--- title: What I'd do if I got laid off as senior engineer | daily.dev description: A senior engineer shares a step-by-step plan for handling a layoff: first calculate your financial runway and analyze current job market demand before acting,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/what-i-d-do-if-i-got-laid-off-as-senior-engineer-sv8zqwik8 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: What I'd do if I got laid off as senior engineer | daily.dev og:description: A senior engineer shares a step-by-step plan for handling a layoff: first calculate your financial runway and analyze current job market demand before acting,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/what-i-d-do-if-i-got-laid-off-as-senior-engineer-sv8zqwik8 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/sv8ZQWik8.png og:image:alt: What I'd do if I got laid off as senior engineer og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # What I'd do if I got laid off as senior engineer **[Let's Get Rusty](https://daily.dev/sources/letsgetrusty)** · 6 min read · 43 upvotes · 11 comments ## Summary A senior engineer shares a step-by-step plan for handling a layoff: first calculate your financial runway and analyze current job market demand before acting, then specialize your resume around a niche (a 'blue ocean' strategy) rather than listing generalist experience, apply to a very large number of companies since realistic funnel conversion rates require dozens or hundreds of applications for a couple of offers, and use in-person networking events as a high-leverage outreach channel alongside job boards. The piece closes with a pitch for the creator's Rust mentorship program and waitlist. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How many job applications should I send out to get two job offers? Roughly 160 applications, based on optimistic funnel assumptions of a 10% recruiter response rate, a 50% conversion from recruiter conversations to technical interviews, and a 25% conversion from interviews to offers. Real conversion rates are often worse, so applying to hundreds of companies is recommended to secure two or three offers. _Job seekers tracking market demand and interview conversion trends can follow related discussions on daily.dev._ ### Should I keep a broad, generalist resume or specialize when the job market is tough? Specializing narrowly performs better than listing broad generalist experience, even with fewer total years in the field. One developer with over a decade of mixed front-end, back-end, systems, and mobile experience struggled to get embedded Rust interviews until his resume was reframed to emphasize only embedded-related work and remove unrelated experience, after which he landed an embedded Rust role. _Engineers deciding how to position their resume for a niche role can find similar career strategy takes on daily.dev._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@adnansabbir** · 15 upvotes > What about introverts ? > in-person networking events is not for everyone :'( **@hexapaws** · 3 upvotes > good luck bro **@deepjoshi\_dev** · 3 upvotes > In person networking just find a decent one takes to go aleast 2-3 events depending on location. **@sami\_testarossa** · 1 upvotes > lol what? I applied 3 place, and have offer already. It's all just skill issue. Yes, resume is a skill. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [The job market is absolutely disgusting - I'm doing something about it\!](https://daily.dev/posts/the-job-market-is-absolutely-disgusting---i-m-doing-something-about-it--a7rpbodr7) · DEV · 1 upvotes · 1 comments --- Tags: [#career](https://daily.dev/tags/career), [#rust](https://daily.dev/tags/rust) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/what-i-d-do-if-i-got-laid-off-as-senior-engineer-sv8zqwik8) ```json 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location.","datePublished":"2026-08-25T13:25:41.068Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/sv8ZQWik8#c-eAoNlC6y9","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Deep Joshi","url":"https://daily.dev/deepjoshi_dev","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--TdY8j8Aa--/f_auto/v1776506972/avatars/avatar_aSUkzUQS97QJpQRxKMe49?_a=BAMAMiWQ0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":3}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"lol what? I applied 3 place, and have offer already. It’s all just skill issue. Yes, resume is a skill.","datePublished":"2026-08-27T04:23:06.172Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/sv8ZQWik8#c-Lth7J0QZN","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Sami Testarossa","url":"https://daily.dev/sami_testarossa","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--jYVMtjPH--/f_auto/v1727328703/avatars/avatar_YjaxmRYgVXcZ4JH3WIxtk"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/what-i-d-do-if-i-got-laid-off-as-senior-engineer-sv8zqwik8#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How many job applications should I send out to get two job offers?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Roughly 160 applications, based on optimistic funnel assumptions of a 10% recruiter response rate, a 50% conversion from recruiter conversations to technical interviews, and a 25% conversion from interviews to offers. Real conversion rates are often worse, so applying to hundreds of companies is recommended to secure two or three offers. Job seekers tracking market demand and interview conversion trends can follow related discussions on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Should I keep a broad, generalist resume or specialize when the job market is tough?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Specializing narrowly performs better than listing broad generalist experience, even with fewer total years in the field. One developer with over a decade of mixed front-end, back-end, systems, and mobile experience struggled to get embedded Rust interviews until his resume was reframed to emphasize only embedded-related work and remove unrelated experience, after which he landed an embedded Rust role. Engineers deciding how to position their resume for a niche role can find similar career strategy takes on daily.dev."}}]} ```