do you have to build with? Can you use these building opportunities to either hone your current skills or upskill to something new?

I built community.

See a gap in the community for something fun, exciting, and/or meaningful? Build it. Find people who want to help you build it. Find someone building, and be that support for them. It’s all valuable. For me, this was establishing the Fort Collins AI for Everyone community as a part of the Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group. I also got involved with local community groups relating to my own intersectionalities, and did my best to avoid the notion that I am alone. You are not alone, and chances are there are people who want to know they’re not alone either.

I built resiliency.

Resiliency goes hand and hand with community. Whether that’s through networking, community groups, or anything you have interest in, having people who relate to you, understand you (to a certain extent!), and share in those past/present/future experiences, makes a world of a difference.

What are you doing to build your own stability? Are you sticking to a schedule? Are you taking care of yourself?

Your ability to see and feel the benefits of the stability you seek is vital. You don’t get there without resiliency. These are not exhaustive, or even remotely encapsulating all the wonderful things you can build. Find something you’re excited about? Something that helps you feel like you’re stable? Then build! Build that group, that tool, that community relationship, or that skill set. From my experience, you have the time to do anything you set your mind to if you treat it like something you can build.

Let me be abundantly clear: that frustration, fear, confusion of what happens next doesn’t go away. Shit might likely still suck in many aspects. Even being in a relative terrafirma situation, you’ll still have that nagging feeling of “well, when is the next shoe going to fall?” I can confidently say that there are days today where, although I’m consulting and navigating my own business somewhat successfully, I’m still experiencing those feelings. Rather than try to avoid them, my advice is to healthily embrace all the feelings.

Building something tangible, building community, and building resiliency helps you navigate, rather than avoid. It helps you sail over the waves, rather than feel like you’re drowning and trying to tread water. Those problems aren’t going to go away. What is actually going to go away? The overwhelm. The feelings of hopelessness. Worthlessness.

What you build doesn’t even have to be meaningful in the context of your “career.”  I just built a personal computer for the first time, because I wanted so desperately to build and have ownership over the thing. Is that relevant to my job search? Not really. But it keeps me happy, alive, and excited to continue building, which I think is the vital part of it all. The process of building whatever excites you is equally as important as the product, if not more important.

So find that thing you’re excited to build, and build it. And in the process of it all, you’ll be much more equipped to navigate the abundant challenges ahead.

BIO: Andres Sepulveda Morales is a recovering corporate software engineer with over eight years of experience who is dedicated to community through technology. Recognized 2x as one of Contra’s Best Software Consultants to Hire in 2025, he found his terra firma for the time being through human-focused technology implementation and strategy via his company, Red Mage. Andres founded the Fort Collins AI for Everyone chapter and sits on the Board of Directors for the Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group (RMAIIG).