Unemployment Update

It’s been a month since my post about getting laid off from my job. The shock has long since worn off and I’m at least grateful that it hasn’t resulted in crippling depression or anything like that … at least not yet. To my surprise I’ve actually been in a better head space than I expected. I’ve been very fortunate in life to have been employed at one place for as long as I was, and that it served as my only professional work experience to date. Do I have new prospects? Time will tell. More on that in a minute.

The notion that getting re-hired could be an unwinnable battle is in the back of my mind, but I’m keeping that thought locked down tight. Fears of what might be (or not be) don’t help me. Only if the nightmare becomes reality will there be reason for concern. But until then I’m only dealing with what’s in front of me. So what’s in front of me at present? My recent posts certainly confirm that I’ve been busy with the homelab. I’ve also been working a little bit on the solar and my outdoor kitchen electrical. I had to source a few parts that were very difficult to get delivered due to freight shipping costs, but I did find a proverbial unicorn vendor. I hope to have some updates in the coming weeks, depending on weather (we recently had a nice cluster of tornadoes) and my job prospects.

This of course brings me to the focal point of this post: job prospects. In regards to my previous job, the good news is my severance negotiations were successful and I have received the full amount, and my health insurance is good until the end of July. As for the future, nothing is guaranteed, but as I mentioned in my last post about this I was reaching out to a few prospects through personal contacts and I’ve made some headway, though it’s still too early for offers. So far I’ve had two meetings with tech company CEOs and one of those meetings resulted in a referral to a SaaS developer. I’ve had one interview with them so far that went well and I’ve got my second interview with two of their project directors tomorrow. My fingers are firmly crossed that this goes somewhere because I very much like the work culture but also the company project portfolio (there may be a different term for this) which, at least to me, combined with its age and client history indicates that this company has a pretty steady source of revenue over the years. As for the interview tomorrow, I’m prepared and I’m not afraid to ask questions about the company’s sustainability. My personal opinion on asking how well a company is doing is you can at least get some kind of notion as to how serious they might be about hiring in general, not just you personally, but also how long you can expect to remain employed by said company. There are those out there that prefer to bounce from contract to contract and to them I tip my proverbial hat because I can’t mentally handle that kind of change. I’m a full-timer, I’m in it for the long haul. I stayed with my previous employer for as long as they were willing to keep me around. A valid question to ask me is “if you knew your division in the company was on its last legs wouldn’t you rather leave before the end so you can find another job before getting laid off?” Not exactly. First, I didn’t know we were about to get completely downsized because that was kept secret, but second, while I would very much have liked to secure my next position prior to getting laid off, having gone through that experience I would actually prefer to get laid off instead of jumping ship of my own volition because then I can get severance. Best case scenario is I get notice, preferrably two or more months, find a job before my final day, get employed, and then either work both jobs for a short time until the end of my first job, or negotiate my start date of the second job to be immediately after the end of my first one. But that’s as much thought as I’m willing to give that subject since that’s not what happened.

Focusing on the future, I really do have a good first impression of this SaaS developer. If something good comes from tomorrow’s interview I’ll make another update post when that happens. Until then, back to the projects and exploring other job prospects. It’s a major headache, but it’s gotta get done. Time waits for no one and all that crap. But on that note I’ll see you next time.