An essay on the interoperable relationship between business and fear, in particular as it relates to the current world economy, especially having to do with the prospect of losing one’s job vis-à-vis layoff, by David ‘Bucky’ Schwarz Jr. Esq.1
Well, the unthinkable happened: You got canned during a recession
If you’re anything like me when I got laid off, your mind will be reeling. The kind of reeling that happens after your dog unexpectedly dies or when you find out your sweetheart actually wasn’t so sweet and sort of operates an escort service at night and is kind of well known throughout several large metropolitan areas. It’s ok though, this reeling feeling is completely normal. But what to do about it?
In the immortal words of Douglas Adams: “Don’t panic.” You’re not going to starve tonight because you lost your job today (unless you’ve seriously miscalculated your budget, in which case, why are you reading this? Start panicking!). For most jobs, there is typically a delay of a week or two between the hours you work and when you get paid for those hours. So you should have at the very least one paycheck (in addition to your severance package) coming your way; if nothing else, you should be able to eat for at least a week. When being laid off, it’s important to remember that things like this are not personal. The economy sucks, nobody has confidence in it right now, and people are scared. These kinds of things happen – and are most likely not your fault.
As trite as it is to say: it’s not you; it’s them. Try to put yourself in the position of those heartless bastards who just let you go. Do you think they’re enjoying this? Do you think they like having to tell their colleagues that they don’t have a job? Do you think they get kicks out of exercising their power to ruin people’s lives? Of course they don’t. They never wanted it to come to this. But they have no choice. No one, except for maybe Rich Uncle Pennybags enjoys having to let people go. So don’t take it personally, and don’t let it get to you.
Let’s take a step back for a second. Pretend that you know you’re about to be laid off, but it hasn’t happened yet – a lovely daydream, I know. But, it’s a daydream to have, because you can plan out how you’re going to negotiate a better severance package. If you weren’t aware, and you take only one thing away from this article, take this: everything in business is negotiable. Everything. It’s just a matter of finding the person who has been empowered to negotiate. And I guarantee you someone present during your layoff will be empowered to negotiate with you. So negotiate your severance package. What do you have to lose? (The correct answer is nothing).
When I was laid off, I made the mistake of being in a daze when I talked to my boss’s boss and I just accepted their two week severance pay, not even realizing I could negotiate for better terms. It was especially sickening, considering I busted my hump for that company and my lack of negotiation meant I would have to dip into my savings. Don’t make the same mistake; whatever discomfort you might feel about negotiating for more money is going to pale in comparison to the discomfort you feel when you take money out of your savings for food. And that is not a good feeling – so cowboy up and negotiate yourself some free money. How do you actually negotiate for your severance? There are several good articles on the interwebs dealing specifically with that subject. And if those don’t work out, there’s always the Google.
Ok, back to the present – now what? Continue to “Don’t panic.”
You’re not going to starve tomorrow, and hopefully your negotiations went well and you’ll have a good amount of scratch coming your way. Even if the negotiations failed, don’t fret about it. Take a few days for yourself. If you’re anything like I was, for the next week, your mind will be aglow with whirling, transient nodes of thought careening through a cosmic vapor of invention. So use the next few days to compose yourself. Take some time for self-reflection, meditation, and getting completely stinko. Look back over your time with the jerks who just threw you out on the street. Analyze what you did well and what you did poorly. Look at the mistakes you made during your tenure there. Examine how you handled yourself during the layoff period. Think about what you would change and what you would do the same. Learn from your mistakes. Store all of these conclusions away for the future – they can only help you grow in your career and as a person.
Next, take some time off – real time off. The kind of time off where you block out anything related to work, resumes, job skills, networking or synergy. I can’t state this enough: use this time to completely unwind. Just because you were laid off doesn’t mean you can’t have a mini-vacation, as long as you’ve got the funds – and even if you’re low on funds, there’s always unemployment – courtesy of your former employer and the gubment. Catch up with friends you’ve been too busy for. Do some non-work related things you’ve been meaning to get done. Finish reading How Stella Got Her Groove Back.
When I was laid off at the end of September 2008, I was worried and confused about what to do. I didn’t know if I should tell potential employers that I had been laid off, or if I should try to keep that fact concealed. I decided that I would only divulge that information if asked. However, at this point (late March, 2009) there is no reason not to tell people you’ve been laid off. With the economy in the proverbial commode, and unemployment hovering around 9%, layoffs are to be expected and don’t really reflect poorly upon you. However, there is a silver lining to this economic downturn: with all the layoffs there is now a great support network for people who’ve been laid off. There are literally thousands of people out there blogging and tweeting about what it’s like to be laid off and what to do if it happens to you. Get connected to that network – they may be helpful in finding your next job.
By this time, you should be ready to start back up with your job search
Luckily (for both me, the author and you, the reader), how to write a resume and land a job is beyond the scope of this article, but there are literally millions of resources out there devoted to just this topic. Tap into those resources. Use your network to let people know you were laid off and are seeking a job. Get on the Facebook, the Twiter, LinkedIn and other social networking sites. Start talking to headhunters – let them do the work for you. Don’t give up. It’s tough, but it’s completely manageable if you break your tasks into small, manageable chunks. I’ll leave you with a nugget of wisdom my former boss provided me when he was searching for a job:
“You’ll find out who your true friends are when you search for a job. Your true friends will tell you about every opportunity employment they find. Use them.”
tl;dr:2 economy sucks, layoffs happen, not your fault, negotiate for a better severance package, unemployment benefits lol, take some time off, network, get a job, ?????, profit.
David ‘Bucky’ Schwarz is a 25 year-old web developer living in Cary, North Carolina. David enjoys reading, photography, programming, and driving. He blogs here, tweets here, and rocks a mean pair of aviator shades. Any questions? Ask then in the comments!
David is not actually an attorney.↩
Internet slang for “too long; didn’t read”↩
I’ve been employed as a technology consultant for over two years now and in that time, I’ve come to appreciate a lot of the things to which I’m exposed. I’ve put together a list of some of the things for which I’m most grateful, and I hope that this becomes a helpful resource if you’re considering a similar career.
