Dang It! Laid Off Again

[Jim McDonald]

Been there; done that. As @scott43 said, you'll find it a blessing in disguise.

 

[pete]

Good luck @surfsnowgirl on the consulting, but if not good delayed luck on the regular grind, with great luck around end of season ...

 

[pchewn]

Suggestions from one who has been laid off 5 times over my career:

1. Apply immediately for the unemployment.
2. Be very "generous" in describing your search for jobs to the unemployment office. (e.g. If you make one phone call on the lift, it's looking for work that day)
3. Don't ever say anything about "contracting" "consulting" or other self employment to the employment office. Do report earnings (or don't submit a claim) if you happen to make some money.
4. Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy your time off. Because if you are good at what you do, a job will come BEFORE YOU REALLY WANT IT.

 

[Doug Briggs]

I'm chuckling that your SO finds out after PugSki.

@surfsnowgirl , best of luck. It sounds like you have things dialed in (as much as they need to be at the moment.)

 

[Ski&ride]

Suggestions from one who has been laid off 5 times over my career:

1. Apply immediately for the unemployment.
2. Be very "generous" in describing your search for jobs to the unemployment office. (e.g. If you make one phone call on the lift, it's looking for work that day)
3. Don't ever say anything about "contracting" "consulting" or other self employment to the employment office. Do report earnings (or don't submit a claim) if you happen to make some money.
4. Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy your time off. Because if you are good at what you do, a job will come BEFORE YOU REALLY WANT IT.

I don’t think you can get unemployment payments when you’re still receiving severance pay. So not much point in applying too early, does it?

I was laid off a couple years back, at the end of year. Perfect timing to ski my heart out. Landed a job in July, better pay than before. Nice little beeak.

 

[Philpug]

I'm chuckling that your SO finds out after PugSki.

At least she has her priorities in order.

 

[pchewn]

I don’t think you can get unemployment payments when you’re still receiving severance pay. So not much point in applying too early, does it?

I was laid off a couple years back, at the end of year. Perfect timing to ski my heart out. Landed a job in July, better pay than before. Nice little beeak.

In Oregon, you can get unemployment benefits while receiving severance pay, as long as you are not reporting for work.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Filed for unemployment this am. I was advised to by multiple people. No harm in filing now. It will just boil down to when the first payout will be given my severence. They will likely want to see my agreement. 2 emails today from recruiters about possible work from home gigs. Feeling happy.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

This sounds like a blessing in disguise or maybe not so disguised! Good luck.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I'm chuckling that your SO finds out after PugSki.

@surfsnowgirl , best of luck. It sounds like you have things dialed in (as much as they need to be at the moment.)

Haha. Thank you. My SO doesn't get home till late. I didn't want to bug him at work so he found out when he got home lol.

 

[pete]

I'd agree to file as soon as possible since even if you don't get unemployment you may get other forms of support such as interview training, resume development, priority with some companies .. etc.

It may be too a requirement by your state as they may require you to keep a dairy of job applications and offers in order to get unemployment.

A agree too that stayed vary on severence pay and unemployment pay

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Suggestions from one who has been laid off 5 times over my career:

1. Apply immediately for the unemployment.
2. Be very "generous" in describing your search for jobs to the unemployment office. (e.g. If you make one phone call on the lift, it's looking for work that day)
3. Don't ever say anything about "contracting" "consulting" or other self employment to the employment office. Do report earnings (or don't submit a claim) if you happen to make some money.
4. Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy your time off. Because if you are good at what you do, a job will come BEFORE YOU REALLY WANT IT.

Yes to all this. Sums it up perfectly. I've started a log to use for unemployment. I'm meeting with 2 recruiters on Thursday and both are going down as interviews/applied for jobs. I filed my first claim last week and reported all earnings as I was still employed through 11/1. I will never say consulting or contracting or anything like that to the unemployment office as I realize they are bad words to them. 4 is especially true because the opportunities tend to come up so fast.

Commuting to Greenwich for 18 months took a lot of my soul so my plan is to contract/consult for the unforeseeable future so that I can get my soul back. Ultimately I'd like to get my own insurance and do that for a good long time. I have enough experience and am networked enough that I'm confident I can pull this off.

I just had a phone interview today for a 6 week consulting gig that I ended up getting. It's 6 weeks working remotely with 40 hours a week that I can get in any increment as long as I get my work done. This means I can get some skiing in during the day and work after that. Best news is I can live off my contract wages, bank my severance and push back collecting on any unemployment. This all came about in the last 2 days. I'm pretty excited.

Thank you to everyone who voiced words of encouragement. I really appreciate the support. You guys are da best!!!!!!

