Fired?

[TxZen]

Have you ever been fired? How did you bounce back? Explain to future employers, etc?

I think I am on the brink of being fired. I have gone above and beyond and yet my boss(es) don't think I have. I have written proof and yet in their eyes, I am always one step behind. I finally had enough last week and lost my cool. Not the most professional but after 5 years of the same garbage, I was done. My dotted line boss told me I better watch myself and keep my nose clean. It's been so clean for the past 23 years but she has a bug up her backside.

So I am on the brink of being fired. How do I know? Friday, some guy from another facility "shows" up and I am told I need to start showing him the ropes, he is trying to "learn". Now? Weird timing and suddenly they have an interest in what I do day to day. He is very green, young and there is something...slimy??? about him. I

need to keep going because my dream is to move into a different career and the paychecks are what keep me at my current job, for as long as I can. I know, not a way to work but it's the truth.

So- what are your experiences and recommendations? Thanks.

[bUU]

It is always easier to explain why you want to leave a job you currently have than why you were detached from a job in the past. If you are confident that your days are numbered, find a new job before the ax falls.

[Miss Cellane]

I agree.

It may have nothing to do with you or your performance. Someone may just want a shake-up of personnel, or to move a "chosen one" into your department. Or maybe your boss feels threatened by you in some way. Or someone has been spreading rumors about you that aren't true. (That happened to me and while I was able to do some damage control and stay on for another year, some people chose to believe the rumors rather than the evidence.)

Brush up your resume and start getting it out there. It doesn't sound as if you really like this job much anyway, so maybe there's something better--better pay, more interesting work, better hours--out there.

When I was more or less forced out by a jealous colleague, I found a new job before I left the old one, at better pay, with profit sharing, and better benefits all around. Most of my co-workers were glad to hear this. My nemesis simply didn't speak to me for the remaining two weeks of my employment, which was absolutely delightful.

One other thing to do is to check the company's policy on firing. There's usually a protocol for this, at least in larger companies. There needs to be documentation of infractions/mistakes, followed by a series of warnings and performance reviews or probation. In my experience, people only get fired and asked to leave immediately (as opposed to being laid off, which is different) if they have done something very, very wrong--stolen money from the company or assaulted another employee, something like that. And even then, they are usually suspended rather than fired, until the mess is sorted out.

If you know what the firing protocol is, you can be aware of what your boss is doing--is someone suddenly keeping track of how long a lunch break you take, for example? And you will know your rights and what warnings and second chances you are supposed to get. Not that you'd want to remain there forever, but if you need the job, this can keep you employed for several months while you hunt for a new one.

[catherine]

Yes, I've been fired, or to use the euphemistic expression, I was "let go" because the superintendent who had hired me was also fired a month or two earlier, and he was the one who created the position that I had filled for a few years. The new superintendent did not see the value in the position. But truth be told, my heart had gone out of that job and I probably wore that attitude like a badge, and therefore failed to prove the value of my job to my new boss.

First of all, know that it happens to the best of us at one point or another, so don't let it impact your self-worth!

Second, I agree with everyone who said, get that resume out NOW. I had a very smart mentor who said "It's easier to find a job when you have a job." (Kind of a take-off on what bUU said) Maybe because the attitude of need/desperation are very subtly communicated--or maybe because more overtly, the employer feels the unemployment status is a negative reflection of the potential employee. When I was interviewing people who were unemployed, I listened very carefully to their explanations for their status--the interviewee had to walk a very fine line between taking responsibility and dumping on the former employer (DON'T say in an interview, "my boss was a jerk").

So, take the advice of the others.. and be proactive--and also, see it as a window to exploring career shifts and maybe doing something more to your liking.

[Float On]

If they want you out they'll probably try to make it pretty miserable for you hoping you'll resign over them firing you. If you qualify for a severance package I'd probably stick it out while searching for a new job.

[Jilly]

Everything that has been shared is great advice.

Another aspect is to go when and in a way that is best for you. More than twenty years shows your commitment and dedication to a job, but it is also a great time to change jobs, re-invent yourself. Since you mention changing careers, and even if your preference is to wait a bit longer, this may be the time to make that move Although consideration for a severance package, as Float On mentions, is a huge benefit if you can manage it.

