Last Friday, I was laid off.
Again. Second time in 6 months. Ouch. But am I really surprised? … No I'm not.
Honestly, I don't think I've gotten over the first layoff. I went to work for a friend's company, third or fourth employee. Nine years later, i'm shown the door for "financial reasons". I wasn't just pissed, I felt betrayed. Anyway, I took some time off, took a more patient approach to job searching and after a month, found my next job. It was still services, but it would be a different role for me. A role of helping to bring a smaller group, into a more efficient work force. So I was excited. I started near the end of 2012 and immediately started noticing awful process smells. I was also still brooding over my last job, and talking to my former co-workers made it worse. Just short of six months, I got the obligatory request, "hey, can we borrow you for a moment", and that was that.
So, how can I make this work for me. What did I learn?
I learned that you shouldn't expect any type of real explanation. You will get a simple succinct reason your employment is now dissolved, but it's hardly the whole truth. But does it matter? No, it doesn't. Even if the discourse you imagine in your head would actually help the company be better, they won't listen to you. They have moved on. So should you. It's taken me 6 months to figure this out and a lot of bitching to my friends and some self realization of hard truths.
It's not personal, even though it feels like it.
Don't get me wrong, you will be pissed, upset and wondering what now? You'll want your side of the story to be heard.
You'll go through all the things you wish you had said. How at the most you think X,Y,& Z should have happened. But guess what. It's too late for that now. Stop looking back and look forward. And that isn't some glass half full rhetoric. It's reality.
The people that just told you today was your last day, are now relieved you're gone. The hard part for them is now over. They will not look back, why should you.
What else did I learn?
I assumed way too much. Especially in the areas of project support. Going from a team of 10 to 12, to a team of three, is a huge difference. I was still in the mindset of my old job. Were things really ingrained that deep? Yes. I certainly should have taken more time to understand this new process. As horrible as it might have been, how could I realistically make it better if I didn't first have a full understanding of its moving parts.
Things to remember for next time.
Be conscious of the image others have of you, and make it positive.
Ask new job opportunities to explain their process, from proposal to delivery. Don't allow them to shower you with process buzz words (scrum, agile, etc)
Trust your gut. If you are not happy with where you are at, be honest with yourself and make a change. This doesn't exclusively mean finding a new job. Improve your situation. Speak up.
Ask about your authority? Do you have any? What's the process going forward for implementing change?
So what now
Now it's time to try again. Take what I tried to organize on this post, allow myself to grow from it; And hopefully not have to add a new blog post "What I learned from being laid off thrice in 12 months" in the near future.
Good Luck.
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