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Thread: SSS: Got Laid Off

  1. #1
    Admiral Kevster's Avatar
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    Thumbs down SSS: Got Laid Off

    I know it's been a while, but I've been a little busy with an important activity: finding a new job. I found out I was getting laid off from my employer of 7 years before Christmas and my last day the the first week of the new year. This also just happens when Mrs. Kevster is 22 weeks pregnant with twins, putting a slightly higher amount of pressure on me to find something quickly. I did get a severance and paid medical for 2 months, but my employer's fracked-up processes can't start paying it out until the end of this month. I was one of ~1,800 other people getting pink slips at my employer in the last 3 months, I was just one of the last :/ . The new job search hasn't been so bad and I'll likely have a couple offers coming soon from companies that are very strong and will be there for a long time (much, much less than I can say for my former employer and if you are one of their customers you have my sympathies - I really tried hard to improve things there and only hit wall after wall).

    Mrs Kevster has been handling it well so far and the job market for what I do is not bad, but my main concern is that I may have to go to be in the SF Bay Area for my future employment where the opportunities are more lucrative. I love where we're at and Mrs. Kevster and Annarchy love it too (If he's around, Paymaster lives in Folsom last I checked and would probably agree too). I and a LOT of my former colleagues had been talking around the campfire and the writing has been pretty clear in large bold letters, I was just hoping to stretch it out long enough until the little ones were born and I could leave on my own terms, they just accelerated the timetable unfortunately. I already had my resume ready and was looking around, but not actively submitting. Now I'm just dealing with the ever-slow hiring process...
    I think over again
    My small adventures, my fears.
    The small ones that seemed so big,
    For all the vital things I had to get and to reach.

    And yet there is only one great thing, the only thing:

    To live to see the great day that dawns,
    And the light that fills the world.


    -old Inuit song

  2. #2
    Vice Chairwoman, Joint Chieftess of Staff nickel's Avatar
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    Kevster!!!

    First off CONGRATS ON THE TWINS!!! Boys? Girls? Big sister in your house! :woot:

    Ok, next, I know what company you worked for. You told me or else posted it once, and I knew the company's future was shaky. You getting laid off or jobs being eliminated is no surprise.

    I think it will all work out for you. It's a new frontier but you'll get there, and if you have to move you'll find new opportunities and new friends waiting. GOOD LUCK!

  3. #3
    Chief of Naval Operations Markel's Avatar
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    Best of luck to you on your job search, Kevster. I know what it feels like (have also been there when the wife was pregnant, and also when we had 5 kids age 14 and under -- couldn't take the risk on health coverage lapsing in that situation).

    What company did you work for?
    stay low... keep moving...

  4. #4
    Admiral Napoleon54's Avatar
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    Booo, that sucks man. I hope you find something you'll be happy with.
    There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal. - Friedrich Hayek

  5. #5
    Admiral Kevster's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nickel View Post
    Kevster!!!

    First off CONGRATS ON THE TWINS!!! Boys? Girls? Big sister in your house! :woot:

    Ok, next, I know what company you worked for. You told me or else posted it once, and I knew the company's future was shaky. You getting laid off or jobs being eliminated is no surprise.

    I think it will all work out for you. It's a new frontier but you'll get there, and if you have to move you'll find new opportunities and new friends waiting. GOOD LUCK!

    hehe nice hint there Nickel

    We're having a boy and a girl, actually. They're both doing very well at 22 weeks, well developed, very healthy, growing and kicking/punching away. We finally got a boy and that's a good thing as I'm the last hope for the family name on this major trunk of the tree. Anna is very much looking forward to her new siblings, especially since she's been bugging us for a baby brother or sister for the last few years (things hadn't gone to plan very well in that regard). We're still in the process of getting things ready - I painted their room last week and we're in the process of getting another 4-in-1 crib. The tough thing is we're going to have to get another car that can handle three full seats in the back. My 1997 Honda Accord EX that I've been taking care of isn't going to cut it now, so we're probably going to have to find something larger, hopefully not a mini-van but probably used. I've got a Mazda 3 as well, but that's obviously not big enough either.

    As for the job front, I've got more interviews this week scheduled and I keep doing more CBT modules/lab exercises every day (for those doing Cisco training, INE is an awesome resource). I might hear from a large wireless company I interviewed well at a few weeks ago, as well as a large internet content delivery company too. I've got some other opportunities out there that aren't open yet (literally I'm waiting for the jobs to be posted at a couple companies I have friends at), I just hate having to wait for "the process".
    I think over again
    My small adventures, my fears.
    The small ones that seemed so big,
    For all the vital things I had to get and to reach.

    And yet there is only one great thing, the only thing:

    To live to see the great day that dawns,
    And the light that fills the world.


    -old Inuit song

  6. #6
    Good luck with the job hunt. Dont forget to apply for unemployment. Also starting a new job is a good time to tell the new employer that you had a scheduled vacation for when your kid is born, instead of telling them when the time comes.
    Am I alone here? Is that it?
    Am I the only one who sees.

