2 ms·

In the same period of time, many many people haven't thought that their jobs were vulnerable. The first time this happens, it's perspective-changing. My expecta

In the same period of time, many many people haven't thought that their jobs were vulnerable. The first time this happens, it's perspective-changing. My expectations were set early on when I was laid off from my first job. There are things I certainly didn't do as they were expecting, but that's not necessarily your problem nor was it mine. They gave me the reason that they didn't need me as a full-time employee and could basically outsource it. That's fine. Since then, I've been fired or laid off for various reasons at least 6 times and might be looking at another coming up soon. What it's taught me is that I always need to bet against having stability, simply because there's no evidence to suggest I'll ever have it. It's also taught me to never put my employer before my well-being, and to bet much more heavily on normal friends rather than anyone I met at the company—because when you go, so do they. After every job loss, it took me at least many many months to find new work and much introspection about how much I care about software engineering or whatever. Just because you were laid off doesn't mean you need to learn to be a better person. It just means you'll be on a break for a while.

Fr0styMatt88 7y ago
Similar experience here. Two redundancies so far in my career and one job I voluntarily left to do more study. The first redundancy was really difficult but taught me similar lessons. The second one was nowhere near as traumatic as the first. Similarly, in both cases it took me a few months to find a new job. Reading HN you can get the impression that there’s something wrong with you because it seems like a software engineer shouldn’t be able to even cross the street without being offered a job. I think that really depends on where you live and how much of a network you’ve built. That can be difficult if you’re the introverted type.
- brailsafe 7y ago
  Even then, you might only get into a spot where to find another job you have to go through 20 tests of skill + phone interviews + in person interviews only to get passed over. Not often an easy situation to get out of, particularly if you were let go from the last one.

Fr0styMatt88 7y ago

Similar experience here. Two redundancies so far in my career and one job I voluntarily left to do more study. The first redundancy was really difficult but taught me similar lessons. The second one was nowhere near as traumatic as the first. Similarly, in both cases it took me a few months to find a new job. Reading HN you can get the impression that there’s something wrong with you because it seems like a software engineer shouldn’t be able to even cross the street without being offered a job. I think that really depends on where you live and how much of a network you’ve built. That can be difficult if you’re the introverted type.

brailsafe 7y ago
Even then, you might only get into a spot where to find another job you have to go through 20 tests of skill + phone interviews + in person interviews only to get passed over. Not often an easy situation to get out of, particularly if you were let go from the last one.