Well, I lost my job.

[Massacure]

Long story short, my boss thought I worked too slow in a highly technical role where I am three years out of school. I don't consider myself incompetent, but I'm definitely still learning. It didn't help that we rarely saw eye to eye on how to accomplish various tasks either, although I have to admit she was pretty open minded.

I got put on a performance improvement plan, and I've spent more time the last two months trying to cover my rear than actually completing real work. It wasn't going well and my relationship with my boss was getting cold, so I asked human resources to help broker a graceful exit.

Tomorrow is my last day. They agreed to flag me in the HR system as 'Involuntarily terminated; Eligible for rehire'. They also agreed not to contest unemployment benefits. I just got done baking cookies for my coworkers. I plan on sending out a good bye e-mail tomorrow and acting as if I gave two weeks notice. My boss is in meetings all day tomorrow afternoon. She told me to just leave my laptop and my badge on her desk and let myself out.

I plan on looking this weekend to see if I can get a better deal for health care on the exchange than through COBRA. I'll also file for unemployment Monday morning.

I've been job searching in my career field for more than a month and got one interview that didn't pan out. I wanted to stay in the area, even though there aren't a lot of companies looking for what I do. I'm young and single though, so I'm thinking about moving to larger cities now too.

So bummed.

[Trajan]

1. what field?

Sorry to hear ...

[Massacure]

2. Information Technology <eom>

[HipChick]

3. Have you tried Big 4 consulting?

they would snap you up in a heartbeat...

[Paulie]

5. Big 4 generally want fresh out of school and willing to travel 120% of the time

[HipChick]

10. I am most definitely not fresh out of school..

and most of the projects I had were local...or working from home

[Paulie]

11. I had no luck getting in the door

20+ years, management with staff experience, certs in security, audit, virtual machines and networking. But only an associates degree.

[Paulie]

4. What skill areas?

And what roll did you have?

[Ptah]

6. roll

[Paulie]

7. Could be worse.

Autocorrect could have changed it to poll...

[magical thyme]

8. I'm so sorry...

vibes headed your way for a better situation for you.

[hedgehog]

9. Hang in there - sometimes losing a nasty job is a step to getting a nice job!

[oldandhappy]

12. Sending good thots and hope

Uncomfortable experience. sorry. Want you to know you are well thot of here!

[IronGate]

13. Have you considered a new career path?

Something like what I do.
Firefighter/Paramedic?

It's a tough but rewarding job, pays very well, benefits are some of the best.
Just a thought.

[TexasTowelie]

14. Get out of info tech.

I have excellent skills, but so over-qualified that finding a new job is difficult. Try to find a job that cannot be outsourced or you might find yourself in the same boat as I'm in later in life.

Good luck.

[Sherman A1]

15. Sorry to hear that

on the upside, they were not complete a**es to you giving with the promise to not contest unemployment. Use the time to look forward and find something that works best for you with whats available. There may be some smaller firms around that could use some of your skills.


Best of Luck!

[shenmue]

16. {{{hugs}}}

Don't give up.

[AnneD]

17. I survived a...

one year unemployment when they didn't give the benefits they do now. What I did to survive economically:

1. Take a meat clever to the budget NOW. Cut anything and everything. Switch to a prepaid cell or just basic service. Forget cable. Get a passive HD antenna, plug it in and enjoy free tv.

2. The library is your new best friend. I used the computer there and saved a ton of money. I rented DVD's to watch, read news papers and periodicals. The staff could not have been more helpful.

3. It may hurt but take taxes out of your unemployment as when they come due, you may still not have a job but have a tax burden. The government charges taxes on your benefits and their interest rate is punishing when you don't have money.

4. Beans and rice, rice and beans. I was luck in that I had a decent pantry. I saved my precious money by eating what I had. Learn about combined veggies that make a complete protein. A co-op might be a way to stretch your dollar. A food bank early can help.

5. Think outside the box. I did yard work in the winter. If it had gone on longer, I was prepared to open my own house keeping service. Volunteer, it can give you leads.

6. Conserve. I only used the light in the room I was at and sometimes didn't use it then if I was watching tv. I used natural lighting when possible. Air dried clothes and even started using kerosene lamp at the worst.

7. Good Luck. It was the roughest thing I went through but it made me a better more compassionate person.

7. Let your friends know you are looking. Word of mouth can help.

[wyldwolf]

19. I was fortunate

I had the remnants of a modest inheritance from my mom that, combined with unemployment, kept me and my family going. I thanked my late mom every day for it.

[wyldwolf]

18. Can I ask - and you can PM me - what company this was?

Because your story sounds like mine from several years back. The 'performance review' part is so similar - they set up an impossible amount of new skills I had to master in 30 days or I'd be gone -and they used it to deny me unemployment benefits UNTIL the State said they were going to investigate the practice.