 

[Tom K.]

Nice quick find @Chris Walker! Good luck with the new gig.

I was laid off today.......I've been wanting to consult for a long time so I think I might take this opportunity to network with all my recruiter contacts and do just that.

FWIW I was once laid off by an engineering firm that had recruited me to open a new office for them three month's prior. WTF?! I decided to go the solo consultant route, and 21 years later, I'm still living the dream of lots of week day skiing -- my work can mostly be done any time I choose, and I do NOT choose powder mornings.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Nice quick find @Chris Walker! Good luck with the new gig.



FWIW I was once laid off by an engineering firm that had recruited me to open a new office for them three month's prior. WTF?! I decided to go the solo consultant route, and 21 years later, I'm still living the dream of lots of week day skiing -- my work can mostly be done any time I choose, and I do NOT choose powder mornings.

Way to go. That's what i'm hoping. I have up to 40 hour a week assignment that goes till the end of December now. I have an interview today with a company for a potential 2-8 week assignment that could go till the end of January. I'm hopeful that this could go on for a while.

 

[pchewn]

I was most recently laid off in May 2016 from Intel. After stopping in at the unemployment office, I next visited our financial adviser who said "You can retire, you've saved enough".

So that is what I did for 1 year. Moved to the beach house for the summer, skied all winter on the "Oregon Ski Safari".

Then I took a job for the summer only and skied all winter. Repeated that again this summer.

Now I just found a job at Tektronix where I will be working full-time until we get snow, then only 3 days a week during the winter (I get to pick which 3), and ??? after winter when spring arrives. A perfect combination of work/ski balance.

This will satisfy my wife who always says I'm unemployed, rather than retired. And give me some $$ to spend on ski gear, passes, and ski travel.

 

[Tricia]

Now, the question is, will @Chris Walker get to ski much this winter...

 

[Tom K.]

Way to go. That's what i'm hoping. I have up to 40 hour a week assignment that goes till the end of December now. I have an interview today with a company for a potential 2-8 week assignment that could go till the end of January. I'm hopeful that this could go on for a while.

Nice! Although 40 hours a week is too much, once you get established. I did that for three years straight to start. Now, not so much.

The great thing is that if you can get the solo thing rolling long term, you feel more and more comfortable taking little one, two (or five) week breaks between gigs. Boy are those enjoyable.

Probably the best thing that happened to me on this journey was stumbling upon a client that provides me with a modest, but significant, core of annual work. It isn't very exciting, but it can kind of be done anytime during the last 8 months of the year.

Yup, that leaves some serious play time available during the ski season.

Again, good luck to you!

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Nice! Although 40 hours a week is too much, once you get established. I did that for three years straight to start. Now, not so much.

The great thing is that if you can get the solo thing rolling long term, you feel more and more comfortable taking little one, two (or five) week breaks between gigs. Boy are those enjoyable.

Probably the best thing that happened to me on this journey was stumbling upon a client that provides me with a modest, but significant, core of annual work. It isn't very exciting, but it can kind of be done anytime during the last 8 months of the year.

Yup, that leaves some serious play time available during the ski season.

Again, good luck to you!

Thanks. Yeah the 40 hour a week one might be a bit much but I'm going to do what I can to get as much done. I'm currently working in a starbucks and I like this . I'm banking the work now and am truly looking forward to those 1-2 week breaks in between assignments. I get bored easy and I've said for a long time that I'm over "permanent" employment and my dream is to consult. I've been doing what I do a long time and have a lot of contacts. I'm looking forward to ski play time. I didn't realize how common what I'm doing is in that lots of people consult so I'm not alone . My friend Tracey does this and she has one main client that throws her work. It's just enough to pay the bills and provide fun money so it works for her.

 

[mdf]

've been doing what I do a long time and have a lot of contacts. ... My friend Tracey does this and she has one main client that throws her work.

One thing to watch out for is your contacts aging out or moving to different jobs. If the client is a company and one specific person there sends the work to Tracey then her arrangement is at risk.
I'm not saying a steady client is a bad thing, just to be careful about the long-term.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

One thing to watch out for is your contacts aging out or moving to different jobs. If the client is a company and one specific person there sends the work to Tracey then her arrangement is at risk.
I'm not saying a steady client is a bad thing, just to be careful about the long-term.

I couldn't agree more. What Tracey does makes me nervous because to me that's throwing all your eggs in one basket. I've always been a networking whore so always have had a ton of recruiters with whom I keep in regular contact. Right now my gigs are coming from 2 different places and I'm in regular email and phone contact with the others who know I'm always looking for something.