I have never been fired, but I paid attention and left two jobs before I totally lost it and ended up being let go. I live in an at will employment state, which makes it easier to quit without having to give reasons. It is also possible for an employer to let someone go for the same, but at least it carries...mostly...no negatively reportable reasons on either side.

[oldhat]

I think the advice being given here is all good. It is indeed best to try to find a new job while still employed. I know from personal experience that it's sometimes hard to get yourself motivated when you are in the stressful situation of waiting for the ax to fall. But do your best. It's time to dig down deep. Update that resume and let everyone you trust know that you are looking. If you don't have a LinkedIn profile, start one and solicit recommendations. If you are in the kind of line where a headhunter might be interested in helping you, talk to a few.

All that said, it's also true that sometimes change, even if painful at first, can work out for the best. I was fired in May 2011 after more than 10 years as a writer at a big IT company. I was burned out and depressed, and I didn't do much to find another job even though I saw the end coming a mile away. (So I know how hard it can be to dig down and summon up energy in a situation like that.)

I was expecting a lengthy period of unemployment, but after a few months I found another job at a smaller company as an editor, which I found to be much more congenial than what I had been doing. Then, a little more than six months after I started the new job, the news came down that we were being bought--by guess who.

So now I'm back working for my former employer, albeit in a different job. Bottom line, they needed my skills because the acquisition brought several product lines that only I and one other editor know how to produce. Not only did they rehire me, they gave me a signing bonus.

Almost all the employees of the smaller company ended up getting job offers after the acquisition. Our office manager did not, but things worked out for her also. She's a skilled accountant, but at the smaller company her job consisted of about half real accounting work and about half "gofer" tasks like making sure we had enough coffee in the pantry. Before too long she was working at a real accounting job. Just about every person I've know who's been fired has a story like that to tell. You go through a rough patch--and it can be really rough, no question--but things always seem to work out in the end, often to your advantage.

[ApatheticNoMore]

No. But I did get out of a situation that was heading that way, I quit before it got to that. Quit with nothing lined up, unemployment wouldn't pay (a bummer since I felt desperate), but just couldn't see continuing there.

Apply for new jobs while working WHENEVER you want to of course, but realistically access whether you really are likely to be fired before making a more rash decision! (Such as quitting without anything lined up - I mean been there, done that. Did it end for the better? Actually yes (though not in terms of pay). Sometimes we end up doing roles that are SO drastically unsuited to our personality that even flipping burgers for a living would be better - and that low standard was easily exceeded :). I have no interest in even applying for that role again anywhere).


One other thing to do is to check the company's policy on firing. There's usually a protocol for this, at least in larger companies. There needs to be documentation of infractions/mistakes, followed by a series of warnings and performance reviews or probation. In my experience, people only get fired and asked to leave immediately (as opposed to being laid off, which is different) if they have done something very, very wrong--stolen money from the company or assaulted another employee, something like that. And even then, they are usually suspended rather than fired, until the mess is sorted out.

If you know what the firing protocol is, you can be aware of what your boss is doing--is someone suddenly keeping track of how long a lunch break you take, for example? And you will know your rights and what warnings and second chances you are supposed to get.


+1 yes

[frugal-one]

If you have not interviewed for a position in over 20 years you may want to read up on how to interview or write a resume?
"Knock 'em Dead" books are awesome. They have the most current at the library here. Wouldn't hurt?!

[TxZen]

I resigned today. I have been so physically and mentally stressed this week, I couldn't go on. My husband NEVER tells me what to do, ever, in our 10 years of marriage. He always says he will support me in my choices but yesterday he TOLD me that I will be resigning. That made me happy, if that can be understood. I know there is 4 weeks of painful process ahead of me but I will make it through this too. Onward and upward.

[catherine]

The Monday after the Friday that was my last day at work I woke up and got out of bed and then jumped up and down for joy in my bedroom.

I wish you that same kind of joy as you figure out the next stage in your lifepath.

Good luck to you, GreenMama!

[razz]

I resigned today. I have been so physically and mentally stressed this week, I couldn't go on. My husband NEVER tells me what to do, ever, in our 10 years of marriage. He always says he will support me in my choices but yesterday he TOLD me that I will be resigning. That made me happy, if that can be understood. I know there is 4 weeks of painful process ahead of me but I will make it through this too. Onward and upward.

