Laid Off

[HappyGilmore]

Ash, sorry to hear about the situation.

I got laid off at the nice age of 22 from a great job at a nursing home.  Had health insurance, two weeks paid vacation, paid sick time, overtime pay, etc.  Then they let me work a half a day (it was a Friday), pulled me in an office, handed me my last paycheck, a check for unused vacation/sick time, and said I was laid off.  Got about 6 months of unemployment and couldn't find anything for about a year and a half. 

Fortunately though, I had saved a few thousand dollars, and at the time I got laid off, I took those last two checks, my income tax (which came a week later), deposited them in my bank, and was basically able to live off the unemployment for a few months.  When that ran out, lived off the money I had saved. 

I am working now though.

[BeyondTheGrave]

Sorry to hear about that Ash. I'm will be back on your feet in no time. 

[Menard]

I have never been laid-off for any extended period of time.

When I worked as a photographer on the road, mid-December through January was pretty much a dead season. With most studios you could expect to be without work for at least two weeks, and even until the beginning of March. With one such studio, it was pretty standard to apply for unemployment by that time in December and ride it until about February or March.

Presently I work as a merchandiser for several companies, and am starting with another company next week to add to my hours.

I don't know if you have ever worked in retail merchandising, but its advantages are flexibility; being that you, in most cases, don't have to be in a store during a set time-frame, just so long as you get the work done on a certain day or by a certain time.

With that flexibility, it is easy, relatively, to have another job, or jobs, and work it around it. Say, if you got the groundskeeper position and had time off during the Winter, that is when retail, at least before Christmas, picks up and you can get more hours in. In retail, there will be lulls in January and April.

Probably the easiest way to apply for merchandiser jobs is to look around at your local Wal-mart and othe retail locations, where you see someone stocking the shelves, or walking around scanning shelf tags, and ask them how to contact their company.

Of course, that type of work may not interest you. I apologize if that was presumptuous of me.

[nshumate]

As for another job, I talked to the cemetary manager over at the cemetary where my brother is buried and he said he might have a groundskeeper position opening soon.
I've been sitting on my ass in front of a computer for years and I'd love to get outdoors and work.
I don't care if it is seasonal work, I'll take whatever I can get at this point.

That appeals to me too.  I like the idea of working out of doors. 

Not only that, but you're a lot more likely to find yourself living in a B-movie.  (On the other hand, the cemetery grounskeeper's usually the first one to buy it...)

[Menard]

Not only that, but you're a lot more likely to find yourself living in a B-movie.  (On the other hand, the cemetery grounskeeper's usually the first one to buy it...)

Well now, let's not forget Cemetery Man. Ash could blow away zombies and do hot chicks at the same time.

[Trevor]

  Sorry to hear about your troubles, Ash: I hope everything will go well for you again and that it won't be long before you're up and running again. Good wishes to you as always, my friend. 

Well now, let's not forget Cemetery Man. Ash could blow away zombies and do hot chicks at the same time.

[Derf]

Sorry to hear about your troubles, Ash. I've never gone through it myself, though I did recently leave a job and am going through the whole trying-to-start-a-new-career thing, and I know that it is rough (I also spent three years with only part-time employment, and that only during Spring/Fall semesters, so I had nothing during the summers). Anyway, good luck finding something you can enjoy and that will support you.

[Jack]

Sorry to hear about that Ash.  Best of luck to you in finding a new job.  And enjoy your time off between jobs!  I've always had good luck with temp agencies - several of the jobs I had started as temp assignments and then I got hired full time. 

I never technically got laid off, but at one job they told me they'd be laying me off in two weeks.  When the two weeks were up, they decided to keep me for another month.  Then they were going to lay me off.  Finally I found a different job and quit.

[lester1/2jr]

You should definately make a horror movie.



even if you don't get the cemetary job

[clockworkcanary]

Ash, that really sucks.  I hope you find something soon.  Living in the Great Lakes region, I live in a cycle of working for awhile, getting laid off, working for awhile, getting laid off, etc.  I even relocated myself to a larger urban area for a temporary job that's now over (contract) and am back to being unemployed...and since it was a 3 month gig, no unemployment benefits for me...but at least the prospects are better here.  Hope we all find something soon.

[asimpson2006]

Ash, that really sucks.  I hope you find something soon.  Living in the Great Lakes region, I live in a cycle of working for awhile, getting laid off, working for awhile, getting laid off, etc.  I even relocated myself to a larger urban area for a temporary job that's now over (contract) and am back to being unemployed...and since it was a 3 month gig, no unemployment benefits for me...but at least the prospects are better here.  Hope we all find something soon.

That sounds like my one uncle.  He's a pipe fitter, so he may work at a job for 2 or 3 months.  Then be off work for a while, then back to work at another location. 

[raj]

As for another job, I talked to the cemetary manager over at the cemetary where my brother is buried and he said he might have a groundskeeper position opening soon.
I've been sitting on my ass in front of a computer for years and I'd love to get outdoors and work.
I don't care if it is seasonal work, I'll take whatever I can get at this point.

Bummer about being laid off.  If you get the cemetery job, let me know if you've got any, uh, spare bodies lying around.  No reason.

I did get shot down for tenure at one university, basically because I was busy focusing on my job:  teaching, running the website (hardware, software and html) rather than getting published.  The thing is, I'm a librarian, there really isn't a huge demand for librarian publishing out there.

Best of luck.  For me, it wasn't too hard finding a new job, but I did have to move to Toledo OH.

[Torgo]

Well now, let's not forget Cemetery Man. Ash could blow away zombies and do hot chicks at the same time.

Too bad you're not currently registered on here. Otherwise I would give you a karma for that.

[Allhallowsday]

Well now, let's not forget Cemetery Man. Ash could blow away zombies and do hot chicks at the same time.

Too bad you're not currently registered on here. Otherwise I would give you a karma for that.

But I'll give you the karma.    

[CheezeFlixz]

Probably the easiest way to apply for merchandiser jobs is to look around at your local Wal-mart and othe retail locations, where you see someone stocking the shelves, or walking around scanning shelf tags, and ask them how to contact their company.

You just need to go to http://www.narms.com you'll find all the crappy jobs you want there in merchandising.


As for being laid-off ... if a company files for bankruptcy you'd better start looking regardless of what smoke they blow up your ass about keeping everyone on, sadly employee's are the easies place to cut cost ... you also cut service and quality which aid the downfall of a failing business. I can tell you why companies lay people, why they file bankruptcy, why they fail in 2 simple words... POOR MANAGEMENT. They can blame the economy, the government, or blame it all on George Bush, but it comes down to the 6 P's ... which is ...

Proper
Planning
Prevents
p**s
Poor
Performance

Sorry you got laid off Ash, I know it sucks ... always did when I worked for someone else, until one day I got sick and tired of seeing overpaid morons making bad choices that never effected them but always effected the little guy, I said screw it I can do better ... I did, I have, I am and I never looked back. It doesn't take money, it's takes drive, want and the hunger to do a lot for a little to keep from being dependent on someone else. Success or failure is dependent upon your abilities to adjust, adapt and overcome. Some folks may get tired of my social, political and economic commentary but the success of any business (including your personal finances) is highly dependent on your ability to see and foresee directions and plan properly for it WITH OUT "downsizing."

The secret is what a wise man said once "Do what you enjoy and you'll never work a day in your life." ... the hard part is figuring out how to make money doing what you enjoy. Once work becomes a job, it's time to find something new to do.