My wife asked me today if we could go look at dogs. We've been talking about getting one for a while. "Well," I said. "You never just look at dogs. If there's a dog there, you'll come home with one." I know these things. So I asked if we were ready if we came home with one.
She said we were. Next thing I knew, we were driving home with a dog in the back seat, trying to worm her way into the front.
On July 19, a fierce storm pounded St. Louis. At around 7 pm, the power flickered, then it went out. The sky looked threatening and the winds were relentless, so my wife and I gathered up flashlights and a portable radio and headed for the basement.
What happened next wasn't at all what we were expecting.
Well, it's been just over a year since I was laid off from the only job I was ever willing to relocate for. Layoffs are never fun. Looking back, with the perspective of a year and two days now, it was the best thing that could have happened to me.
But I'll be honest: That doesn't make it hurt much less. But I know the shoes I was in a year ago try on someone new every day, and every year around this time, one or more of my former coworkers finds themselves in those shoes. I don't know if I can help, but I'm going to try.
It seems like every year or two, somebody asks me how to get my job. Given the way the last year or so has gone, I can't believe anyone's asking me that question, but it's been coming back up again. I've made some mistakes in my career--obviously--but since I'm still in the field, I must have done a few things right too.
I guess it makes sense to trace my career and see what I would do differently.
Sorry I haven't been around much lately. I started a new job, with a new commute, and new adjustments. I won't tell you who I'm working for, other than to say it's someone you definitely have heard of. I'll get to work with some new technology (SANs, most notably) and lots of old, familiar technology.
There's no Linux and no Unix to speak of, but it pays the bills and keeps a roof over our head, and I'm working with good people.
The phone rang this morning, around 9 AM. I've gotten used to that; my recruiter's been calling me around 9 for the last few days. But this time there was a different tone to his voice. He was nervous.
Great, I instantly thought. Another rejection. What is this, high school?
Maybe paging through what I did after I lost my job will help someone. I suspect it'll help me, if only because it might result in comments from others who have been there.
I've been evasive about my job, purposely, almost since the beginning. I realized--the day after I turned 24, I think--the dangers of blogging about my career and my employer, so I stopped doing that. I even went back and deleted at least one entry that I knew I probably should have never written.
I can't say much, but I can safely say I lost my job on Thursday.
