Valerie Lockhart, a former vice president at Morgan Stanley, was laid off in March 2025. After nearly a year, she submitted over 550 resumes, made it to several final interviews, but never received an offer. The financial pressure even forced her family of three to launch a GoFundMe campaign to get through tough times. This article is based on a report from Business Insider, compiled and translated by CoinDesk.
(Background: Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin ETF fees have dropped to a record low of 0.14%, with Bloomberg optimistic about the marketing advantage of 16,000 financial advisors.)
(Additional context: Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, announced a 20% layoff, and the CEO clarified that it’s not an AI issue.)
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- The layoff came without warning; she gave herself some time to cope
- Submitted over 550 resumes, but hardly any follow-up
- Financial pressure overwhelming; family life nearly collapsed
- Companies are looking for the “perfect unicorn,” preferring to leave positions unfilled
One day in March 2025, Valerie Lockhart was working in her office when she was suddenly told to meet with her boss’s supervisor. She didn’t think much of it at first, as she had met him before and an earlier scheduled meeting was canceled, so she assumed it was just a rescheduled meeting. But when she walked into the conference room and saw an HR representative sitting there, she immediately realized that something was wrong.
She was informed that she was being laid off. Later, she learned that many others were also laid off in the same round, including several colleagues she knew. This sudden change set her on a long, frustrating job search that severely impacted her family’s finances.
The layoff came without warning; she gave herself some time to cope
Lockhart told Business Insider that she still doesn’t understand why she was selected for layoff, but she suspects that being in Georgia was a disadvantage. Her supervisor is in New York, and most of her colleagues and company executives are there too; very few people could see her contributions in person. She stated that the geographical distance may have caused some communication gaps.
Although she was laid off in March, she appreciated that the company allowed her to remain on the payroll until May, during which she still had health insurance coverage. She also received a month’s severance pay, which was not substantial since compensation is calculated based on years of service, and she had only joined Morgan Stanley at the end of 2023.
The additional months gave her some breathing room, allowing her not to rush into the job market immediately. Starting in mid-April, she officially began her job search, a process that is still ongoing.
Submitted over 550 resumes, but hardly any follow-up
Before officially starting to submit resumes, Lockhart updated her LinkedIn profile and carefully reviewed her resume format to ensure that the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) commonly used to filter candidates could correctly interpret her information.
Next, she began applying for jobs online while also reaching out through her network for opportunities, primarily targeting governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) positions at large companies.
She considers herself a very organized person, so she created a spreadsheet to track each application record. By November, she had submitted over 550 applications. She emphasized that these were certainly not scattergun applications — each job was carefully selected.
Among the 550 applications, about 25 provided her with responses beyond a simple “thank you for your application.” She made it to the final interview stage several times but failed to convert any of those into offers. “Every time I reached the final stage, something changed, and then it was over,” she said.
Financial pressure overwhelming; family life nearly collapsed
Lockhart is the primary breadwinner, with a spouse and son at home. The lengthy job search has taken a heavy toll on their finances, and the family has been relying on savings, retirement accounts, and unemployment benefits, affecting every aspect of their lives.
The hardest challenge has been the mortgage. They have done their best to cut expenses, including canceling some entertainment subscriptions. Every little bit saved helps, but it doesn’t change the reality: the cost of living is too high.
Unexpected expenses have made the situation even worse. One day in September last year, the family returned home to find the right side of the garage, where some valuables were stored, flooded, with damages amounting to thousands of dollars.
Later, it was determined that a pipe under the house had burst. Although homeowners insurance could cover some of the losses, the repair costs for the pipe would still need to be paid out of pocket, also totaling thousands of dollars. This money was crucial for their sustenance and buying food.
Therefore, they decided to postpone the repairs, knowing that this meant the home would temporarily have no hot water. Lockhart described that moment as feeling like a scene from “Little House on the Prairie” had come to life.
To raise funds for the repairs, they set up a GoFundMe page. Lockhart hesitated for a long time but ultimately gathered the courage to share it on LinkedIn. They ended up raising a few hundred dollars, but it was still not enough to cover the total costs.
Companies are looking for the “perfect unicorn,” preferring to leave positions unfilled
Fortunately, things finally took a turn for the better. In January 2026, about seven months after she began her job search, Lockhart received a temporary full-time contract position. She finally saved up enough money to fix the hot water system.
However, since this job was temporary, she did not stop her job search.
While her network helped her secure some interview opportunities, she also had to expand her search to companies where she did not have strong connections. Sometimes, she felt that either her qualifications were insufficient or that she was overqualified… neither option was favorable. “Some companies seem to be looking for a perfect unicorn candidate, preferring to leave the position vacant rather than settle for less,” she said.
She continues to submit resumes, hoping that one day she will receive that opportunity. “At this point, I just need one chance.”
》Original article from Business Insider
