March 15th. 10 AM.
“We’re restructuring. Your role has been eliminated. Effective immediately.”
12+ years. Same company. No warning. No performance issues.
Just… gone… in a single call.
—
The “Gift”
12 months’ severance. Fully paid.
Friends: “Bro, You’re lucky. We got nothing.”
Parents: “It’s a blessing. Rest.”
Him: “12 years of experience? I’ll land something in a month.”
—
Month 1-2: The Exhale
He sleeps in.
Fixes things around the house.
Spends time with family.
Reads books gathering dust for years.
The severance sits comfortably.
The pressure feels distant.
“I deserved this break.”
—
Month 4: The Drift
A few applications here and there.
Couple of interviews.
Nothing clicks.
“Market’s slow. I’ll get serious next month.”
—
Month 6: The Math
He opens his banking app.
That “massive” severance? Shrinking.
EMI. Every month.
Groceries. School fees. Bills.
6 months down. 6 months left.
He opens his resume.
Last worked: Mar 2025
That gap looks… LOUD.
—
Month 7: The Question
Same question in every interview: “What have you been doing for 7 months?”
Honest answer, “Taking time off, family, recovering, figuring things out, …”, feels weak.
The recruiter’s face says it all.
—
Month 8: The Panic
3 AM. He’s awake again, a ritual that started months ago.
Checking LinkedIn, emails.
Counting what’s left in account.
That confidence from March — “12 years, I’ll get something easy” — now feels like a joke.
The severance isn’t a cushion anymore.
It’s a countdown.
—
Reality hits:
👉 Time doesn’t wait, even when life knocks you down.
He thought he’d rest “a bit.”
But slowly:
→ Confidence faded
→ Networks went cold
→ Fear crept in
And the world moved on.
—
What nobody tells about severance:
Day 1: It’s a gift.
Month 6: It’s borrowed time.
Month 9: It’s a trap.
Recruiters don’t see:
→ His burnout
→ His healing
→ His 12 years of loyalty
They see: a gap.
—
What he learned too late:
Yes, take a breath. He earned it.
But don’t disappear.
→ Keep profile active
→ Keep learning small things
→ Keep showing up — even quietly
Because once the world forgets you exist…
it’s 10× harder to remind it again.
—
The difference between a gap and a pivot?
Visibility.
He didn’t need to hustle 12 hours a day.
But he needed to stay present.
→ A comment here.
→ A connection there.
→ A small course.
Just enough so when opportunity knocked,
he wasn’t starting from zero.
—
💬 If this is your story right now:
You’re not alone.
Your gap doesn’t define you.
How you fill it does.
👉 Need help reclaiming your story? Let’s talk → https://24x7coach.com
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