Got called into a meeting on Friday. Very bad vibes. The CFO led me to an unoccupied training room, looking Grim. I have never been called into an impromptu meeting by this guy, so I figured it was probably gonna be something big and bad. It was. I’m out of a job.
I had actually missed the companywide meeting that had taken place about an hour earlier (right at noon, without warning, they called everyone into the meeting. I was out at lunch.) The short version: the company has been sold to a competitor and our office is being closed. Half of us got the axe immediately, the other half stay on for three months to shut everything down. I did not see this coming.
So he told me to go clean out my desk. He escorted me back to my cubicle and then left me alone to clean it out.
I spent the weekend gearing up for the great job hunt. I applied for several jobs. Actually got an interview for another networking job set up for later this week through a local recruiter. Things could be worse, I guess. But they could definitely be better.
Dammit, I haven’t ever been unemployed since I got my first job at seventeen.
Actually it’s the 2nd time in your life being unemployed…but atleast it wasn’t your fault it happened because of something you couldn’t help so just sit back and wait for a bigger and better thing to come by…actually I do not mean literally sit back and wait, otherwise you will be unemployed until retirement age :smack:
Good luck. When the Indian company Tata came to my previous employer, some people were laid off. A few months later, and more people lost their jobs. I started getting worried when our department was told that a Big Project we’d spend a year working on would be taken over by Tata. Soon after that, half of us were on the streets.
The good news is that I no longer had any incentive to live in L.A., and I could move to the Pacific Northwest which I’ve loved since my first trip here when I was a wee-un. The bad news is that I was unemployed for five months, and that now I’m only making 45% of my previous salary. It’s barely enough to live on, and there’s talk about cutting my hours because of the “summer slump”.
Being unemployed is harsh. It really cuts into one’s self confidence. I’m still sending out résumés.
Do apply for unemployment ASAP. Sometimes it takes weeks to process the paperwork, and if you don’t find a job right away at least you can pay the rent. I was laid off in 2002 when the company I was with cut 100,000 jobs. The Dallas market had already gone through the dotcom fall out so it was a really tough market. That was the first time in 18 years I found myself out of work. Not a fun feeling when you have a mortgage, car payments etc.
Good luck in your job hunting. I know the market is a lot better today than it was 2 years ago.
A few years ago, I was laid off. Similar thing to you. Smaller company but they just weren’t keeping anyone anymore.
In certain senses, it was a nice time. I was actively looking for work, so I had something to do, but I wasn’t under the constant pressure of a job (you do what you can and then its out of your hands). I got unemployment (it’s there for everyone, not just poor folks), did some stuff around the house.
But, I learned a lot about what a necessity is – I’ll tell ya that. if you were like me – making enough so that you don’t have to worry, but not enough to have $20,000 stashed away – then you really get in touch with your consumerism.
Anyway, it sucks but you can’t take it personally.
Good luck finding something. I actually didn’t get a job until the day after my last unemployment check (6 months). But that’s worse than it sounds – I turned down a couple offers that I got early.
Its important to remember that this is the norm in this world - its the lucky few who will get through their lives without having gotten laid off.
In addition to unemployment checks, your state may have other resources available to help with transition, resume writers, employment counselors. In my state, money you make at a part time job stretches your unemployment checks longer (you end up with the same amount in the end) and working part time can keep you busy and your spirit up - its hard to spend 40 hours a week in a job search. Don’t be afraid to let everyone know you are looking.
A note of encouragement—the market’s definitely getting better. I can see it at my place of work just by how much more crowded the elevators are, and by the fact that we have a particular space crunch at my company. Our department is in an older building where most of us have hardwalled offices, either one or two people to each office. Until recently the rule was that windowless offices would be assigned to individuals; i.e., those folks wouldn’t have to double up. But now they’ve had to start doubling people up in the inside offices, because there’s no other way to fit everyone in. And I am in IT.
I just tried to post a reply and my Internet connection blew. I lost it. Shoot. It was really long and soulful too, trust me.
Thanks for the well-wishes, everyone. I’ve got a couple of leads. I’ve got an interview on Thursday morning. My wife is working and we get benefits through her employer. We’ve paid off both cars and just finished refinancing the house, so our mortgage payment has gone down. I’ve got the possibility of contract work at my old job (they canned me and I’m the only person who knows anything at all about the routers and firewalls.) My old boss is trying to start up her own company and says if she can get it off the ground she wants me in on it gtom the get-go.
In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m trying to build up some confidence. Okay, it’s off to the unemployment office! Whoops, where’d my confidence go?
