cockpitbob
NES Member
P-P, thanks for sharing your journey and struggle. Threads like this, where struggles, ideas and experiences are shared, are a benefit to all who read them.
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Surviving job loss
- Thread starter FrugalFannie
- Start date
cockpitbob
NES Member
And making some room in the basement too![[thumbsup]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/044.gif "Thumbs Up [thumbsup]")
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If hes tired of e m engineering he could get a cdl A or xontact platinum fi r e depending on his engineering skills he cpuld design fire suppression systems, i use to do it am friends with the owner, decided it wasnt for me too boring preferred veing on a scissorlift in 20° weather hanging 6" mains, if he is familiar with sprink cad hell be fine. Also my cousin is an engineer fir the navy base near Raytheon. Ive delivered to Raytheon and many enployees tell me every few months they dont care the just keep cutting back etc. I wish you the best of luck, im in the same boat more or less.
Torn rotator cuff sept 2013 and im still out if work granted I have my job still, but been living in like 60% income and its tough.
Torn rotator cuff sept 2013 and im still out if work granted I have my job still, but been living in like 60% income and its tough.
We have purchased 3 side businesses using various savings. If I were to lose my job between UI and our businesses I would be at about 50% of my normal take home. Not great but we could survive a very long time on that.
FrugalFannie
NES Member
SO he's had a number of interviews that went REALLY WELL. Except they were not followed up with job offers. The latest one we expected to hear by the end of this week, but still have not heard anything. ARGH!
FrugalFannie
NES Member
So we decided to find a place with "greener pastures" and are moving to Texas. He's been there since the beginning of May and has been getting lots of interviews the last 2 weeks. Hopefully "something" will happen soon!
Yep, sometimes, you need to take a chance on yourself.
Yep, sometimes, you need to take a chance on yourself.
Best of luck to both of you. Sorry that we never did get the chance to meet in person.
Woot.. You won't regret Texas
FrugalFannie
NES Member
Huge part of surviving job loss: keeping things in perspective - life could always be worse. seriously. big chunks of your life could be much, much worse. yes, no income is a pretty damn BIG thing in this day and age but there are so many more things much more important - health, family, love.
Stress/worry - keep in mind that both partners (and perhaps the children) will be concerned but only 1 of you should freak out at a time. So when your spouse/partner/significant other starts telling you of their concerns, it's your turn to be supportive and reassure them that a job will come, they need not worry - you will survive, things will get better, etc. AND MEAN IT.
Stress/worry - keep in mind that both partners (and perhaps the children) will be concerned but only 1 of you should freak out at a time. So when your spouse/partner/significant other starts telling you of their concerns, it's your turn to be supportive and reassure them that a job will come, they need not worry - you will survive, things will get better, etc. AND MEAN IT.
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Bingo.
I hear so many folks piss and moan all the time about what they want, not what they need. I know a guy making close to six figures a year but never has two nickels to rub together. Every winter he's always buying diesel a few gallons at a time at the gas station because he never has the money to fill his oil tank and nobody will deliver to him unless he pays cash before the hose leaves the truck, but he has every cable channel+internet at over $300 a month. At least the kidos can be entertained by the TV(if the power hasn't been shut off) while freezing their butts of in the winter so I guess there's that.
I am not of the educated class of people that would have a job as an engineer. However in my job I watched many of them come and go. Majority just could not do what the job demanded and the rest didn't get along with everyone else. You can always learn to do a better job but I have noticed people don't study people enough. You dont get through this world by yourself but way too often people don't learn the most important part of life is getting along with those you work with.
Survival after you lose a job means you have to have sellable skills if you want to work for other people. Life should be constant learning because you never know when things may change. Opertunities for work will be there for those with drive but you have to know how to do the work. If you have time off you should be learning a skill, there is always work out there people will pay you to do.
Money, easiest way is buy and sell. Learn what is of value and how to bargain for it plus how to sell it. Most buying and selling in the small time is tax free so making $20 on a deal is really like making $30. If it gets really bad then open a yard work business, you will get $15 an hour to do other people's yards. Plus as you get around town you get to know who is hiring.
I know this is low end jobs but in my opinion that is what this economy is going to deliver until we get a potus that likes this nation.
Survival after you lose a job means you have to have sellable skills if you want to work for other people. Life should be constant learning because you never know when things may change. Opertunities for work will be there for those with drive but you have to know how to do the work. If you have time off you should be learning a skill, there is always work out there people will pay you to do.
Money, easiest way is buy and sell. Learn what is of value and how to bargain for it plus how to sell it. Most buying and selling in the small time is tax free so making $20 on a deal is really like making $30. If it gets really bad then open a yard work business, you will get $15 an hour to do other people's yards. Plus as you get around town you get to know who is hiring.
