I am trying to keep this short and concise, but sometimes it seems like if I am going down, I am also taking the real greedy selfish bastards who couldn’t do their job so they took mine instead.

I was mortified. The corporation which I came to adore decided they were going to sell out. I had nowhere to go and very little friends. The only benefit I had on my side was the amount of severance received as it allowed me to pay months ahead in bills.

Being as this was a position that I really enjoyed I actually got depressed. At any rate, after thinking it over it wasn’t just my company that was being effected. There were a few others. Secondly, something that was against me was lack of education. So, I did some research and took the road of academics towards a degree.

Here’s what’s interesting, I had every intention to go back to work after I was graduated being as I went to school full time and it was 15 credit hours which I was taking. I was given the opportunity to take my MBA in Business Administration full time since I graduated early and I couldn’t pass it up.

So, here it is I have a BS in MIS and within a week later I was accepted for the MBA in Business Administration program full time which was 14 hours at a time. During all of this, I was a web freelancer for small businesses. Things got a little hectic at times with study hours but I pulled off a 3.5 GPA.

Now, I am browsing job listings as I want to go back to corporate. I’ve stayed home being a bookworm long enough.

At any rate, that’s my little bit of history.

[...] brings me to a recent post on Get Rich Slowly that asked “What To Do If You’re Laid Off?” … I’ll let you read the post and the comments, but I can’t help thinking [...]

[...] If you ended up losing your job anyway, here’s a good article What to Do If You’re Laid Off? [...]

Also, if you’re out of a job, make job-searching your job. Yes, I’m saying that you MUST commit the time lost to finding a new job, whether that means scouring and applying to adds, interviewing in person or on the phone, or bettering your education and certifications to make yourself more marketable. You must live and breathe your job search. Be passionate.

That first time I was laid off, I was unemployed from the end of June to the middle of October 2000… I don’t recall being too stressed but I was happy to get a call from someone in my network to come work for them.

Of course, I got laid off again the following June, but that time the writing was completely on the wall. I’d cut my living expenses in half by moving into shared housing, so again, unemployment was enough to see me through. I was unemployed until November, but I started grad school in the fall (Sept 2001… not the best time to be looking for work!) and in the end I took a radically big pay cut to start working in a job relevant to my studies.

That job set me squarely on the path to a range of adventures, none of which I’d have anticipated lo those many years ago!

So, keep your expenses down, work your network, don’t be afraid to take a whopping pay cut, and good luck!

1) build wealth through savings
2) network with relationships you’ve already made

score another one for community-building!

something even more proactive that I am currently trying to do is consulting. I’m haven’t fleshed out the details for myself, but having something that you’re very good at, and can make money from at your own pace can work wonders for your savings account.

Three things I’ve learned to do since then:
1. Save money! Squirrel away as much as you can while the going is good. Don’t even ask why, just do it.
2. DON’T GET SOFT. Accept that in any life, there are going to be lean times and prosperous times, and prepare for it by living like a pauper even through the prosperous times. Naturally this means not taking on any unnecessary debt, and living as simply as you can. Simple is good! You’ll be all the happier – and possibly healthier – for it, too.
3. Never burn your bridges. Keep as well-connected as you can with as many people as you can, even if sporadically. Two of my subsequent jobs came from people on my Christmas card list, the last people in the world I expected to come through for me!

I know that you are going to be just fine. But when you get on an even keel again, please consider the best way of living your life … simply.

I came to a realization during that period that “job security” is a thing of the past. Doing a good job, doing what you are asked to do, finding a good boss/job/company, are insufficient to provide income security (at least here in the U.S. which is where I am located).

Instead, I think of “career security” which is what I know how to do, what I have done, who I know, etc… Doing the same thing over and over again for 20 years does not enhance career security. Working in different functions, different divisions of your company, taking advantage of whatever educational assistance is offered — those enhance career security.

Now, after almost 5 great years with a new employer, my current company was acquired by an industrial conglomerate with a less than stellar reputation for how it treats its employees. However, I am in so much better shape today than I was 5 years ago. I have broadened my functional expertise, am almost done with a MBA, and am financially more stable than I have ever been.

Good luck to you. Actually, for me, getting laid off was a major positive turning point in my career. Hope it works out well for you.

