In February 2025, my wife and I became first-time homeowners. In May, I was laid off.
With 6 years of prior WordPress experience, over my 4+ years there I was promoted 3 times. I consistently received quarterly reviews that rated me as going above and beyond the brand’s high standards.
But, I knew my time was coming.
Accountability is very important. It’s equally important to not blame yourself for that which is out of your control. Some things just happen to you, not because of you.
Still, I am incredibly thankful for that opportunity.
Nobody Will Hire Me
I don’t have a college degree. I learned what I know through a decade of hands-on experience.
I don’t have any of the big certifications (PMP, Six Sigma Green Belt, PRINCE2, CSM, PMI-ACP, etc.). Out of principle, there’s something that rubs me wrong about earning certificates by paying recurring fees. Subscription-based certifications.
The certifications I’ve earned don’t expire, they don’t have annual fees to retain. They’re from The Wharton School, IBM, Google, Atlassian Jira, but these aren’t widely recognized certificates.
I know I am smart when it comes to what I do. Business Operations, Technical Management of Products, Programs, and Projects, WordPress, Business Automations, and AI.
But I don’t know how a company would know that other than by picking my resume and choosing to talk to me, out of the 400 they received within 24 hours of their job posting going live.
I am fully aware I am unconventional among hires.
The Layoff
First thing I did was yell into my pillow because I thought it might help. It didn’t.
I figured we just lost everything we had worked for. We’re going to lose the condo.
Financially and emotionally, this was a highly stressful experience. It stressed me so much my front tooth fell out. It costed $7k to get replaced (with dental insurance). Maybe a coincidence, I’m not sure.
Interesting the way financial stress can compound into health issues, which compounds into greater financial stress.
Good times, good times.
The Job Hunt
Well, I either lose everything or I desperately try to find anything I can to support us.
So, I got up, applied to over 300 jobs, and landed something within a month and a half.
The Job
Within 2 weeks of being there, I started applying to other jobs.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that they recognized my potential. They hired the unconventional.
I am thankful that I’m able to pay the bills.
Nearly A Year Later
Since joining I have sent out another 350 applications, putting me around 650 total since my layoff.
Many different strategies, rewrites, perfectly optimized for the role, automated approaches… I’ve tried everything as far as applying goes.
I’ve made it to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round of interviews before hitting rejection.
“We think you’re a great fit, but at this point we’ve pursued the other candidate. Thanks for your time. Do not reply.”
As a bit of an aside, having 4 rounds of interviews is excessive. If your company doesn’t know by round 2, you need to seriously review your hiring practices. You have so much data available to you about the candidates, about their capabilities and experience, about their culture fit, about your needs.
Of many things, I strive to make JackalWP the antidote to corporate bloat.
JackalWP
While I’m perfectly capable of exceeding the expectations for many of the roles I’ve applied, I really do understand that I’m not the safest option. The unconventional hire can absolutely pay off, but it doesn’t always.
So maybe it wasn’t meant for me. Maybe I’m supposed to support people directly by showing them what I do. Helping their business grow and run while reducing their costs and giving their time back to them.
I’ve saved companies multiple 6 figures with workflows that costed them less than $100 a month.
I’ve built automations for huge brands like AAA, Awesome Motive, O’Reilly, Sheex.
The value I provide is undeniably meaningful.
Maybe a standardized role in a company would box me in too much and stifle the value I can provide to businesses.
That said, running JackalWP every client is like an attempt at getting hired.
To prove my value to your business, your time, your ROI, you can schedule a free consultation where we can walk through your workflows and internal operations or what you offer to clients.
I’ll work with your setup to customize software automations that free up you or your employee’s time so y’all can focus on bigger fish. Face-to-face time with clients, business planning, etc, instead of tedious data input, filling in spreadsheets, checking on status updates, looking up who has access to what.
“Now no time remains, time is not eternal, please value your time.” – Happy Mask Salesman
I’d be happy to help. See you around!
– Justin