Laid off--Support thread

[Disfan1]

Count me in... I was laid off at the beginning of August and have not found anything yet. I have a couple of interviews this week for retail spots but I really want another office job - oh well, a paycheck is a paycheck.

 

[Mrs.Reese]

I had a second interview with a school. It would be a sweet teaching gig. I would have lots of flexibility and the school is state of the art. I'm really hoping for this one. I've been looking for some time now and the unemployement will be running out shortly. There was 100 people applying for the position. YIKES!!

They said they would make a decsion in the next day or two. Not enough time for me to send a formal thank-you note so I shot off an email this morning. Crossing my fingers big time!!

 

[T. Lynn]

They said they would make a decsion in the next day or two. Not enough time for me to send a formal thank-you note so I shot off an email this morning. Crossing my fingers big time!!

I understand as I had to do the same thing. Had interview on Thursday and they were making a decision on Friday. I sent him a "thank you" email within 5minutes of leaving...my mom lives next door to where I was interviewing.

I got the job so maybe he was impressed. Here's wishing you luck! Let us know...

 

[kellig]

I understand as I had to do the same thing. Had interview on Thursday and they were making a decision on Friday. I sent him a "thank you" email within 5minutes of leaving...my mom lives next door to where I was interviewing.

I got the job so maybe he was impressed. Here's wishing you luck! Let us know...

Congrats on your new job!

 

[beachgrl001]

well it looks like I am joining the club. dh got laid off 2 weeks ago with no warning no severence nothing. as a matter of fact the check that his boss sent for his last couple of days just bounced and now he has to go there tommorow in person to get the cash from him. then we file for unemp. and they sent us a letter of acceptance and the amount we are getting is LOW! so I am looking it over and they have no income reported for like 3 months!!! so now we have to send pay stubs. what a nightmare! anyway, thanks for letting me vent. I just feel so depressed lately

good luck to everyone

 

[Mrs.Reese]

That's terrible about the bounced checks!!! The hardest thing is keeping your spirits up!

 

[stephaniebatesjones]

My turn to jump on board.

Under the "When It Rains It Pours" catagory. My husband worked for a company for 15 years. On May 1st, he was laid off by this company. The company was going banckrupt, and because my husband was one of the highest paid employees there he got the axe with no warning and 3-4 months before everyone else got laid of and the company closed down. Everyone else was given a general date as to when they were going to be laid off ,so at least they were able to prepare a little. My daughter is in kidney failure and in need of a transplant. We had just decided after several years of her being on dialysis to go ahead with the transplant. My husband was supposed to give her the kidney because he's healthier than I am, and had lots of time that he could take off for the surgery and recovery. We had our insurance ( great insurance by the way) through my husbands job and lost that when he got laid off. Cobra would be $1,500.00 a month. I had pretty much worked part time all these years or not at all because my daughter needed so much care and attention. She was born with a bad heart and had a heart transplant at 3 months old. Because of that she had constant doctor appointments and was sick all the time. Now that she was older I decided to go to go back to school and take up nursing. Her Kidneys started failing right after I started nursing school. I had recently graduated , and had only been employed for 6 months before my husband got laid off. We were just starting to pay off bills and there seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Now, my husband is still out of work. I am going to have to give my daughter the kidney now. When I'm off I will only be getting 80% of my pay. I won't have as much time off as my husband would have. Not to mention that stuff keeps breaking. The washing machine needs to be fixed, car in the shop, and I forgot to metion that some guy rammed into me about 2 weeks ago and kept going. So now the car that I was borrowing from my sister is going to be totalled and that leaves us down to one car. Right now we are borrowing my mother in laws car because our now only car is in the shop. The money that I had saved up to buffer our finances during the surgery may now have to go to another car or to pay bills (mortgage, etc..) if my hubby can't find a job soon. He got unemployment but that is almost over because it has been so long. We use to try and take a regular vacation to escape all the pressure of our everyday life ( Dr.'s, hospital stays, illnesses, etc...) but I don't know if we will be able to do that like we use to.

On the GOOD SIDE,

My daughter and I were not hurt during the accident, I was able to pick up insurance with my job although it is no were close to what we had and we are paying out more than before. I did start a job before he was laid off and was not still unemployed. So I'm trying to keep my head up and pray for the best.

Boy, it felt good to get that off my chest. Thanks you guys for letting me vent. It's great to be able to talk to others who get it. I'll be praying for us all.

 

[Jeninindy]

I am hoping we won't be joining this thread shortly, but it's more than likely.