    Maybe we can learn to be just like him.
    Wear a little uniform.
    Yes, sir.
    No, sir.
    Thank you, sir.

  7. #7
    Vice Chairwoman, Joint Chieftess of Staff nickel's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cruelpupet View Post
    Good luck with the job hunt. Dont forget to apply for unemployment. Also starting a new job is a good time to tell the new employer that you had a scheduled vacation for when your kid is born, instead of telling them when the time comes.
    Great advice.

  8. #8
    Sorry to hear. My brother got laid off end of December after 13 years. 6 months of severance and vacation. Still looking for a job.

  9. #9
    Admiral Kevster's Avatar
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    Here's an update: got my first job offer as a network engineer with a large wireless network provider. It's a lower base salary than what I had, but it has lots of extra benefits and a nice performance bonus. The health benefits would cost me less than half I was paying with my previous employer so it could all be within a few percentage points of what I was getting previously when you add everything up. I'm still interviewing with the local power utility (a non-profit co-op with insane benefits and vacation time) and a large internet content delivery company too, so I might have a choice in the next week or two. It's kind of important that I get health coverage soon as my COBRA costs are going to kick in at the end of the month and it's going to almost as much as my house payment.
    I think over again
    My small adventures, my fears.
    The small ones that seemed so big,
    For all the vital things I had to get and to reach.

    And yet there is only one great thing, the only thing:

    To live to see the great day that dawns,
    And the light that fills the world.


    -old Inuit song

  10. #10
    Rear Admiral Lower Half Prngr44's Avatar
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    Sounds pretty decent. You might even try to counter to get your base salary bumped up.

  11. #11
    Admiral Napoleon54's Avatar
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    cool cool, congrats Kevster... sounds like you have things under control! Are these gigs within a decent commuting distance for you?
    There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal. - Friedrich Hayek

  12. #12
    Chief of Naval Operations cheapie's Avatar
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    Update?
    70% of the world is covered by water. The rest is covered by Bob Sanders

  13. #13
    Admiral Kevster's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cheapie View Post
    Update?
    Heh. I kinda been busy with the new job and the twins having arrived - haven't been on G|A in a while let alone the interwebs in general.

    So to update what has been going on, I took that job offer with the large wireless company and while I was in the background check/preboarding process (for this company it is extensive) I got an inquiry from the largest utility company here in California - PG&E. They asked if I could be somewhere 200 miles from my house the next day for an interview for a senior optical network engineering position and of course I said yes. The interview was surprising in that it was so easy for me; they asked me to talk about my background and in the 15 minutes I took to detail what I'd been doing at my previous employer (and the last couple before that) I pretty much answered the list of 25 questions they were going to ask me. The lead interviewer smiled and had a small laugh when he told me what'd I just done and that they still had to ask the questions and told me to feel free to go into depth. I ended up going really in depth, which they appreciated and apparently that got me the job. So I started with the wireless company the next week and ended up in the uncomfortable position of riding along with my new boss around No. CA to different locations within my new engineering territory and getting a bunch of calls from PG&E wanting to make me an offer. They ended up extending me an offer I simply couldn't refuse and so after 3 weeks at the wireless company I had to give them my notice. They were pretty gracious and understood why I was doing it, and appreciated my work (I was working on wireless optimization models right up to when HR called my boss and told him to escort me with my things to the door).

    So I've been at PG&E for about 2 1/2 months now and it's been an unbelievable experience so far - great people, lots of responsibility in my new job and plenty of work to do.

    So now with the twins here it's been a bit crazy - though I did find that minivan I was looking for and got an awesome deal on it too. Now I just have to sell my 1996 Honda Accord EX...
    I think over again
    My small adventures, my fears.
    The small ones that seemed so big,
    For all the vital things I had to get and to reach.

    And yet there is only one great thing, the only thing:

    To live to see the great day that dawns,
    And the light that fills the world.


    -old Inuit song

  14. #14
    Chief of Naval Operations Markel's Avatar
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    Glad things worked out so favorably for you, Kevster.
    stay low... keep moving...

  15. #15
    Admiral Kevster's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Markel View Post
    Glad things worked out so favorably for you, Kevster.
    Heh - same here

    I ended up getting another offer as well from the Internet CDN company after a long and lengthy interview process, but they wanted me to move to Phoenix, and I'm not really up to living in an oven 6 months out of the year.

    One of the key points about this job market is that if you have the right educational background and skills there are most definitely jobs out there. If you don't it can get pretty bleak real quick.
    I think over again
    My small adventures, my fears.
    The small ones that seemed so big,
    For all the vital things I had to get and to reach.

    And yet there is only one great thing, the only thing:

    To live to see the great day that dawns,
    And the light that fills the world.


    -old Inuit song

  16. #16
    Excellent news!! I've been reading depressing unemployment stories and blogs. Glad to hear you found something.

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