The job market, not your old title or salary, decides what your experience is worth today

Losing a job creates an immediate problem: you need another source of income. But if you have been steadily employed for years, a layoff can expose another problem. You may no longer know what your experience is worth in today’s job market.

Most people start by looking for another version of the job they just lost. It makes sense. If one employer paid you to do that work, another probably will too.

Maybe. Your old salary tells you what one employer was willing to pay you. Your old job title tells you how that employer organized the work. Neither tells you what other employers need today.

You’re also competing with plenty of other job seekers. In the first quarter of 2026, there were three unemployed people for every job vacancy in Canada, according to Statistics Canada.

Rather than automatically searching for a similar job, start by looking at what you actually learned in your old one.

Suppose you spent 15 years managing a manufacturing operation. The obvious move is to search for another manufacturing management position. But perhaps what you became particularly good at was reducing costs, dealing with suppliers, fixing production problems or getting a struggling operation back on track.

There may be employers outside manufacturing willing to pay for those abilities. So don’t just ask, “Who is hiring someone with my old job title?” Ask, “Who has problems I know how to solve?”

What employers value can also change while you’re comfortably employed. Artificial intelligence is an obvious example. Statistics Canada found that 35.9 per cent of Canadian workers had used generative AI at work during the previous 12 months as of March 2026.

Artificial intelligence may change some of the work you used to do without making everything you learned along the way less valuable.

Someone who spent years preparing routine reports may find that employers no longer place the same value on producing them. But knowing whether the numbers make sense, spotting a problem and deciding what to do next may be worth more.

Now apply the same test to your own job. Which parts can be done more cheaply or quickly? Which still depend on the judgment, knowledge or relationships you spent years developing?

Then find out whether employers agree with you.

If you apply for 20 jobs you believe suit your experience and nobody wants to interview you, don’t simply send another 20 applications. Your view of where your experience fits isn’t matching what employers are looking for. Before applying for more jobs, find out why.

Your résumé could be the problem. But before rewriting it for the fifth time, look for patterns rather than counting applications. Are employers asking for skills you don’t have? Are you emphasizing experience they no longer value as much?

If logistics companies keep calling but manufacturers don’t, consider looking more seriously at logistics. If recruiters repeatedly ask about a skill buried near the bottom of your résumé, move that skill up and make more of it. If employers like your experience but balk at your salary expectations, you may have to reconsider what that experience commands in today’s market.

Repeated interviews without offers tell you something different. Employers see enough value to consider you, but not enough to hire you. Find out where you’re losing them. Are they questioning a particular skill? Are they looking for experience you don’t have? Are other candidates bringing something to the job that you aren’t?

The same principle applies when talking to former colleagues, customers, suppliers and recruiters. Instead of simply asking whether they know anyone who is hiring, ask what they’re seeing. Which companies are growing? What skills are employers having trouble finding? Where are people with your background being hired?

Don’t assume the market sees your experience the same way you do. If employers keep showing more interest in a different skill or industry, or keep offering less than you expected, take the hint.

That may mean pursuing another industry, emphasizing a skill you once considered secondary, getting additional training or reconsidering what you’re willing to accept. Or the evidence may confirm that staying in your field still makes the most sense.

As your search goes on, you should start getting a clearer picture of where you stand. Which employers want your experience? Which skills get their attention? What are they prepared to pay? If you still don’t know, stop counting applications and start asking what the response is telling you.

A layoff means your former employer decided it no longer needed your position. That doesn’t establish what you’re worth. But neither does your old title or salary.

Your old job tells you what your experience was worth to one employer. Your job search tells you what it’s worth to the market now. Pay attention to what the market is telling you, and adjust accordingly.

| Work and Careers Desk