Started at Meta London as a mid-level engineer back in 2020. Put in everything I had, but stayed stuck at the same level despite trying for promotion every cycle. Made it through several re-orgs and manager changes, always thinking "next time will be different."
Never quite found my groove there. I know I'm a solid engineer, but between team circumstances and a poor fit with the product side, I couldn't land those "exceeds expectations" ratings needed for promotion. Now they're laying me off with a "below expectations" rating, which might block me from ever working at Meta again.
This hits hard. Really hard. I poured years of my life into this job, burned through my health both mentally and physically. Now I'm watching everyone talk about this massive AI revolution coming for tech jobs, while London tech salaries are already pretty rough, and I've just lost my position at one of the few companies that paid well here.
I've landed another job to keep the lights on (again, I can code), but it's clearly not somewhere I'll grow much. Being in my 30s and having to rebuild from scratch is scary enough - add in the AI uncertainty and it feels even worse. That "below expectations" rating from Meta feels like a brand I can't shake off.
How do you bounce back when you've had a shot at the big leagues and it didn't work out? When you have to start over but you're not fresh out of college anymore? Some days it feels like everyone's judging me for not making it.
Looking for any advice from folks who've been through something similar or found their way and succeeded even better after a major career setback.