Life's wonderful suprises..

I just got a wonderful suprises this morning. I got into work, started on this presentation I will be giving next month, and noticed it was time for my one on one meeting w/ management. I had a few things I wanted to bring up, but I didn't get a chance to. I went blank after [glowpurple]I was told that our department was going to have lay offs and I should be concerned[/glowpurple] . As someone new to the field and this being my first corporate job, I understand I start looking for another job, but what else should I do to prepair myself, and some kind words of encouragement would also be appreciated. I'm a wreck as it is.. For you who have been through this, can you offer knowledge, suggestions, anything?

Joey,
I Live in CT and this is not good for me either. I hate to drop another bomb on you man but there just seems to be no work out there :(. I say start looking and good luck.

Joey_Batch_File,
I was laid off from my job as a desk support engineer about four months ago. I had been with the company (large NE bank) for about three years and had worked my way up from a helpdesk position. I had the advantage of hearing about the possible lay-offs months in advance. What I did was polish the resume/interviewing skills, re-activate all my contacts and send out my resume to as many technical contracting agencies as possible. I am not sure what technical field you are in but contracting companies are a viable resource for the possibly soon to be laid off tech worker. It is different then being fulltime but contracting is not for everyone. It worked out great for me.
My advice to you is keep working hard and focus on what you can control. Start looking on-line and send your resume to any technical contracting companies you know of. Try http://www.sapphire.com for one. I was contacted the day after I was laid off and started working again within two weeks. This job turned into a great situation. I was offered a fulltime job last week ! As they say one door closes another opens. Do not get yourself down if you get laid off. Plan ahead think about dusting off the suit and possibly getting a second job to help you out. Just keep working hard and something will turn up. From the quality of your posts on AO any firm would be lucky to have an employee of your caliber. Do not get down, get focused! Good luck.

Captfb

Thats really messed up d00d, That happened to me just before Christmas the year before last. I was supposedly "promoted" to VP in a now defunct Corp. job I had landed, I thought the world and my life was really starting to take off. Then I came to work one day and a locksmith was changing the lock on my office and the main doors, my office was packed in boxes, including my personal stuff, and the Prez was on the lamb running from the State Attourney General...seems he did not do his paperwork right and they slapped him with a securities fraud suit... ( He deserved it too, later I found out he had absconded with $300,000.00 that he conned from a little grey haired old schoolteacher who had just lost her husband in an auto accident and was hospitalized from the same accident when he sucked her dry of her insurance settlement of her spouses death!!! )

I really don't think this story will help you much, but wisdom tells me to tell you to forget that job and start looking for another.

Good luck friend

I'm not sure if this would be the right movement, but I decided to get together with a close friend, and look into starting our own business. He currently holds a Network Admin job at the university, and I may soon be laid off. It sounds good w/ me having time, and him having money, but would this decision doom our friendship? If its an even effort, is my time worth his money?

aeallison - wow did you work for the same company I did? Sheesh your story mirrors mine to a T, except I was promoted to CTO. Our CFO was caught and has since been sentanced, but the CEO he was in cahoots with is still on the run with a lot of cash from the company.


Anyway JB, it's not all doom and gloom out here. I went for a long time with no job after my last fiasco, but I decided on a major move and it's paid off. The east coast in general seems to be hit pretty hard in the tech sector. I moved out west and found a job in a couple of weeks of the move. The economy is a bit better out here, and there seems to be plenty of jobs to go around.

I suggest polishing up the resume and start posting. Even if you don't get the axe it's still good practice. You get your name out there, start making contacts with various recruiters and HR folks and basically get practice for when the time really comes. Also, you never know when you will find your dream job this way... it might happen tomorrow :)

Good luck, and keep us apraised of your situation.




El Diablo

Bommer man! Good luck! :/

jb> You might hurt your friendship if you go into buisiness with your friend, but then again you might not, as for is your time worth his money? I'd say based on your other posts, it no doubt is. Whate ever your choice be it a friend or going out and finding a new job elsewhere I wish the best of luck.

I haven't been through this, Joey, but just wanted to say good luck to ya in finding another job or starting your own business. Hope things work out.

20 months and counting here...

urgent meeting 90 minutes before the office opens is how they got my neck on the block. I wade my way through 2 hours of hell traffic, show up at he office and he hands me a folder and says "We have to let you go."..

now this was with 0 warning, and 5 months after my original company was acquired... and 3 months after they laid me off, the whole deal went belly up and 200 people lost their jobs.


ain't life grand??

btw.. Anyone looking to hire a Network/System Administrator?

