Anna’s Blog

I planned everything, but when it actually happens, it hits you harder: the life you leave behind, and the biggest question: WHAT NOW?  How often do you get to speak about all the challenges around being laid off?  This was finally addressed. In the pouring rain, 11 people showed up to my first outdoor meetup for laid-off folks in…

So in my previous roles before I went full into doing my own thing, I’ve done UX Research and Research Operations, running trainings for non-researchers on how to run research.  All the teaching about “not being biased and actually listen to what people say and do” is already super hard when you are at your job.  It becomes close…

Except, here is the sad thing – companies would rather hire you while you are still employed than hire you after a layoff. That says something, doesn’t it? This is what makes post-layoff recovery so tricky. Though mass layoffs are not “performance related”, at least publicly, it was your role that was made obsolete – so it is hard…

Number 1: When you are on a visa (e.g. Blue Card) or waiting for you permanent residency… it seems easier to move on.  Because you are here to work, not fight for your rights or receive unemployment benefits you’ve paid into. Shade aside – Legal action takes months, visa clocks run in weeks, so people fold. Understandably – the…

….was one of the comments on my post where I praised the guy who took Bolt to court for unlawful dismissal, won the case, and went public with it.  Ouch. And yet, worth taking seriously, is this how it reads? Because I am not praising fighting the company for the sake of fighting.  I am however praising that someone…

… , building my own thing. That’s 330 days out of my 365 days entitlement. I am on a clock now! Let the countdown begin.  Let me be as open as I can. Day -90: months before my end date, I already knew I was being let go. I started building a tech startup.Day 158: I started posting about…

Turns out, being laid off has started to feel like another Tuesday for many people. So weird and sad that it has gotten so normalised in Europe and this does not sit well with me. Why? What happens in layoffs stays behind closed doors. In Germany, we don’t know how companies communicate and execute layoffs – and what consequences…

So you know how you sometimes start doing something on the side because you have things to say and experiences to share? Like a blog or something? This is how my baby Pollo Digital started at the beginning of the year. I shared about layoffs in Germany and how asymmetry in knowledge puts immigrants at a disadvantage – and…

Having built my own business for almost a year now, I am really starting to understand where my weaknesses were as an employee.It is hard to teach someone strategic thinking, patience and effective communication when the employee’s mindset is limited to “my role.” I thank every manager who helped me develop in that sense.But no manager can replace the…

They don’t. They do – if you are a product. But as a human being, you are fluid and flawed. So I have a dilemma – I want to help people show up authentically on LinkedIn and reach whatever it is they want to reach. Mostly: land a job or build a better presence as a founder. On the…