This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Charles Broomfield, a 25-year-old engineering analyst at Google, based in Washington, D.C. His employment and identity have been confirmed by Business Insider. This story has been edited for length and clarity.
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I graduated from a tiny liberal arts college called Knox College. The downside is to that that there is a much smaller alumni network. The benefit is that I suspect the likelihood of them being willing to help out is much higher.
I was a computer science tutor there. That ended up being an advantage because I got to work with a lot of people who are now at great companies and were willing to help me out. I started working at a government research company after college, and went over to Amazon Web Services in the summer of 2025. Then, in late January, I got laid off.
In April, I accepted an offer for a job at Google.
I treated my job hunt like a job
Before I joined Amazon, Andy Jassy had made comments about how Amazon would have fewer people in the future because of AI. I became increasingly nervous that my team wasn’t aligned with the strategy.
I started applying on January 24, but I was given notice of my layoff a few days later. I was pretty confident that my team would be affected, but I didn’t want to leave before getting 90 days’ notice and severance.
I found it really hard to go from working at a company with a pretty famous work culture, like AWS, to a complete hard stop. So when I was laid off, I figured I’d put all my energy into something productive.
It was definitely nice to get an extra hour or so of sleep, but I tried to maintain a sense of structure during my job hunt. I’d usually spend the first half of the day reaching out to folks and finding positions. I wasn’t going through every job posting and hitting apply because I don’t want to interview for something I’m not genuinely excited about. I was picky.
Doing eight straight hours of applications is pretty brutal, so I’d usually work out or cook to break things up in the middle of the day. Then I would spend another three- or four-hour stretch in the evening tailoring applications.
Referrals make a huge difference
After being laid off from AWS, I applied to 42 positions, 26 of which I had referrals for. I interviewed for six of those jobs.
A previous colleague reached out and encouraged me to apply to Google. I applied to three positions, and was quickly rejected from the two I thought I was most likely to land. But about a week after I applied, the recruiter for the third position reached out. The next week, I passed the technical screen. Then I had three interviews over the next two weeks and received an offer a few days after my final interview.
I think a lot of people get referrals wrong. I did a lot of LinkedIn outreach, but it was really ineffective. I always start with my warmest audience. So I begin with friends, and then I expand. I even consider somebody who went to my college a little warm, because I went to a tiny school.
Since I’ve worked at companies that did large layoffs, a lot of people I worked with ended up at big companies, and that helped with referrals.
Your network isn’t just the people you talk to every day. It can be anyone that you’ve met who you’ve made a positive impression on. I have a list of people that I reach out to whenever I have a major career update, but there’s many other people who I only stay in touch with through social media.
Leaving a friendly or supportive comment can go way further than people realize. The best connections are sometimes friends of friends or random acquaintances, not your closest friends or family.
Savings gave me peace of mind
I’m super passionate about early retirement, frugality, and building financial freedom. I save everything I can, and I’ve been doing that since college.
The craziness over the last year made me realize how grateful I was for those savings because of the peace of mind and flexibility it gave me. I really feel for people who are counting on their next few paychecks, or for folks whose visas are tied to their work. It’s harder to operate when you’re stressed. Desperation doesn’t help. So my buffer definitely made me more relaxed.
Networks are more powerful than job boards, but I suggest people start building their networks now rather than wait until they need help.