The company my dh works for has been in a downward spiral.

While my job is secure (RN), our bonus pay may be coming to an end in the next few months, which will further decrease our income.

Since we have been watching it coming, we have done several things:

1. Pad the 6 month emergency fund.....it will cover 6 full months of total unemployment of both incomes. We are continuing to put all "extra" cash in the bank.
2. Stocked up on non-food and food items, both canned and frozen meats when on sale.
3. Revised the budget to include a worst case scenario budget so if the time comes when he loses his job and I lose the bonus pay, there is already a plan in place and panic have a chance to surface.
4. Obviously, dh is looking for another job.

Thankfully, we have no credit card debt and have our mortgage and those assorted bills to pay each month, courtesy of a pseudo-Dave Ramsey plan a few years ago...

Wishing the best to all!!!!!!!

 

[EvanMaddieMouse]

I am hoping we won't be joining this thread shortly, but it's more than likely.

While my job is secure (RN), our bonus pay may be coming to an end in the next few months, which will further decrease our income.

Wishing the best to all!!!!!!!

Our bonus ended last year. I think the hospital finds it more fiscally sound to pay agency nurses than offer bonus to its own nurses to fill shifts. We're lucky if we get time and a half anymore. But I never bought anything or planned on having bonus; it was just all extra for me so when it was taken away, it sucked but it didn't put us into any financial crisis.

 

[WDWBarb]

My turn to jump on board.

Under the "When It Rains It Pours" catagory. My husband worked for a company for 15 years. On May 1st, he was laid off by this company. The company was going banckrupt, and because my husband was one of the highest paid employees there he got the axe with no warning and 3-4 months before everyone else got laid of and the company closed down. Everyone else was given a general date as to when they were going to be laid off ,so at least they were able to prepare a little. My daughter is in kidney failure and in need of a transplant. We had just decided after several years of her being on dialysis to go ahead with the transplant. My husband was supposed to give her the kidney because he's healthier than I am, and had lots of time that he could take off for the surgery and recovery. We had our insurance ( great insurance by the way) through my husbands job and lost that when he got laid off. Cobra would be $1,500.00 a month. I had pretty much worked part time all these years or not at all because my daughter needed so much care and attention. She was born with a bad heart and had a heart transplant at 3 months old. Because of that she had constant doctor appointments and was sick all the time. Now that she was older I decided to go to go back to school and take up nursing. Her Kidneys started failing right after I started nursing school. I had recently graduated , and had only been employed for 6 months before my husband got laid off. We were just starting to pay off bills and there seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Now, my husband is still out of work. I am going to have to give my daughter the kidney now. When I'm off I will only be getting 80% of my pay. I won't have as much time off as my husband would have. Not to mention that stuff keeps breaking. The washing machine needs to be fixed, car in the shop, and I forgot to metion that some guy rammed into me about 2 weeks ago and kept going. So now the car that I was borrowing from my sister is going to be totalled and that leaves us down to one car. Right now we are borrowing my mother in laws car because our now only car is in the shop. The money that I had saved up to buffer our finances during the surgery may now have to go to another car or to pay bills (mortgage, etc..) if my hubby can't find a job soon. He got unemployment but that is almost over because it has been so long. We use to try and take a regular vacation to escape all the pressure of our everyday life ( Dr.'s, hospital stays, illnesses, etc...) but I don't know if we will be able to do that like we use to.

On the GOOD SIDE,

My daughter and I were not hurt during the accident, I was able to pick up insurance with my job although it is no were close to what we had and we are paying out more than before. I did start a job before he was laid off and was not still unemployed. So I'm trying to keep my head up and pray for the best.

Boy, it felt good to get that off my chest. Thanks you guys for letting me vent. It's great to be able to talk to others who get it. I'll be praying for us all.

I'm so sorry for what you've gone through.

Hugs to all for what you're dealing with. I was unemployed recently and I can understand what you're dealing with. Just know that, when all is said and done, everything will be ok. Many of you will find better jobs and better places to work (thankfully I did).

 

[got2travel]

I have a 2nd interview tomorrow with the company that I had the phone interview with last week. I'm trying not to get my hopes up but this really would be a good fit for me I think. Problem is they have concerns that I'm too qualified for this grunt work type position.

So how do I tactfully say that I just want a job? It's not like I just want a foot in the door then will try to move out of that department. I'd give it a few years at least before I might try to promote up. I've told them that it doesn't bother me and that I didn't feel like it would be step down. I said something about wanting a position that I could bring my current project skills, but also build upon my skill set.

