This past Thursday I was unexpectedly laid off along with several other employees. I know this has been a common thing for many the past year, but it’s not something I’ve ever experienced myself. Thankfully, my resume was updated, and I was already looking for new work. I had been having not so great feelings about that workplace for a while now, but I wish my leaving was on my terms, not theirs.
I went back and forth on posting about it on social media, but ultimately decided to at least post on LinkedIn since that’s where my professional network is. Later, I decided to take to Twitter mostly for support from friends, but Twitter ended up being a great way to find job leads and make connections. I’ve been super overwhelmed since Thursday evening with DMs, comments, and emails with links to check out, specific job postings, and even, in some cases, information about jobs that haven’t even posted publicly yet. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the insane amount of support I’ve found in these communities. I’m so grateful, and have a great starting point for this week. I already have a few meetings lined up even!
If you’re now reading this going “what does that lady even do!?” I can provide some insight!
For the past year and a half I’ve been working as an IT Compliance Officer for a healthcare adjacent startup. In that time I ran or helped with several compliance/security related initiatives:
- Start their privacy and security awareness training program
- Helped with creating their vendor management program
- Started implementing a Governance, Risk, and Controls system with heavy focus on HIPAA and SOC 2 compliance
- Helped with setting up SSO for internal and external users
- Completed security assessments for potential new partners
- And really many, many more things that I can’t even think of right now
In that time I also received my CRISC, which is an industry certification that I spent over a year preparing for. I learned A LOT in a short amount of time, which is what I was hoping to accomplish. I’m grateful for the time I had, the connections I can now take with me, and the friends I made over that time. There were a lot of ups and downs over the past year, but I was always provided the time I needed to stay safe and healthy.
Now, the job hunt continues with no day job to take focus away. I have so many leads to work through this week that it’s almost difficult to know where to begin. This is such an amazing problem to have, and I can’t wait to see what my next opportunity will be!
Cassadi Thomas 