Joey...for what its worth, my father was partners in business with his best friend for 40 years. They had a good understanding of whom was responsible for what, and conferred regularly on issues that were of major impotance. Their friendship grew stronger because of this arrangement, so don't be afraid to try if the 2 of you think you can make it work. All the best to you!

It is hard as hell to ge ta job right now. I have been looking for 2 months like mad and have a min wage job to hold me over till I can find something. So many peeps gett layed off and so few new jobs the few that do come up are filled fast and with some of the best (well the the best on paper)

Joe,
sorry to read this . one advice: if you start your own business do it without a friend. it does not work !
Belive me I know what I am talking about. I work for myself, no discussions , freedom, I am my own boss. !!
greetings M.

since i have never had a job in the field of IT or whatever i cant give u any help on that but i can say hope u r job hunting goes well and best of luck to u in the future joey i hope everything turns good for you and all the peeps at AO that has had cut backs on the job front recently

Good luck joey.Sorry man.
regards
v/man

hey Joey, Good luck man and we are all behind you on this. Keep your head up and keep on truckin man. I havent had this happen yet but just keep thinking positive.

JB, One thing I've noticed as a contractor for a large company: when permanent employees get laid off, more contractor positions open up. These huge companies still have to make money, and they have to do it more efficiently. That means contractors. They can get more of them for less, and they all do the same job. While it might mean a marginal cut in benefits (All I know is that the permanent employees get to use the gym and I don't :( ), contractors usually get paid at a very competative rate. One of the biggest things nowadays is the service management contract. A contractor company gets $X to perform the service Y. They can fill those positions however they see fit, and pay their employees however much they want. Some employees will come cheaper, some will cost more, but as long as the contractors produce results the contract stays in place. The contracting companies will usually fight to get you a good rate, though, because that means more overall money they'll get from the next contract renewal. I've been very pleased with my compensation package. You may want to look into some of the big contractor companies in your area. Here are just a few of the global ones:

Ajilon
Huntley Associates
iQuest Consultants
Spherion

Oh, and although I probably don't need to mention this, be sure to get your resume on Monster, Techies, and Dice. I've found that many of these sites are frequented by recruiters for contract companies.

Best of luck to you!

Update: I have been polishing up my resume, it has been reactivated on Monster.Com. I sent out a couple electronic copies to a few local business. I contacted all my connections I made, and tried to see what is available out there. I also started the research and strategic decisions to attack this business I was talking about. We checked out the SBA and got a copy of their hand out that has everything we should know. We researched some open properties, decided what we need equipment wise, and found out we can lift off with under $20,000. Which I don't think is too bad for a new business. I will keep you all update with my ventures, and I would like to thank you all for you suggestions, comments, and compasion. (Don't think everything is good, I'm just trying to have a positive outlook)

I have to agree with Roswell. I don't know exactly what type of job you want but one area you shouldn't overlook is government contracting. With the "war on terrorism" going strong, a lot of jobs are available (especially if you have a security clearance or can obtain one). I personally work for a government contractor and I make good money, the benefits are good, and you don't necessarily have to live near a military base.

A couple of sites to look at are www.saic.com and www.gd-ns.com\Employment

You may not find your dream job but in my humble opinion, a job is a job and sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do to take care of business.

Good luck.

I keep asking if anybody wants to hitch to canada... I never seem to get any takers. We can start a kenuck IT company! It'll rule!

Best of luck to you, Joey. Hopefully things will turn around after the war.

IT/IS layoffs are a bitch dude...a friend of mine got downsized about 2 weeks before his second child was due, and he still hasn't found a job yet. He got laid off back in April/May, and was in the IT/IS Auditing area in the Ohio/Kentucky area. I can tell you for a fact that the Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana area has *squat* for tech jobs. What's strange is that my father-in-law can get me a contractor job with the military in a heartbeat. I passed along some info to my friend who is unemployed, and according to him, the paperwork to fill out for a civilian contractor at an AFB was a pain in the ass (after 3 attempts he gave up). That's the bad news...

The good news is that certain parts of the country are in a big shortage of qualified IT/IS workers. The southeast and the west are the two biggest areas that offer the best chances for employment. Hope this helps. I've found that the best way to find IT jobs is through a contractor service...

Good luck.

Keep the positive outlook jbh, and everything WILL be good!

JB - any news yet on the impending layoffs, or is the company keeping mum on it?

as far as posting on Monster, don't stop there. Post on every resume site you can, focus on the biggies like Monster, Dice, OCC, Techies, HotJobs, ComputerJobs.com, etc. Also look for local sites as they are the ones that local companies will focus on first.