 

[timzagain]

Not laid-off as yet as DH and I work together in our family business! The problem is that our business is heavily linked to the construction industry. In addition to the usual year end slow down, we're already seen projects being stalled or shelved altogether! The credit crunch in the US has filtered its way down to our little island - a lot of the projects DH works on involve overseas investors!

I must add that even though I work with DH, it's not even close to full time employment! I have had extreme difficulty finding a job in my field of training (I'm talking years, not months) I lost my last job in my field something like five years ago and have been unemployed/ underemployed ever since! I'm deemed either too old/ overqualified for junior positions or out of the loop too long to be considered for more senior jobs!

We are already pretty frugal! My concern is that there isn't a whole lot left to cut from our lifestyle! The cuts that are left now will only yield very small results, but I guess something is better than nothing!

I'm trying to be proactive but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't extremely nervous!

We don't have medical insurance as the cost is too prohibitive for our budget. Thank God, we are in pretty good health normally! However in the last 2 weeks we have spent close to $1000 in medical expenses for 2 of our kids. Long story - one child with bronchitis, the other child with an eye infection and allergies, glasses that needed to be changed 'cause she wasn't seeing properly! Oh yeah - and the injury to the eye with the metal ruler AFTER the eye infection cleared up! The remaining child also needs to have her glasses prescription changed - more money again. On paper, we wouldn't qualify for the little assistance that is available.

Oh - then there's the ADHD testing that has to be done (or should I say re-done) and submitted to the Ministry of Education by December 31 to allow my DD to have the accomodations she needs in an upcoming mandatory exam for entrance to secondary school. Officially, the gov't will pay for testing, the reality is that she's ineligible because she's in a private school, chosen to give her the smaller class setting she needs. Even if the gov't would pay, we'd have to wait for so long there is no way we'd complete the testing and reporting by year-end! Thankfully, private schooling isn't nearly as expensive here as it is in the US!

DD's previous therapist has relocated to another country (without extending the courtesy of notifying us, passing on the child's files to us or to another therapist), so we have to start from scratch with another therapist. Secondary school placement here is determined by how well students perform in this exam, which is a one-shot deal - there is no repeating the exam! The gov't wants an up-to-date test - won't accept the last report! Meantime, precious time is ticking away and at this rate, DD is likely to be disadvantaged again. Did I mention that in the early rounds of testing, the new therapist has picked up on another learning challenge that needs to be addressed?

As in any other education system, all schools here are not created equal! We were hoping that she would perform at a level which would get her into a decent public school - if that doesn't happen, we'll be forced to continue private school!

As a matter of urgency, we NEED to move - our present home is woefully inadequate from a physical standpoint. But even more pressing is the emotional environment - won't go into all the details but this is not an emotionally/psychologically healthy environment for any of us. We have not been able to find an alternative in our present budget - can't imagine how we'd do it on less! We took a rare family vacation this year - we all need to get the heck out of here. I'm sure that DH is going to start moaning in earnest that "we should never have taken that trip," sucking the joy out of one of the few nice memories we have had over the past few years!

To be honest, I probably need professional help, no I KNOW I need help, for depression... oh yeah, that's not in the budget either! I have other health concerns too but where's the money going to come from...

I could go on and on, heaven knows there's much more I can add - but I won't, at least not now. I am praying that everything will work out not just for my family, but for the other similarly affected families represented on this board.

I didn't really intend to vent like this - but hey, it's a lot cheaper than a shrink!

 

[WDWBarb]

I have a 2nd interview tomorrow with the company that I had the phone interview with last week. I'm trying not to get my hopes up but this really would be a good fit for me I think. Problem is they have concerns that I'm too qualified for this grunt work type position.

So how do I tactfully say that I just want a job? It's not like I just want a foot in the door then will try to move out of that department. I'd give it a few years at least before I might try to promote up. I've told them that it doesn't bother me and that I didn't feel like it would be step down. I said something about wanting a position that I could bring my current project skills, but also build upon my skill set.

I've been in a similar situation and I've also hired people that were over-qualified for the position that I hired them for. I understand the employer's concern because an over qualified person could become easily bored or not feel fulfilled from their work. But it doesn't have to be that way - it's really up to the person who accepts the job.

The only suggestion I would have would be to provide them assurance that your fulfillment comes from a job well done - not the creditials of the job. And while you are ambitious, you are not so ambitious that you are "above" anything. They will also need assurance that if you take the position you will be there for the long haul - not just until something better comes along. Stress loyalty as one of your strong traits (and back that up with your resume if possible) and tell them that you are hoping to gain the benefit of teamwork and a good place to work over any type of status or title.

