From Fear to Focus: Navigating Your Next Move After a Layoff

This virtual session was recorded April 14, 2026.

Whether you're currently experiencing the stress of being laid off or you are concerned about the possibility at your newsroom, suddenly losing your job can be a frightening, isolating experience. 

In this short recorded session, journalist and Career River creator Bridget Thoreson transforms that concern into clarity. Bridget shares what she's learned from interviewing 150+ professionals and training more than 1,900 people in 106 countries on how to successfully navigate moments of uncertainty or the unexpected in their careers. She outlines the strategies that have helped people weather crisis moments, and offers concrete tips for approaching the job hunt as a data-driven experiment, instead of a roller coaster of rejection. 

Speaker

Bridget Thoreson has spent 20 years ignoring her college advisor's recommendation to avoid journalism because "there aren't any jobs." She has managed strategic editorial collaborations and audience engagement projects with more than 145 newsrooms, as a consultant with social impact firm Hearken and the first Director of Collaborations for the Institute for Nonprofit News. She is the creator of MyCareerRiver.com, where she writes about navigating nonlinear careers.