Cari Courtight Photography via Alejandra Hernandez
- Alejandra Hernandez is a former employee at Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram.
- She was laid off in November, along with more than 11,000 other staffers at the tech giant.
- She's been documenting her unemployment on TikTok and motivating others in their job searches.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Alejandra Hernandez, a former recruiting program manager at Meta who was laid off in November, about why she's documenting her unemployment on TikTok. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Around 8 a.m. on November 9, I woke up and grabbed my phone. A coworker had sent me several texts. Immediately, I knew something was wrong — there was no reason for her to be texting me that early.
My coworker had been laid off.
I opened my email app and sure enough, I had been notified of my termination, too. I went to access my work tools on my phone to connect with other coworkers, but I was shut out of all platforms.
I got out of bed, walked over to my husband, who was in the kitchen, and began to sob uncontrollably for about a minute. After a quick breakdown, I took a deep breath and realized there was a lot I needed to get done. I needed to close this chapter of my life.
The texts from friends, family, and acquaintances started flooding in as the news broke. It was surreal and completely overwhelming. Everything was happening at the same time that the world was finding out.
I wanted to ride the wave of attention and publicity the Meta layoffs were getting. If anyone was going to give me advice or help me land a job, I figured now was the time to put my name out there. I picked up my phone, opened TikTok, and began recording.
I had built a following of about 15,000 by posting about my life: working out, plus-size fashion, my hobbies. I decided to share with my followers what was happening to me.
I think I was processing in the moment as I was saying the words out loud. I posted it and immediately, and the video started getting a lot of traction — tens of thousands of views. A lot of people rallied around me, but a lot of other people were negative.
Some people said I was privileged and would easily find another good-paying job, unaware of the struggle it had taken me to get here and downplaying the pain I was in. I was flooded with different emotions.
A few hours later, I made a day-in-the-life vlog about my first day of unemployment. That video got 800,000 views within a few days. I realized people wanted to learn more. I started gaining new followers, too — hundreds each day. I went from 15,000 followers to about 27,000 today.
I'm still unemployed, waiting for the right job fit for me. But creating TikToks about my unemployment journey has become so much more than vlogging for me. I've had several people comment on my videos or message me during my live-video sessions saying that the job tips I'm providing have helped them. A few have said they keep getting out of bed because they know I'm getting out of bed, too.
The funny thing is, it kind of goes both ways. Honestly, there are some days I get out of bed because of my followers. If I wasn't posting to TikTok, I'd sleep until noon. But people are struggling. There are thousands of unemployed people right now. If I can help them with my videos, that makes me feel full of purpose.
I think my videos also tackle the stigmas around being laid off and being unemployed. We need to bring attention to this and recognize that it's not our fault.
While I've been vlogging about unemployment, I've also been building my wedding-planning business, which I started a few years ago after getting permission from Meta to start my own side hustle. Since being unemployed and posting about wedding planning on TikTok, I've registered as an LLC and have multiple people asking me to be their planner.
I don't have brand partnerships on TikTok — yet. But that's also a possibility. Maybe I'll end up doing content creation full time. Time will tell.
For anyone wanting to post about being laid off or unemployed, I would say go for it. I think we all keep each other motivated. It's also a great way to put yourself out there, to market your skills.
The advice I would give people who wanted to start posting about their unemployment — or anything, really — is to be authentic. Be as transparent and authentic as you can.
The second piece of advice I would give is to be careful not to disclose any information about your former employer that could get you in trouble. Don't talk badly about them. And just be safe in general, especially when it comes to posting about your location.
But if you feel like you want to, share your story. Your journey matters.