I know this is low end jobs but in my opinion that is what this economy is going to deliver until we get a potus that likes this nation.
dcmdon
NES Member
I just "lost" a job last week. I was an IT Project Manager contractor at a large biotech in Cambridge. I've had friction with management ever since the new CIO fired the 3 layers of management above me and put in her own people, none of whom have ever worked in life sciences.
(I don't care if its a validated system, can't you do the upgrade faster? And why do we need to do all this testing? And why are these quality people making us do so much documentation?? - I"m sure some of you will laugh at that)
So it wasn't a total surprise. Fortunately we have been blessed for several reasons. My wife and I both make a decent living. We didn't have kids until later in life (more on that later) so we have a solid savings and investment foundation, and most importantly, we own almost everything we have and can live pretty cheaply despite living close to boston.
The other thing is perspective. My wife is a 15 year breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed a couple of months after her 30th birthday and has been cancer free since. This seems to have given me a better perspective than it gave to her. I am thankful every day. I have a great wife who likes, loves and supports me. (and she's not bad looking either) I have two healthy kids who adore me. I'm financially secure; and most importantly, everyone in the family is healthy. Except for maybe the 12 year old Shorthair who seems to be losing weight.
Whats surprising is that I often find myself reminding her of all these things. If you are down or pissed off, count your blessings. It does wonders for your mood. At least thats what I've found. Regarding having kids late, her treatment, including 5 years of Tamoxifen meant we had to wait a total of 7 years from diagnosis before we could have kids. So we made lemons with lemonaid. We renovated a house and saved.
One other thing. 5 years ago I was unemployed for almost a year. Thats partly what motivated the move from SE CT to Boston. There are SOOOO many jobs up here. But once I was off, I pulled the kids out of pre-school and day care and spent the year having fun with them. It was awesome. I' convinced that we will be closer for the rest of our lives because of the time I had with them.
So whatever happens, hang in there. And don't forget about one of the few benefits of living in a socialist state, very generous unemployment compensation. I was floored when I found out how much I would be getting.
Don
(I don't care if its a validated system, can't you do the upgrade faster? And why do we need to do all this testing? And why are these quality people making us do so much documentation?? - I"m sure some of you will laugh at that)
So it wasn't a total surprise. Fortunately we have been blessed for several reasons. My wife and I both make a decent living. We didn't have kids until later in life (more on that later) so we have a solid savings and investment foundation, and most importantly, we own almost everything we have and can live pretty cheaply despite living close to boston.
The other thing is perspective. My wife is a 15 year breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed a couple of months after her 30th birthday and has been cancer free since. This seems to have given me a better perspective than it gave to her. I am thankful every day. I have a great wife who likes, loves and supports me. (and she's not bad looking either) I have two healthy kids who adore me. I'm financially secure; and most importantly, everyone in the family is healthy. Except for maybe the 12 year old Shorthair who seems to be losing weight.
Whats surprising is that I often find myself reminding her of all these things. If you are down or pissed off, count your blessings. It does wonders for your mood. At least thats what I've found. Regarding having kids late, her treatment, including 5 years of Tamoxifen meant we had to wait a total of 7 years from diagnosis before we could have kids. So we made lemons with lemonaid. We renovated a house and saved.
One other thing. 5 years ago I was unemployed for almost a year. Thats partly what motivated the move from SE CT to Boston. There are SOOOO many jobs up here. But once I was off, I pulled the kids out of pre-school and day care and spent the year having fun with them. It was awesome. I' convinced that we will be closer for the rest of our lives because of the time I had with them.
So whatever happens, hang in there. And don't forget about one of the few benefits of living in a socialist state, very generous unemployment compensation. I was floored when I found out how much I would be getting.
Don
Oh boy. They don't have a frickin clue. If they start taking short cuts on a validated system, they are headed for a very painful fall. I understand their surprise at the documentation/qc requirements for validated systems, but it sounds as though they haven't bothered to get educated on the regulatory requirements.
Well, they will eventually get educated about validated systems -- either the easy way or, if they get audited, the hard way.
I had some education on the requirements for validated systems at a previous employer, and I quickly ran screaming from the room, back to research computing. No validation for me, thank you very much.
IT in biopharma seems to still be hot, so hopefully you can find a new gig quickly.
mibro
NES Member
About 15 years ago I was fired from two high level corporate jobs in a three year time span, in both cases for what amounts to political reasons (isn't it always). That was it for me and Encorpera. I started a business working in my basement that has thankfully done well enough to pay the bills. My son was seven when I began and every day when he got home from school the first thing he did was visit me in the basement, collapse into my arms and let out a big sigh of relief. This is a far better memory than anything I ever did in the workplace. And my son and I are still very close.
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dcmdon
NES Member
Mibro,
Thats awesome. I wish I had the balls to start something up. I've known a bunch of entrepreneurs in my life. Enough so that I unfortunately recognize that it isn't me. At least not now.
Shaping my kids development is the most satisfying thing I do.
