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I graduated with my bachelors degree in finance about 7 years ago now. I was lucky to find my first job just a month after graduation. The metro Detroit area was already starting to show signs of an impending recession, and the company I started with was just emerging from bankruptcy. This was a fortune 500 company, I was with them for nearly 3 years, and in that entire time they never made a dime in profit. Eventually I tired of the repeated job cuts, wondering if I would be next, and I found a better opportunity at a Fortune 100 company in the area. Money was better, advancement was more a possibility. I worked here for a couple years, in which I worked many 16 hour days, and weekends to boot. Oh and to top it off, this company never made a dime in profit while I was there either…in fact, they were one of the companies to receive funding from the treasury. Inevitably I tired of the continued doomsday culture, and the excruciatingly long hours, and I found myself at a much smaller company. This company was a private consulting firm, very profitable and well known, and not publicly traded. I thought for sure I had found my best opportunity yet, that is until 11 months later when I was called in to the CFO’s office and given my severance package. Clients had dried up, and as it turns out, the improving economy was actually bad for our business…fewer clients were in need of turnaround and improvement!
Unemployment is high in many areas, and Michigan had made the headlines several times as being one of the worst places to find a job. Yet I always thought I had nothing to worry about, after all, I had both a bachelors and an MBA, along with a plethora of finance and accounting experience. Alas, none of that mattered, most of my team was let go and I was provided a 2 month severance package. Not bad for an 11 month stint, but I had left a secure job less than a year prior, and had just bought a new home less than 2 months before they cut me. A 2 month severance package would get eaten up at just that rate…2 months! I always felt for those people who lost their homes because they couldn’t meet their mortgage payments, and had their cars reposessed, but I never thought I would be one of them. I quite literally panicked, after all, I had known people laid off for nearly a year in my profession.
I took the first day to process everything that was happening, and I had the support of all my friends, and my girlfriend. But that feeling of failure sinks in regardless. You wonder about everything; paying bills, your career path, your future employment, and will this just happen to me again? The next day I let the self pity go and got back into job finding mode. I wasn’t going to take a two week vacation for soul searching or relaxation, instead I was determined to find that job within the two months until my severance was up. I was dealing with 4 different recruiters, which I recommend first and foremost, since they will do most of the job searching and introductions for you. I would then wake up around 8am every morning to search Indeed, which is a fantastic one-stop site for job search engines. They pull in all positions from all the job sites like Careerbuilder, Monster, Hot Jobs, and even individual company sites, and allow you to search everything in their own platform. Lastly, I would search every fortune 1000 company within relative driving distance, visit their site and submit a resume to every potential position in my field.
My end result was nothing short of amazing. I ended up having interviews with 5 different companies, and that resulted in 3 different offers. I’ve been with my new company for the past 11 months now, and I couldn’t be happier. In fact, I started with my company just as the severance was running out. Yes, everything worked out just fine in the end, but I still haven’t forgotten that feeling I had last year, filled with anxiety and despair. When things go bad, they go bad, sometimes there isn’t anything you can do. You can’t necessarily avoid job loss, but you can mitigate the effect it has on you. Make sure you build up your emergency fund, that your expense-to-income ratio is as low as you can handle, and mentally prepare yourself for the fact that ANYTHING can happen. Even the ivy league degreed wallstreet investors weren’t untouchable during the financial meltdown. I’ve since tried to better prepare myself financially for those types of emergencies, though it’s long slow road. I’ve also lost a lot of that arrogance that I once had, and I experienced first hand that it can happen to me, and realize that it could happen to me again. Anything is possible!
You are so right! Many years ago, I help sell a company and received a exit package too. I landed at another company just as it was finished too. I never want to be in that position again and I won’t. Whether you have an emergency fund or multiple income streams, no one should!
Krant that is true…even if you are safely funded, you dont want to find yourself in that position. It takes a mental toll on a person as well.
I imagine that losing a job would leave a terrible feeling in the pit of your stomach! As I’m currently in the process of buying a house, I can’t imagine suddenly losing that income. Fortunately, we are buying well below our means, so even if I lost my job, we’d be able to live off my wife’s income. But, money sure would be tight!
Good job getting back on that job search right away. Many people would loath in self-pity for a few months before they would even think about looking for jobs again.
Yeah Derek, I will say that you never will feel good losing a job…but right after buying a home it will knock the wind out of you! Thanks!
In 2005 I was let go for the first time ever. I think I was called into the office at around 10am and my e-mails started by noon. That was actually a little too much of a panic. I live in Michigan as well (sounds like we could be neighbors, really, as I can guess at some of the companies you’re talking about) and for me, this all happened before the recession. Still, it was stressful. I did try to make a good summer out of it though
Always glad to see fellow neighbors stop by and comment! I often read your blog myself. Yeah you can probably guess all 3 actually lol. My girlfriend and I hit up Cedar Point and the wavepool that summer… tried to make the most of it despite the worrying.
I can’t imagine the stress that would have created. I have seen Michigan mentioned a lot in the news for the difficult local economic conditions. It’s a credit to you that you were able to make it work. My only experience of being let go was as a shop assistant while I was at college. I was so determined to make more money that I knocked on at least 100 doors to offer to mow lawns, or do yard work. I finally got 1 client, and kept it until I graduated, even though I started working back at the shop a few months after they let me go. Nothing stays the same for very long.
Glad to see your persistance Hunter!! Sometimes you just need that determination, which is hard to keep when u are in that kind of position.
I really liked your description of all your jobs! I’m a freelancer, so I can’t relate exactly to what you’re saying, but I do sometimes wonder, “where is my career going? Did I waste all that time I spent at XYZ company, in terms of my career trajectory?” It’s nice to see that even people who stay in the same career have those same questions.
I have a confession to make… I’ve never lost a job due to a company downsizing or anything like that, but I have been fired once. Best thing that ever happened to me. To be honest I had no business doing what I was doing, it was about the worst fit possible for me, and being fired gave me the chance to realize that and move on to something I enjoy and am really good at. While losing a job for whatever reason is horrible, it can also be an awesome opportunity.
Glad to hear it all turned out for the best, Justin! I’ll definitely use Indeed for my next job search, too.
I admire your determination! I know exactly how it feels to be on the job search ‘daily grind’ and it can get exhausting. Glad you found something so soon!
You clearly handled a tough situation very well. The key I think (from an outside observer, of course) is the notion of being focused, confident, and starting your search right away as it seems you did. Things generally don’t come easy for most folks these days, when unemployed, so I suspect that it’s that dedication and tenacity that can really make a difference in getting to an eventual solid outcome.
Good article – I graduated in 2008 and my classmates and I were shocked that we couldn’t get jobs right away! It was a truly humbling experience, but I think it helped to make all of us more resilient and open minded about job opportunities. For some of us, we were forced to go down career paths we never expected and are all the more happy for it!
My husband and I live on his social security check- after his business went bankrupt, we bought a tiny 4 room cabin in the deep woods of Northern NY, with a plot of land to grow food: I think the hardest time for us is winter, because driving 20 miles to get groceries can be difficult, gas is high.