posted
It finally happened. Our company is caput and so is my job. I haven't talked a lot about my job on Hatrack, but it's been a wild ride for the past 5 years. We've been on the edge of implosion for a long looooooong time, so while the timing is sort of surprising (shouldn't have been, but was, a little), the fact that it finally happened isn't so much. And so goes the end of a company nearing its 30th birthday. Oh well.
I haven't had to really, truly look for a new job in like 17 years. Every new job I've taken (two, total) in that time pretty much just dropped in my lap. It's too early to tell yet, but that could happen in this case too, though it is certainly not as likely. The advantage to working for a company that has shed as many employees as we have is that you end up with contacts all over the place, and at least two of them are in a hiring position.
The real irony about this is that I've been thinking seriously about quitting and being an at-home no-outside-job mom. Maybe taking some contract work if I could get it, but we don't really need my income, so I was seriously contemplating taking the summer off and spending it with my kids.
So now I have that opportunity and a part of me is concerned about the thought of taking off the summer. Would it be bad to be unemployed that long without even looking? Like I said, we don't really need me to work. Basically, there's a huge avenue of opportunity for me now and I don't know what is the right thing to do. Go to school and get some education behind all my experience? I'd love to learn to program and to really know formalized accounting and fill in the holes to my OTJ training. I don't know. I love learning and I love working when the job is busy and dynamic.
Mostly this post is just to vent, because I'm full of chaotic feeling. Sort of a sense of unreality. I'd love advice and thoughts, reminisces of similar experience, what you did and how it worked out. I'm not down at all...I'm kinda excited in a nervous way. I don't have to decide now to quit, and being laid off is way better. So it's all good...just not totally sure what the next step is.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
Well, maybe this isn't the right reaction, but yay Jeni! This sounds like a great opportunity. Like you said, you don't need a second income right now, and think of all the wonderful memories you'll have if you decide to spend a summer with the kids, or taking classes... one summer isn't all that long to spend away from work, heck, college students do it every year! Your contacts and opportunities will probably still be just as viable 3 or 4 months from now, and you'd be ready to jump back into work all refreshed and happy.
Sure it might not be exactly what you had in mind, but it sounds like you've got several great options to choose from, so this is exciting! Good luck with whatever you choose, I hope you enjoy it. Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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If you take the option of taking the summer off, you might want to spend some more time on your hobbies. That is, if you don't do the school option. I just know that things get really boring when you're used to working an' then all of a sudden it stops.
At least that's the way it has always been for me and a bunch of people I have worked with over the years. Then again, that's the reason we hardly take vacations. We were never workaholics, but we liked the option of being able to do something.
I don't know. However, whatever choice you make will be the right one. Since you don't need the extra income it might not hurt to take some time off.
Posts: 2208 | Registered: Feb 2004
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There are ways to play up a gap in your employment history, especially if you plan ahead and try to stay current in your field, either by taking classes or doing contract or freelance work, or something similar. It doesn't even have to be directly related to your field, a class or activity that makes you a better, more efficient employee is a good thing.
I think it is absolutely wonderful that you're going to be able to stay home for a while. There are many people who can't, so enjoy it! Posts: 2880 | Registered: Jun 2004
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Fudge your resume... Being a mom involves all sorts of work and skills. Like diplomacy, organization. All sorts of stuff. I'm trying to get a job before I lose the one I have even though I hate this job... So, take the time off if you want and fill your resume with the cool stuff you did when you didn't have to work.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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I know many people who have taken not just a summer off but years off to do the mother or father at home job and have been able to get right back into the workforce when they were ready. I would not give it a second thought at all...as long as you can explain to an interviewer why you were not working during that time. I felt the need to concentrate on my household or something like that it will all work out just fine!
Posts: 224 | Registered: Jan 2001
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Honestly, your post makes me excited for you. You sound excited!
It seems to me the gap won't be a problem, though I should probably preface that by asking how many years you have been working thus far. I know when my dad lost his job, it took him about nine months to find a new one, and no one questioned why he'd spent that amount of time not working. They just assumed it was because jobs were few and far between. And when you've been working for 20 years straight, a nine-month gap really isn't all that long.
Posts: 1784 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Thanks everyone, I really, really appreciate your encouraging words!! Seriously...it's been a tumultuous day and my husband is understandably a bit nervous about not having my income. One of my tasks in the next few days is to lay out a budget and figure out what we absolutly have to have to keep from dipping into savings. I'm hoping that will help him feel a bit less pressure. One nice thing that became apparent very quickly is that I'm now available to run errands for him that I previously could not: he called me while I was picking up our daughter and needed a ride from a shop he was dropping one of his customer's trucks at...I could do it right away. This comes up fairly frequently, actually, so I'm hoping he'll begin to feel like this is a seriously good thing. Especially when he feels he has a grasp on how much we really need.
Kasie, I've been working at this career since I was 20...I'm almost 38 now. Every job change since I was 19 was a layoff that rolled into a full time job immediately with only a few weeks break to move to the new location.
So I'm thinking maybe taking the summer off won't be any big deal at all, from what you all are saying. Yay! That's hugely good news. Now to just get benefits rolled over, and all that other paperwork that has to be done when a job ends.... Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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