Your DH could see what the whole experience is doing to you and your state of mind and gave you the advice that gave you the freedom to choose. Great guy! Find what works for you and best wishes.

[ApatheticNoMore]

The Monday after the Friday that was my last day at work I woke up and got out of bed and then jumped up and down for joy in my bedroom.

I felt initially relieved of trying to make a bad job situation work yes. But there's also absolute gut level terror of not finding another job (even my favorite nature place provided no relief from it), and there's a powerlessness a weakness from not having an income, you feel incredibly vulnerable, small, undefended, you don't feel YOURSELF, not your usual strong (uh relatively) self, not the roll with the punches self but utterly dependent on the kindness of strangers, on the whims of fate, and cast off from society.

So it got to the point I'd envy people I heard were celebrating Friday night with take out (I wish I had such a thing as Fridays to celebrate! I want to be PART OF society and it's time rituals again!). It got to so I envied the clerks at the grocery store when buying food (at least they had jobs even if they don't pay much! they aren't so castoff from society! They are still part of it!) It got long past the time I couldn't go to unemployed support groups (I don't want to hear you've been unemployed two years, I don't want to think that could happen TO ME! this isn't helping any!) So I took the first job offered and felt ecstatic two weeks after taking the job. And I'm not kidding about that. I hate work with all my being but I was high as a kite not to face longer term unemployment.

I suppose if I had been stronger I wouldn't end up just taking jobs I hate etc.. But I don't know I wasn't that mature yet anyway (at mid 30s no less!) - maybe I will be the NEXT time around (and I do depend entirely on my own income and savings of course - cripes I couldn't even get lousy unemployment since I'd quit as of course the application was denied - so that's all I had. And my mom laughed when I asked if she'd ever help me economically if I needed it, although I was nowhere near that point at all, but no assurance was on offer). And money in the bank provides assurance? The thing is I had a LOT, it provided very little, it wasn't enough not to need work in several years afterall, short of being rich enough to never work again, it kind of doesn't matter psychologically how much money you have, unless your at complete FI the lack of money coming in (when money does of course go out) is incredibly scary. Wealth is a lousy substitute for income if your just depleting it and know it will reach depletion and then what: be a homeless bag lady?

[Rachel]

Apatheticnomore, You expressed the exact same feelings I had a few years back--so eloquently. Thank you for putting this into words with such accuracy and completeness. YES, "wealth" is indeed no substitute for a paycheck unless it is very, very substantial. I take it you're employed again now, so good for you--and good for me too! We made it! (For now!!!!)

[catherine]

ANM, I just noticed your reply to one of my posts.. I agree with Rachel that it was a very real, sincere expression of what your life was like on unemployment, and I'm sure your feelings speak for millions (I've been there, and I definitely related). In my particular case that I was talking about after quitting my job, I had quit with a contracting job-in-hand, so I was not afraid, and I did have income I could count on at that point.

I also love your quote: "Wealth is a lousy substitute for income" and it brings to mind a couple of thoughts related to my silly idealistic dreams for...

... a time when we are not worried about wealth because our stream of income is based on skills we enjoy and which bring value to the whole community--where we can be renaissance men and women and where only 4 hours of "bread labor" will fill our physical and psychological needs

and

... a time when our sense of interdependence is so strong that no one gets laughed at after asking for help--when helping and sharing is the norm and our sense of security is not based on a myth of rugged individualism but on the wealth and abundance to be found in our cooperative relationships

and

...a time when our sense of fulfillment is not in our job titles or our income but it's in the joy of creative and recreative service



The reason you had to go through all that is because we're not at that future time yet, unfortunately, but we'll get there.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Yes I found work. I sometimes toy with the idea of having some skills that I could pull in some (even if insufficient and needed some supplement from emergency funds) income in when unemployed, although sadly I haven't had much time to pursue that because of work :( (it would be taking actual classes not just studying something an hour here or there when I'm sitting at home instead of web surfing or something - if it was just that I really could "make time" and just stop wasting it - but it's more like ugh only so many hours in the day and it would literally cut into SLEEP time and I haven't found a weekend option - that I'm wasting so much time commuting currently doesn't help). Anyway I guess there's a decent chance it may not work anyway, but if I found the time I'd try, as it's something I toy with, and might be doable if I had less commute. At any rate I do have a regular job yea.

Yea I'd like to live in that world catherine.