Don
The entrepreneur route is tough, I feel like I have the knowledge both business and technical to start an endeavor. However putting my family at that level of risk during the time it would take to get something started isn't something I am willing to do.
Instead I'm setting up semi-passive income streams so in a few years when our debt load is lower I can start my own business while still being able to provide for my family.
dcmdon
NES Member
NHAtHeart - What is funny is that I have the knowledge. I've worked as employee number two in a couple of start-ups. I've worked very very had in my life. I have done sales for over a decade of my professional life, and am pretty good at it. I'm very organized and am generally the kind of person that people like to do business with. What I don't have is an idea, and the balls to follow it through.
The other curse is that both my wife and I have managed to make decent livings working for others.
The irony is that once I'm retired, I won't need income, so I'll probably start something up.
The other curse is that both my wife and I have managed to make decent livings working for others.
The irony is that once I'm retired, I won't need income, so I'll probably start something up.
FrugalFannie
NES Member
The ups and downs of the interview process. Have an interview - up! Don't get the job - down!
More interviews - yeah! No offers - ugh.
Try to stay level. IMO - the more excited you get about every "prospect" the harder the crash. There is no such thing as "almost have a job." You either have one or not. And when waiting for the result of your latest interview - keep looking, keep applying, keep traction - don't get sidetracked because you had a GREAT interview. Keep that pipeline filled. I would even say that until you have a written and accepted offer "in hand" you need to keep these things in mind (okay, maybe you can take a short breather after a verbal offer).
I don't know which is worse - positive feedback from the interviewers (transmitted through the recruiter) and no job offer or just no job offer and no feedback or no job offer and negative feedback (since then you have something to improve)
We have positive feedback. 1 more person to interview. we should hear Friday morning. Oh just stab me now so I can focus on that!
More interviews - yeah! No offers - ugh.
Try to stay level. IMO - the more excited you get about every "prospect" the harder the crash. There is no such thing as "almost have a job." You either have one or not. And when waiting for the result of your latest interview - keep looking, keep applying, keep traction - don't get sidetracked because you had a GREAT interview. Keep that pipeline filled. I would even say that until you have a written and accepted offer "in hand" you need to keep these things in mind (okay, maybe you can take a short breather after a verbal offer).
I don't know which is worse - positive feedback from the interviewers (transmitted through the recruiter) and no job offer or just no job offer and no feedback or no job offer and negative feedback (since then you have something to improve)
We have positive feedback. 1 more person to interview. we should hear Friday morning. Oh just stab me now so I can focus on that!
dcmdon
NES Member
Penny, I agree with you 100%.
I had an interview Friday 7/3, and thought it went well. I was a perfect match for the description and had al the right experience and certifications.
The following Thursday I got an email that the hiring manager was going to move forward with another candidate. Damn.
But it wasn't so bad because I go into every potential job opportunity not expecting it to work out.
Don
I had an interview Friday 7/3, and thought it went well. I was a perfect match for the description and had al the right experience and certifications.
The following Thursday I got an email that the hiring manager was going to move forward with another candidate. Damn.
But it wasn't so bad because I go into every potential job opportunity not expecting it to work out.
Don
Penny, you are correct . . . except about relaxing with a verbal offer.
Very many years ago I had some interviews at the Foxboro Company. The hiring manager called me in with the HR guy and atated to both of us that he was going to make me an offer so HR should give me the packet of info on benefits, etc. No written offer ever arrived. I called HR and he was perplexed too. Finally got ahold of the hiring manager and someone above him had killed the requisition.
When I worked for DEC, I had an internal interview with a great group and it was a perfect match. They started the hiring paperwork and a VP killed it as they had created a hiring freeze and even though I was already on the inside, he wouldn't approve the job. I have to admit that it was a huge let-down.
So it isn't real until you get it in writing.
Best of luck to both of you.
Very many years ago I had some interviews at the Foxboro Company. The hiring manager called me in with the HR guy and atated to both of us that he was going to make me an offer so HR should give me the packet of info on benefits, etc. No written offer ever arrived. I called HR and he was perplexed too. Finally got ahold of the hiring manager and someone above him had killed the requisition.
When I worked for DEC, I had an internal interview with a great group and it was a perfect match. They started the hiring paperwork and a VP killed it as they had created a hiring freeze and even though I was already on the inside, he wouldn't approve the job. I have to admit that it was a huge let-down.
So it isn't real until you get it in writing.
Best of luck to both of you.
FrugalFannie
NES Member
I am sharing these stories with my husband because he thinks I'm nuts when I say things like this happen! So, NO. No relaxing even with a verbal offer. (hell, with all we have been through we don't *really* relax even when employed!)
He did get a call back for a 3rd interview (phone, 4 person panel and now the last step before a decision is made). So that's on Monday. -Holding my breath-
Glockster30
NES Member
I wish the best for the both of you. Good luck!
Best of luck to both of you.
