Life After Layoff: Starting a New Journey

 

 

 

 

Life After Layoff

 

On February 25th, I was let go from my job. To be fair, I hated and despised that job more than any job I have had. I started the new job on the first full week of this year. I was excited and nervous, but full of hope because it was a new opportunity. The position was an account manager and the way the position was explained to me was that I would be helping customers, taking orders, and trying to resolve or help make their job more efficient. I was also told there would be SOME selling, but the way I understood it was that it was primarily customer service. With that said, let’s get into why I am a free agent and I’ll try to keep the layoff story short.

 

 

 

2009 Rewind

 

Yes, we are going back 16 years, but there is a reason for it. I was on the hunt for a job in early 2009 because I had just been laid off due to the housing recession. I worked for a home builder at the time and it was an okay job, but it was just a job. Within 2 weeks of being unemployed, I had found another job through my now mother-in-law (not my in-law at this point.) The new job involved me working as an environmental lab tech and I had zero knowledge of what that meant for the first few months.

I really put my best foot forward and did enjoy it. The job was pretty important because every test that was performed could have an impact on people or wildlife getting sick. My co-workers were great and management was fair and understanding. The business was family owned and the lab even kicked down performance based bonuses every year. I would eventually work my way up into a scientist position that was more challenging. I felt accomplished when a problem was solved, big projects were done to satisfaction, and helping/training colleagues. This job took decent care of me, and I it for 16 years.

 

 

 

 

Sweet 16

 

Sometimes you just have to take a chance on an opportunity. So after 16 years of working at the same job, I decided to take a chance. 16 years with one employer is a long time. I basically grew up there and developed strong relationships with management and co-workers. They were friends at this point. With that said, there was some frustration because I felt like I had earned the opportunity for career growth, but it always felt like there was some sort of road block with budgets or timing.

 

 

 

Manipulation at its Finest

 

A new job opportunity… err, I mean a new job risk was available. The risk of a new job was proposed from an acquaintance of my wife who described the job as a great place to work and the job itself was easy peasy. So I interviewed (sigh). The position was offered to me and I nervously put my 2 week notice with a 16 year relationship. But, there were red flags that I shouldn’t have ignored. Turns out, the person who told me about the job also wanted to absorb the position into their current job. They threw me into the deep end on day 2 by having me go speak with customers without training, although I had asked them about quality training in the interview.

The lack of training and head games from my manager wore me down quickly and my excitement turned into severe anxiety and regret. I missed my old job, I was getting poorly trained, and now I was given tasks with no explanation. By the 5th week, my manager pulled me aside and was pressuring me to quit due to lack of sales and excitement (this is the friendly version of the story). I was never shown the sales practices nor was it ever a discussion of training.

All I could think was I took a chance on these people by leaving my job and they were treating me very unfairly. A short time later (after the manager pressured me to quit), they went ahead and let me go… not without some drama of them stealing from me. I was now picturing 16 years circling the drain. Hopefully now my life after this job and layoff can resolve issues I’ve developed over the past 6 weeks.

 

 

 

On the Rebound

 

The way the new job (and now layoff) affected me was taxing. It took a toll on my marriage, mental health, and physical health. I had basically stopped living and even paused going to the gym. The gym was something I have done nearly every day for 17 years and my drive was destroyed. My poor wife was feeling everything I was and it was hard on her.

It has been just over a month since the layoff and I’m starting to feel a bit better. I am looking for work, but there’s definitely some anxiety about taking on a new job after this experience. In the meantime, Ive been hitting the weights again, trying to work on myself, and finally doing something creative (like this blog). Taking a chance is something we should all do every once in awhile. Unfortunately this risk didn’t work out for me in the way I hoped, but I’ll learn from it and get better.

 

Has there ever been a time when you had an opportunity for something and you didn’t try and now regret? Or did you take a chance on something and someone where it did or didn’t work? I would like to hear about it. Just leave a comment below with your own story.