Also, unless you are intrinsically tied to your locale, you might want to expand you search to nation wide. The "hot spots" that I found in the past few months are Texas, Atlanta, San Diego, and San Francisco. All of those had more job postings than any other area. Florida, Tampa Bay area, isn't too shabby right now either, so you might want to focus down there too. In general though the mid-atlantic states, and the north east states seemed to be fairing badly in the IT world when I looked.

The hot areas that I found are government contracting, and the financial industry. Both of these have been ramping up security at a much faster scale since Sept. 11, and because of that their infrastructure has been growing fairly fast.

Good luck once again dude, we are all rooting for you... heh no pun intended :)




El Diablo

Bleh... Atleast you'd be laid off becuase of something happening inside the company. My dad once had the missfortune of working with a guy who wanted to fire his co-workers nearly all of whom have worked there for nearly 10-30 years. One mistake these guys made and BOOM next thing you know someone would get fired and the peaple getting fired would then be replaced by that jerk's buddies. The only reason he never got himself fired was becuase he was dateing the boss's daughter and the boss didn't want to see the look on his daughter's face when he fired the guy.

While I have faced a possible layoff like you I have also fortunately never been layed off (unless you count a job in High School and even that sucked a lot).

Don't just update your resume either get a good book on writing resumes or get it together and take it to a professional Technical Writer. When I was looking I started with my resume. Then I bought a book (10 Best/Worst Resumes) and mine fit one of the worst categories. Rewrote it to be similar to one of the best and got excellent response to it. Later when my company was looking possible layoffs they made thier technical writer available to help with resumes. She took mine and absolutely transformed it with just a few minor changes and the addition of some color lines etc. I have used her basic design since and merely updated the content every so often to make sure it is ready.

Advice on the business. Be careful. Note what the one poster said about his father, they both knew what they were responsible for and consulted together on major decisions. Businesses are tricky, dangerous, and often fail. Partnerships are worse. However, a successful business is a wonderful thing and a successful partnership is powerful. Be sure to go into this with things in writing and official. Talk about every aspect of the business and then find someone to help you come up with more issues. If it isn't in writing it doesn't exist. Your partner may be putting up the money but that does not mean he should control everything. Also, you said you could start if for $20K. I considered going into business for myself but did not, I do not have the temperament for it. Again, get a good book for advice. The one I read suggested a resource of money to carry you through your first 6 months at a minimum and first year preferrably. That includes all expenses for storefront (assuming traditional brick and mortar business), wages, etc. I seriously doubt 20K will cover that. Knowledge is power, get all of it you can before opening a business. A good book will also probably help you and your partner find things you need to discuss before taking the leap.

Please don't take either of these as a negative. Be positive. Just remember if you fail to plan, plan to fail. Most big hits in our lives (like being layed off) will either drag us down or make us stronger. From your posts you are working so it doesn't drag you down. In my opinion that means you are certain to become stronger. That means this is not a hit but an opportunity. It may not look like it today but I hope that in a year or two you will look back and realize the best thing your job ever did was let you go so you could excel.

Sincerely

No word as of yet on the lay offs, but I get so nervous around my boss, and jumpy about e-mails. I forgot Monday was a holiday, and I got nervous when I recieved an e-mail stating the managers meeting was canceled on Monday. I have also started my classes for the fall semester, and working on starting this business. I'm sorry if I don't keep up with all my PM's, but I have been really busy, and a tad bit edgy lately.

JB...keep your chin up and try not to worry about it. You've done your best, so there isn't much else you can do to affect the situation. Everything will work out just the way it is supposed to work out. Remember...you were looking for a job when you found that one...right?

Do agree with Captfb. I had been working in the financial industry for the past 10 years and had worked my way up from the clerical to the position of a system admin, network admin and suddenly am pushed down to the postion of a clerk once again, just because i disagreed with the IT Manager on certain issues. With all my allowances slashed, i am back to square one. However for the past year had been sending out resumes to all advertistments. Incidentially I had been short listed for another financial institution a year back but did not get the job. However just two days back the same institution sends an email was enquiring if i was interested for the Officer IT postion. Could not believe my this. anyway i have applied and am awaiting for their confirmation, a better deal than my present job. so don't lose heart, one door closes and another opens, is really true. Hope u have upgraded yourself during your tenure there. this will definately be a plus point in your resume no matter how old u are.
Cheers
ffive