Fired for Now: Getting fired, laid off, and hired again

Yesterday I invited readers to share the sacrifices they’ve made following job loss. What they’ve had to give up in the face of some harsh economic truths. Certainly, 2009 was the year many of us took a look in the mirror and asked, what do we really need.

Reader dbvanhorn put it very well: “…there’s so much crap we’re told we can’t live without, until we do.”

At the other end of the spectrum are the intangibles. Those things we give up that have nothing to do with the stuff we … Continue Reading

Yesterday, I met my first prospective tenant. I’m making a big change in living arrangements in order to avoid making other changes – like selling my house.

So I’m giving up my privacy. My sense of self-containment. My freedom to act, behave and express in any way I want at any time of day or night — well, within the limits my family will accept. It’s certainly not as big a change as others have had to make, and it’s probably radical in the view of some others.

What adjustment … Continue Reading

Another recession film is getting under way, this time on the east coast by a director who has won some of the film industry’s most respected awards. It will focus on how these extraordinary economic times are impacting families, and to that end, the filmmakers are reaching out to people in suburban or small town communities surrounding New York City.

That means communities that fall within a one to two-hour radius from the city in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey and, of course, in New York state. And they’re interested in talking to … Continue Reading

I just discovered Freecycle. A neighbor had read a recent post by fellow blogger Erik Proulx who writes “Please Feed the Animals” and she was gushing over this incredible find. I wished I’d known about it earlier.

Just as the name implies, it’s a way to recycle stuff people don’t need or want and find new homes for it – for free.

That 10-year-old TV sitting in the basement you never use? Someone will have a use for it. Just post it to your local Freecycle group.

Or looking for free baby … Continue Reading

It’s Friday today. And that means you’re going to see or hear of a lot of people getting laid off today. Like any other day of the week in the last several months.

But here’s the thing.

YOU SHOULDN’T BE HEARING OF ANYONE GETTING LAID OFF TODAY. NOT ON A FRIDAY!

How is it, that at a time of massive layoffs, so many employers still haven’t bothered to learn the decent way to do it? I can’t figure it out. Letting someone go early in the week is a well-accepted principal of HR practice.

There’s … Continue Reading

It’s no secret that job loss can lead to depression and despair. When things seem unmanageable with no end in sight, it can also lead to a tragic ending. Yesterday, the Associated Press published a story about two brothers, third-generation car dealers Gregory and Randolph Graham, who are now dead following the slow collapse of their car dealership in Ligonier, Pennsylvania.

As the article explains, “Gregory, 61, went out to the dealership lot in the middle of the night last month, set fire to some of his vehicles and died of a heart attack next to the burning wreckage. Then, over … Continue Reading

Applying for jobs can be a numbers game. But what do you do to stay on top of the numbers?

When you start sending out dozens — or hundreds — of applications, it can be an organizational challenge to keep track of them all.

A couple of days ago, a reader by the name of Mike Marom got in touch with me to tell me about an online application he’s developing to do just that.

It’s called Becomed (becomed.com). Becomed helps you manage all your applications in one place. Also your resumes and your cover letters. (Of course, you’re customizing all your … Continue Reading

Andrea & Sophie

The old expression used to be “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.” The 2009 version of that may be “What doesn’t kill you, makes you happier.”

If you’re just newly unemployed, you may look at that with skepticism. Please don’t misunderstand. I will never minimize the hardship of losing a job. It can be brutal. However, it can also be transforming. I know I have come through the last year with a renewed understanding of what’s truly important to me and what I would … Continue Reading

When I lost my job last November, I immediately cut back on my spending. Everywhere.

Last weekend I wrote about my fall from grace when I caved and went to a movie after months of frugality.

But as I’ve also said, there was one area I never really took the hatchet to. And that was my home food shopping. I figured since I’d stopped eating out, or really going out at all, I could at least feed us well at home still.

I’m now paying for it. I’ve gained weight. My pants are … Continue Reading

Okay I admit it. I’ve seen those ads and posts for the wonders of affiliate marketing that lurk everywhere on the web and have occasionally wondered, “Hmmm, maybe I really could earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in my sleep.”

You’re telling me you haven’t wondered, at least for a millesecond?

Of course, I instantly discount the majority of them that are obviously scams. But that leaves an opening to wonder. To wonder if any of these are legit. Could there really be a proven method to online affiliate marketing that earns you … Continue Reading