Good luck!!!

 

[gwcollins71]

Prayers and good wishes to all of you. We haven't experienced layoffs yet. Knock on wood. However, my husbands benefits have been cut and our new contract wasn't the greatest for my job.


I hope that things get better for everyone. Keep your spirits up and good luck.

Gretchen

 

[ncconserv]

I work in finance in furniture manf. and I lost half of my dept. yesterday due to lay-offs. The decree came from out corporate office so it blindsided our whole division. We lost folks in IT, Finance, Purchasing and Customer Service.

At least our sales managers still got their quarterly bonuses while the rest of us were holding our breaths about losing our jobs due to horrible SALES!

 

[fairykin]

Continued comforting thoughts and prayers left for all within this thread.

 

[eclairemom]

The rain is pouring down at my house. DH calls me yesterday at 9:00 and wanted to know if I was going to be home for a while. At 10:00 he pulls in the drive with a packet in his hand. The location he works out of is closing at the end of this month, we were completely blindsided. DH & I have a small business that the only thing keeping it alive is cleaning the showroom and offices where he works. So in one split second he is out of a job and a business all at the same time.

We are still struggling with my temp jobs hours, but at least it is income so that's a plus. The other plus is my job that cut my hours back is letting me ride on their insurance policy so I can pick up DH and DD and for $70 week instead of almost $800 a month. DH is hopefull to be able to fall back on his CDL to at least have an income coming in till he can find something he really wants to do.

DH says he will never plan another trip, it's our first vacation since 1997 and we leave for vacation the same day the shop closes. better to laugh than cry.

 

[rach2674]

My husband got laid off 2 weeks ago and we had some money set aside just in case. Well we find out today that the guy that we had the money with just got arrested by the FBI for fraud and all our money is gone. Also, my parents, brother, sister and aunt all had their money with him. Not to mention a town full of people that trusted him for the last 15+ years and had even more money than we did with him. I've been crying most of the day and feel sick to my stomach.

We now have no idea how we're going to live and pay rent in a place we just moved into a month ago. I'm still in school for another month, so hopefully I can find something, although jobs are so scarce around here.

Please pray for all of us that he'll get justice and hopefully one day we can recoup some of that money.

Rachel

 

[got2travel]

I've been in a similar situation and I've also hired people that were over-qualified for the position that I hired them for. I understand the employer's concern because an over qualified person could become easily bored or not feel fulfilled from their work. But it doesn't have to be that way - it's really up to the person who accepts the job.

The only suggestion I would have would be to provide them assurance that your fulfillment comes from a job well done - not the creditials of the job. And while you are ambitious, you are not so ambitious that you are "above" anything. They will also need assurance that if you take the position you will be there for the long haul - not just until something better comes along. Stress loyalty as one of your strong traits (and back that up with your resume if possible) and tell them that you are hoping to gain the benefit of teamwork and a good place to work over any type of status or title.

Good luck!!!

Thank you. This is pretty much what I've stated to them on the phone interview and quite honestly it's how I feel. I do really need a job right now but even without that urgency, I'm not hung up on a job title or positon. I just want a job that I can be successful at and be a strong contributor to my team.

I ended up not having the in person interview today, it got cancelled at the last minute, but rescheduled for next Tuesday.

 

[T. Lynn]

My husband got laid off 2 weeks ago and we had some money set aside just in case. Well we find out today that the guy that we had the money with just got arrested by the FBI for fraud and all our money is gone. Also, my parents, brother, sister and aunt all had their money with him. Not to mention a town full of people that trusted him for the last 15+ years and had even more money than we did with him. I've been crying most of the day and feel sick to my stomach.

We now have no idea how we're going to live and pay rent in a place we just moved into a month ago. I'm still in school for another month, so hopefully I can find something, although jobs are so scarce around here.

Please pray for all of us that he'll get justice and hopefully one day we can recoup some of that money.

Rachel

coming your way.

Keep your head up. I understand as jobs are scarce in our area as well. I submitted my resume to one place and was told they had 30 others! After hearing that, I realized how many people where looking for jobs in my field.

After months of trying, I was able to find something that is perfect with my background (admin - getting to use my creativity) and DD's school/sitter schedule. I think God was definately watching over me. It came when I needed it the most and everything about it (job & personal aspects) are all great and I couldn't have found anything more suitable!

Thank you God for watching over me!