Careers aren’t ladders anymore — they’re products you create, iterate, and launch. Here’s how designers are doing it after layoffs.

When the email came, Alex Shaw wasn’t surprised.

He had survived the first round of layoffs, and the second. He had even helped his team navigate the anxiety, the rumors, the half-truths. But in the end, he found himself in the same position as many others: standing at the intersection of uncertainty and possibility, wondering what the next version of his career would look like.

Not just what job he wanted.

But what kind of designer — and what kind of leader — he wanted to become next.

Note: As part of rethinking how we navigate design careers after layoffs, I’ve been developing a deck of actionable career momentum cards for senior designers and design leaders. A few of these appear throughout this article — simple tools to turn ideas into action, one step at a time. As a part of this work, I recently completed (by vibe coding) an interactive Ship Yourself Card app.

The End of Titles, The Beginning of Agency

Layoffs at the leadership level feel different. It’s not simply about loss of income or prestige. It’s about the sudden evaporation of the narrative that had neatly explained the last decade of your career.

“Leadership layoffs carry a kind of invisible grief,” says Jenny Foss, career strategist and author. “You’re not just laid off from a company. You’re laid off from a version of yourself.”

Alex knew that feeling intimately. His career had woven through every major digital shift: web 1.0, mobile apps, social networks, and most recently, AI-first product design. Each wave had demanded a reinvention. But this layoff — this one asked a different question:

Could he design a better version of himself before someone else tried to define him?

The Illusion of Linear Progress

The traditional career arc — entry-level, mid-level, senior, manager, director — had long been a comfortable fiction. For designers like Alex, the reality was always more chaotic: pivoting between IC roles and leadership, switching domains as technology shifted, mastering new skills on the fly.

Layoffs simply made the chaos visible.

“Careers aren’t ladders anymore,” writes Julie Zhuo in The Making of a Manager. “They’re jungle gyms.”

Alex decided early: he wouldn’t see this moment as failure. He would see it as design material.

If a jungle gym was the new map, then it was time to start swinging.

Momentum Before Motivation

The first Monday after his severance kicked in, Alex sat in a coffee shop with his laptop.

He didn’t feel ready. He didn’t feel strategic. He felt… tired.

But career strategist Austin Belcak’s advice echoed in his mind: “Don’t wait to feel motivated. Start moving. Action creates clarity.”

Alex wrote down one goal: Three Moves a Day.

One network outreach.
One portfolio tweak.
One public post or comment.

He knew it wouldn’t always feel profound. The point was to build momentum, not masterpieces.

And slowly, the gears began turning.intelligent systems.

Networks Are Built Before They’re Needed

At first, Alex hesitated to reach out. He didn’t want to “ask for help.”

But the research was overwhelming: over 70% of leadership roles are filled through warm networks, not cold applications. (Korn Ferry, 2024)

Instead of asking for jobs, Alex asked for conversations. Insights. Ideas.

He discovered something surprising: people wanted to help. Not because he was desperate, but because he was curious, thoughtful, and willing to share his own ideas too.

Every conversation wasn’t a transaction. It was a design sprint.

Each call sharpened his vision for the kind of work he wanted next: AI-enhanced product design.

Not just using AI tools. Designing AI experiences that felt human, intuitive, powerful.

Storytelling at the Senior Level

Alex soon realized that at the senior level, resumes mattered less than narratives.

Interviewers didn’t just want to know what tools he used or how big his team was. They wanted to understand how he thought. How he built. How he adapted.

He built a “Problem → Solution → Impact” story for each key chapter of his career:

The messy redesign that doubled mobile engagement.
The AI project that moved from concept to prototype in six weeks.
The team he coached from tactical executors to strategic partners.

Each story wasn’t about perfection. It was about thinking, learning, building.

And that made him unforgettable.

The Rise of the “Super IC Designer”

As Alex sharpened his career story, he noticed something else emerging from the hiring signals.

Companies weren’t just looking for pure managers. Nor were they simply looking for execution-focused individual contributors.

They were quietly favoring something new: Senior designers who could both lead and do.

A hybrid. A “Super IC Designer.”

Someone who could:

Drive strategy, mentor others, advocate for design at the table
And still roll up their sleeves and design next to the team

This wasn’t a guess. In fact, a recent analysis of Q1 2025 UX hiring trends I did showed exactly that shift. (“Signals and Noise: What Q1 2025 Tells Us About UX Hiring”)

Design leaders who could flex between “thinking big” and “executing smart” were suddenly in demand. Rigid titles were becoming liabilities. Adaptability was the new seniority.

Alex realized he didn’t have to pick between being a Principal Designer or a Design Manager. He could be both, depending on the opportunity.

And he could tell that story authentically — not as a compromise, but as an advantage.

Interviews Are Strategy Conversations

By the time Alex reached final rounds with two companies, he noticed something else: the best interviews weren’t tests. They were strategy sessions.

He didn’t just answer questions. He asked about the company’s next-year goals. Their fears about AI. Their hopes for new design systems.

He showed up as a partner, not a petitioner.

And it shifted the energy in every room.

Negotiation as Leadership Practice

When the offer came, Alex felt the old instinct: “Just say yes. Don’t rock the boat.”

But he remembered something from Korn Ferry’s leadership research: Strong candidates negotiate because they are thinking like builders, not beggars.

He asked smart questions about scope. Growth trajectory. Equity.

The conversation wasn’t adversarial. It was collaborative.

He wasn’t just accepting a job. He was co-designing the next chapter of his career.

The Redesign Mindset

Today, Alex would tell you he didn’t “bounce back” after his layoff.

He redesigned forward.

He didn’t find “a job.” He built a new version of his career — one that reflects not just where the industry is going, but where he wants to go.

A career shaped like a product: iterative, intentional, human-centered.

Because great designers don’t just ship screens.

They ship themselves, too.

Field Note

“Your career isn’t a ladder or a story someone else writes. It’s a product you design, a story you tell, and a future you build.”

Sources:

Austin Belcak, Cultivated Culture (2024)
Jenny Foss, Work It Daily (2024)
Julie Zhuo, The Making of a Manager (2019)
James Clear, Atomic Habits (2018)
Korn Ferry Executive Research (2024)
LinkedIn Economic Graph Research (2025)
Harvard Business Review, “The Strength of Weak Ties Revisited” (2022)
Shields, “Signals and Noise: What Q1 2025 Tells Us About UX Hiring” (2025)

Ship Yourself: How Designers Are Creating New Careers