I lost my job just before Christmas twice. Once was when I was working radio. The station let me go the Monday after Thanksgiving so they wouldn't have to worry about finding someone to work the holiday shifts. The other time the telecom company I was working at finally gave up hope of finding additional funding and closed the day before a huge blizzard (biggest in 30+ years) was to sweep through. That one was December 21st, though they decided that they would only pay us through the previous Friday the 17th.

These things do suck, but hope is frequently right around the corner. I've been working my latest job for over 7 1/2 years and going strong. Good luck!

You worked for an honorable person, and that is rare; makes that recommendation letter very meaningful.

The "abusive" company is an option, and whether they get nicer and pay more, or become worse because of the lack of competition remains to be seen. It might be a good idea, to pay the bills, but turds rarely change color, so it kind of depends on you and what you feel is best.

Whatever way you go, it is a good time to think of other things too, like what you'd like to do. Take care of business, but never lose sight of what you'd like to do, think you could do well, and what possibilities you see around you for doing so.

Best of luck, and hope you and those around you can enjoy the upcoming holidays.

Very sorry to hear that bud. Like Dischord, I am self employed (and things are very slow and sucky this year for sure), so your situation doesn't apply to me. But my best friend just got the ax this past August along with over 400 employees at his large printing outfit, when the company decided to cutback and consolidate. He is presently running around doing some piecemeal, fill-in type work here and there for some smaller outfits, hoping to catch on with a full time position somewhere. So far, no luck. Wishing you and your fellow workers the best of luck, and you for sure have my sympathies and best wishes bro...hang in there

best wishes to you bro, i know others who are in similar situation, its really hard having to go through this, dont loose hope as life always hits back and something good will come of it, wish you a happy holiday

Uncommon story: too rarely these days, surely.

Before saying anything else: take heart, gooberking, and hang in there! :-) Being fired is always nasty business, and in case you feel rather poorly about it, this is surely very normal.

Even if a given business fails - unless you made key strategy decisions that lead to it, please distance yourself from this "giving up entirely" - you made valuable contribution to this enterprise, and surely too to your next employer?

Edit: this snipping business... gääh!

That was funny and mean...
That poor sod can't even change the title anmore.

Well, mine came early. I was injured on the job and by the time I was medically released to go back to work in early November, whoops, no more job. Not a firing, per se, just "the position is no longer there." So yeah, great way to spend the holidays.

gooberking: Are you tied down by a mortgage into your given location? Or do you love it too much to move? Or you cannot afford to move? Or you love your job too much to ever consider changing your speciality?

Besides letter of recommendation, I would strongly recommend ensuring either through crafty friends, professional consultants or employment agency staff that your resumé (CV) is the best it can be - this really is also about spin doctoring and presentation besides substance, and it helps.

Recruitment agencies can cut the chase considerably, in case they have a "win win" situation with your profile.

Coming from Europe, when I took 3 weeks of holidays at one go when working in the US, I did get literally comments from my US domestic colleagues: "Are you not afraid to show how replaceable you are?"

No, not really: how about seeing how our team can back up each other in all circumstances, and this not be totally independent of me being in this team, or not?

There seem to be exaggerated expectancy of self-sacrifice over productivity in the US labour market.

Don't really know what to say, I'll just wish you good luck, and hope things will get better in the near future, and hope you'll get a better job at a better workplace very soon.

Ooops. Fortunately I don't have to worry too, to, two much about that sort of thing. Not in a vocational sense ..since..sense. Witch is good. I never was much for word rulz.


And thanks to everyone for the encouragements. I'm seeking to be optimistic about the outcome and am not looking be a downer, or garner undue sympathy from the community. Mostly was curious about whom might be sharing the same boat with me come eggnog time. Of course I'm not precisely sure how many people on an international forum actually are all into red suited fat men and candy canes.

Probably best to let the thread fade away. I think it turned into more of poor me thread than I I had intended it to be. There are lots of people out of work and in worse pickles than I am.

You may think your skill set is limited, but it's probably only limited as a set. Start looking at what you have been doing and break it down by exactly what individual skills you've been using, then see what other fields use the same types of skills. Did you supervise people? Do you know how to use Microsoft Word? Excel? Photoshop? Did you do accounting / invoicing? Manage a budget? Buy supplies? Are you a people person?

Those are just examples, since I don't know exactly what you did, but unless you were a blacksmith, chances are very good that you have plenty of skills that will work in all sorts of companies. You just need to break it down into the pieces, and apply for positions that require the individual skills you've learned, even if it's a completely different kind of company.

If you have a local library, they probably have a database or list of job-hunting resources. They may be able to help you create and polish a resume, too. They will almost certainly have computers so you can job hunt online. If you haven't joined LinkedIn, you might want to do that. If your community doesn't have a library, then check with the unemployment compensation office. They have those resources, too.
I'm pretty sure that's illegal. They don't have to give you the same job, but they do have to give you an equivalent job (same position level in the hierarchy, same pay), if you're coming back after a work-related injury. I'm assuming you are filing a claim with workers' comp.

I don't think it came off as a pity party. I understood what your point was, but people do want to help, even if it's only with advice. Best of luck on your job hunt!

There are a lot of Americans that are afraid to take a vacation. And truthfully, if your company is planning to fire you, they do love to put all the paperwork together and find your replacement while you're away. So, many Americans that are fired find out about it when they return from vacation.

That said, this country is set up differently from Europe when it comes to vacations. I know that in much of Europe, Australia and New Zealand, workers are given a month or more of vacation per year and frequently take it all at once. In the U.S., most people have maybe two weeks of vacation and a few personal days per year. And most break it into a few days or a week at a time. Maybe two weeks for a really special vacation. Three weeks all at once is almost unheard of.

I remember my old employer doing this.

I was never affected but unfortunately many people in the food prep section were. Many of them had worked for the company for 10 years or more.

The real kick though was shortly afterwards they offered to hire them back, at reduced pay, until they could find a new job. The job market in that industry was unfortunately very poor at the time so many of them had no choice but to take the offer which also meant having any benefits they earned (retirement plans, seniority benefits, etc) being forfitted since they suddenly became new employees. Was pretty dirty tactic, I left not long after that.