“Navigating Layoffs & Careers Transitions” Recap
All Tech Is Human’s livestream series continued on April 10th, featuring Talha Baig (Product Manager, Hive AI), Diane Chang (AI Safety Product Manager, Cohere), and Theodora Skeadas (Community Policy Manager, DoorDash), in conversation with All Tech Is Human’s Rebekah Tweed on how to navigate layoffs and career transitions in Responsible Tech.
Talha Baig is an AI Product Manager with expertise in content moderation. He has spent the past 6 years building both traditional and generative AI solutions in the Trust and Safety space. Before Hive AI, he was a Machine Learning Engineer on Facebook Marketplace and co-founded Trust in Tech - a leading podcast for Trust and Safety.
Diane Chang is a public interest technologist with over a decade of experience building products that connect people to interesting and informative information. She is currently Cohere's AI Safety Product Manager, an entrepreneur-in-residence at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and Senior Fellow for Global Elections at Tech Global Institute. Previously, she founded the consultancy Invisible Fabric, led civic integrity product teams at Meta, and built news recommendation products at Flipboard. She came to tech after a first career as a journalist, then received a Master's in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, where she studied the internet's impact on media, democracy, and economic development.
Theodora Skeadas is a public policy professional with 11 years of experience at the intersection of technology, society, and safety. Theodora currently works as a DoorDash's Community Policy Manager, helping build trust and safety policies. Additionally, as Chief of Staff with Humane Intelligence, she contributes to the development of hands-on, measurable methods of real-time assessments of societal impact of AI models. She is also a PhD student at King's College London Department of War Studies, exploring the relationship between online and offline harms. She also chairs the Advisory Board of All Tech is Human.
The discussion focused on how responsible technologists can navigate layoffs and career transitions, with panelists discussing their experiences transitioning to startups and other opportunities after being laid off from roles within Big Tech.
Talha gave tips on how to structure the job search, likening his process to that of an entrepreneur selling himself as the product, focusing on both upskilling and self-promotion. Starting with around 1,000 job leads from various boards, he narrowed it down to 100 roles that he was genuinely interested in. For each role, he worked to secure a referral before considering the application complete, often contacting 6–7 people within a company to understand hiring needs and to tailor his approach accordingly. He ultimately spent four months in this intensive process, reaching out to 500–1,000 people via LinkedIn or email and applying with referrals to about 100 positions. He encouraged job seekers to approach networking as more like making friends — you're not really trying to get anything out of them, but instead you just go you talk to them and see what they're interested in.
Theodora strongly recommended not applying to jobs without referrals, emphasizing that referred candidates are prioritized—especially with roles receiving thousands of applications. She suggested leaning heavily on personal networks and starting with “warm” connections like school alumni, affinity groups, or shared interest communities, as these are more likely to respond positively. She also endorsed using a tracker or spreadsheet to stay organized, noting details like roles, organizations, contacts, and dates. She recommended being open to alternate paths like short-term consulting roles to stay active and build momentum, and she emphasized the need to stay engaged with the broader community through conversations, events, and meetups (like All Tech Is Human!). She also leaned into public-facing activities to build credibility and visibility—writing for publications, appearing on podcasts, and sharing her own experiences, which boosted her professional profile and made her a more appealing candidate.
Diane found it incredibly helpful to form a small accountability group with two close friends who were also job searching, even though they were in different industries and time zones. They used a WhatsApp group to check in weekly—sharing what they accomplished, what they didn’t get to, and their goals for the following week. This created a sense of mutual support, encouragement, and accountability, even during low-motivation periods. Reflecting on past check-ins also helped them stay on track. She highly recommended job seekers find or join similar support groups, emphasizing that it’s much better to go through the job search process with others rather than alone.
Watch the webinar to catch all of their insights!
