# I Just Got Laid Off! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 14, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-laid-off/673930 "2013-11-14T21:06:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-laid-off/673930/21 "2013-11-16T03:56:25Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Bring your clubs down here; we’ll hit the simulators at the local sports bar. Golf clubs and beer mixed together indoors - I don’t see how that could _possibly_ go wrong! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-laid-off/673930/22 "2013-11-16T05:03:52Z")
Best wishes to you. I presume this means that you aren’t hanging around and have actually been laid off with time on your hands to get the resume in order. This is an opportunity. The old company is going down the pooper and you get to be free before the very end of it. ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-laid-off/673930/23 "2013-11-16T17:23:33Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Best wishes to you. I presume this means that you aren’t hanging around and have actually been laid off with time on your hands to get the resume in order. This is an opportunity. The old company is going down the pooper and you get to be free before the very end of it. Correct. The boss showed up at my office Thursday morning, broke the news to me and then stood and watched me pack up my stuff and leave, so I’m done and done. No notice given. The old company is definitely struggling right now but, at the end of the day, they’ve been the largest Construction Management company in Canada for years, they’re around the fifth-largest CM in the United States, and they’ve been around for 106 years in all. Plus they just opened up shop in Australia, so they’re continuing to look to new opportunities. Chances are, they’ll get the ship righted sooner or later and continue on, but it’s been looking for a while now like the glory years might be behind them. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-laid-off/673930/24 "2013-11-18T00:33:07Z")
> [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](#): > > So now I have some time to figure out where to go from here. Part of me wants to get my resume redone and on the market as soon as possible to keep the income flow steady. Part of me wants to take some time off to regroup, take stock and figure out what I want to do with my life. Part of me wants to just sit in front of the TV and watch movies for the next month. Part of me wants to get drunk and stay that way for about a year. And part of me thinks this is a golden opportunity to spend a ton of time in front of the computer writing my ass off, trying to find a sports journalism position that will pay the bills. Not sure what direction I’ll be going. Having been laid off a few times since the economy turned in 2008, I would say that all these things aren’t mutually exclusive. I think you should take some time to figure out what you want to do with your life, if your finances allow. Even if you are pounding the pavement looking for a job, it can still be a three to six month process. In many cases, the company that hired me was one I had contacted a few days or weeks after my job search started. But the whole process of interviews and callbacks for more rounds and processing the paperwork and waiting for a start date still took months. So IOW, you’ll still have plenty of time to fuck around watching movies or writing and whatnot. ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-laid-off/673930/25 "2013-11-18T02:41:53Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Having been laid off a few times since the economy turned in 2008, I would say that all these things aren’t mutually exclusive. I think you should take some time to figure out what you want to do with your life, if your finances allow. > > Even if you are pounding the pavement looking for a job, it can still be a three to six month process. In many cases, the company that hired me was one I had contacted a few days or weeks after my job search started. But the whole process of interviews and callbacks for more rounds and processing the paperwork and waiting for a start date still took months. > > So IOW, you’ll still have plenty of time to fuck around watching movies or writing and whatnot. Sorry about all your job trouble since 2008. Sounds like my life from 1994-2000. It sucks. At this point my focus is on writing and catching up on projects around the house. We should be good financially for a little while yet. After that, I’m very confident that a person with my skills can get a job pretty quickly as construction safety professionals are in high demand in these parts, so if that’s the route I decide to return to, it shouldn’t be a problem. I appreciate your thoughts. 🙂 And now, time to watch more TV… ---
**Author:** ![Jesse\_Pinkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@Jesse\_Pinkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jesse_Pinkman)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-laid-off/673930/26 "2013-11-18T03:25:56Z")
My condolences. It seems like a fair amount of Dopers have gotten laid off recently. I’ll say what I said to the others: I was laid off from my first job after college back in February. After six months of unemployment claims, temping, and a lot of sleepless nights, I was offered a better paying job less than 24 hours before I was set to move back in with my parents in Maine because my lease was about to expire and I couldn’t sign another without a reliable source of income. The point is, as Tupac used to say, keep ya head up. Things will always be alright in the end. If it’s not alright, it’s not the end. ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-laid-off/673930/27 "2013-11-18T19:08:15Z")
> [@Jesse\_Pinkman](#): > > My condolences. It seems like a fair amount of Dopers have gotten laid off recently. I’ll say what I said to the others: > > I was laid off from my first job after college back in February. After six months of unemployment claims, temping, and a lot of sleepless nights, I was offered a better paying job less than 24 hours before I was set to move back in with my parents in Maine because my lease was about to expire and I couldn’t sign another without a reliable source of income. > > The point is, as Tupac used to say, keep ya head up. Things will always be alright in the end. If it’s not alright, it’s not the end. Thanks for the words of encouragement, **Jesse**. I’ve had a few similar close calls in years past. Just didn’t see it coming in this case, what with a lot of tenure in an apparently stable company in a fairly brisk local market. But the good news is we’re in a relatively safe financial situation right now, so no need to panic just yet. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-laid-off/673930/28 "2013-11-18T21:04:49Z")
Come to Cold Lake! The housing isn’t too ridiculous yet, and we’re much closer to a major city, even if it is Edmonton and not Calgary. Only sucky bit is the mountains are on the other side of the province…Radium is just a short 10-ish hr drive away. ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-laid-off/673930/29 "2013-11-19T00:12:17Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > Come to Cold Lake! The housing isn’t too ridiculous yet, and we’re much closer to a major city, even if it is Edmonton and not Calgary. Only sucky bit is the mountains are on the other side of the province…Radium is just a short 10-ish hr drive away. Well, that would put us a lot closer to my mom-in-law for visits. And there’s cool airplanes… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-got-laid-off/673930.md?page=1)