Getting a pink slip. Being downsized. Making adjustments. Reorganizing. So many synonyms that mean the same thing: You’re fired.
In 1990, I experienced what many of you are going through. I had a nice job at ITT World Headquarters as the Assistant Director of Meetings. Then, business decresed, I was not the “favored one” in the office and one day found myself out of work. I went through many of the emotions that one may go through when someone close you dies. I went through grief, anger, pity and yes, a bit of relief.
Bottom line, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It gave me the opportunity to think about what I really wanted to do and to develop the work environment that I wanted to be in.
And that my friends, is how The Meeting Candidate Network, Inc. and meetingjobs came along. I’ve never looked back!
With the unemployment rate reaching it’s highest figures, and the current economic crisis, more and more employers are telling workers that they’re out of work. While losing your job unexpectedly is never good news, it doesn’t have to be a setback. It can be a chance to change directions and find a better career. The day you get fired, you can feel angry, sad and every other emotion that comes your way. The next day, however, take steps to make the most of the situation and analyze the important things in your life, your bottom line income needs and then meditate on what you really would like to do for the rest of your life.
Then, take action.
October 7, 2008 at 10:41 am |
It’s interesting to see what is happening in the world. It’s similar to when you are going to have a child and realize that every where you look you see pregnant women. When you have the child, every where you look you see little kids with their parents.
Now, depending on the industry you see lots of people out of work. I was fired once in my career many years ago. and as Dawn said in her blog, in many ways it was the best thing that could have happened, although at the time it did not seem that way. I had gotten complacent in my work. I was not striving to improve myself and i was basically going though the motions. I was able to find a job fairly quickly and put my nose to the grindstone like never before and put myself on a whole new path. It was painful, but looking back i would have never pushed myself to do better if i had not been forced into it. Good luck to all going through a hard patch right now.
November 11, 2008 at 4:42 pm |
Right Dawn, great names for fired – “separation program“; “career transition” and always accompanied by a separation memo that’s been crafted by a slew of attorneys months prior to anyone ever seeing it. So the dye was cast …
To those that were transitioned before me I always volunteered “one closed door, opens many windows of opportunity” always secretly saying YES I so glad it wasn’t me, and deep down inside I would whisper (shhh) they just weren’t good enough!
Then it happened to me, and I’m left chewing on my own pompous philosophy.
Hey wait a minute, I wasn’t complacent. I had volunteered a year ago for a very difficult assignment and was working at the highest performance level ever with the firm,. The clients loved me, the hotels loved me, and it still happened.
Ah yes, I now see similar results to your original blog, I wasn’t with the inner circle. Truth I call it a “Chiffon Ceiling” (vs. glass ceiling) as the department is 98% female, and once again only (1) male meeting planner remains, just as when I started 9 years ago. Just my personal paranoid view point.
And then again, maybe I wasn’t good enough, or my salary was too high or my health benefits were to extensive. Or maybe, it was just dumb luck. No matter the reason for transition you are still fired, plain and simple. It still hurts, you’re a little scared, a little pissed and very sad that such a vibrant corporate meetings department is being stripped of all it’s diversity. Can the client be happy?
Get over it, Move On. Always look on the bright side of life!