For everyone reading this who is currently employed…take a few minutes today and send an email out to some ex-coworkers that you haven’t talked to/seen in awhile. Update email addresses. Add a few more contacts via LinkedIn. Keep those contacts fresh! You never know when you might need them. And of course, don’t keep all of that contact info on your work machine…:)

It’s great to talk about not freaking out, but you do panic. And then you hunker down and figure out that things like cable and steak dinners really aren’t necessary.

Ultimately what worked for me was talking to a friend, who knew somebody who was looking to hire somebody with my skills. It led to a job that I wasn’t thrilled about taking, but I’ve been doing it for nearly 6 years now.

I only hope that before I’m laid off again, I have enough socked away that I can work on getting my own business off the ground. My plan next time around will be to divest myself of a bunch of possessions and move home to my parents to give me a chance a getting a freelance writing career off the ground.

It would suck living with my parents again in my 40s, but I’ve already toughed out months of unemployment while pridefully keeping my own life. Next time around I’d like to take a stab at changing my life for the better, even if it means sacrificing pride.

Excellent post ,

Tracy ho
wisdomgettingloaded

I had money saved, so that wasn’t a big deal. It was summer, I rode my motorcycle and watched the World Cup all summer (without a job), and when the riding season ended, I had a new job (I was going on interviews between moto. parties). I was lucky, but I had things in order before I got canned.

Everyone at my old job felt bad for me, but I actually had a great summer. I told them that I had money saved, and they should do the same. That emergency fund can come in handy.

what an excellent idea that I should have pursued with my last major employer. Before getting laid off, I could have offered the solution of transferring.

As the guy in question is in Ireland, I am sure that he can get another job relatively easily at any of the telemarketing and IT companies over there. If not, he should be able to relocate to anywhere in the UK, right?

I *just* got a PT job today and stoked. I wrote about it on my blog, but never mentioned this: GET UP EACH DAY! Do at least one thing that will help your job search every day.

Best advice I can say is that your reader needs to leverage the power of their connections. My last *stable* job worked exclusively on networking with the Executive community and you would not believe the successes I had. During my time of unemployment (which is partly ending as of April 1st), I went to a job fair and happened upon somebody that I knew from high school who now works as an HR hiring manager.

1) Maximize your chances of leveraging your connections.
2) Make new connections.

And if like me, you’re fired illegally (because I wouldn’t transfer across state, when I told them on my original application and interviews that I couldn’t. If it was a reason to fire me, why did they hire me knowing it?), again, don’t do what I did and meekly accept it. Go to the labor board and sue to get it back. If they side with you and you get your job back, you’d pretty much have to be caught stealing before they’d fire you again.

Hey J.D. I just noticed you were interviewed by one of their bloggers -> http://www.usnews.com/blogs/alpha-consumer/2008/3/17/blogger-shares-debt-riddance-secrets.html Congrats!

This woman is in her late 50′s. I am 24. When I ran into her in town and asked her how she was doing, she said, “Well, actually, I’m looking for a job, so if you know of anything out there, let me know.” She didn’t harp on how tough it was to be jobless, she didn’t seem depressed or anxious or ashamed, she was just very direct and matter-of-fact.

I certainly don’t have a job to give her, but now I know to be on the lookout for her. I’m definitely not prime networking material, and the chances of her getting a job via me are slim. But I was impressed by her frankness, and she’s casting her nets wide, which can’t hurt!

1) Found a gig to consult on while job-hunting.

2) Started working with a placement agency which found him a 1-year contractor position at a large bank/credit card company.

3) Leveraged the banking industry software skills he’d gotten over than 1 year to get an excellent job with the bank’s rival.

So after 2 years he was in higher-paying position which he’s been in for the last 8 years.

He was 52 when laid off, so it was pretty dramatic and seemed like it could be a permanent issue…but he kept at it and did quite well. I think it’s amazing in retrospect that someone over 50 could find a good computer job, but he had been working with computers basically since software became important.

I agree with Mike — ANY job is better than no job. My husband took a job at a bowling alley while he continues to look for a career — it’s ALWAYS easier to get a job when you have a job, even if the job you currently have is unrelated to your field of expertise. It tells future employers that you really are willing to work. Not to mention that it helps pay the bills in the meantime.