I think I’ve been fired three times. The first time I had just taken a new job as a trainer for software that helped folks figure out efficient routes. The “office” was in my boss’ house out in the burbs. He had a dog and a new baby and he didn’t train me, but expected me to figure out the software on my own without any documentation.
After my first month, he said I wasn’t working out and fired me.
The second time I was working for a union. The union went through some complicated changes in organization, and my boss left. I was given a new job working for one of the vice presidents. That lasted a year, and they fired me. They called it a layoff, but I found out they hired someone new the next day. The reason for the layoff, they said, was because they had meant someone else to have the job in the first place. Since I was doing a good job, and I am white, and the person they replaced me with was black (it was a primarily black organization), I kind of wonder if racism played a role.
The third time, I had been working for an organization for twelve years. I had been the second employee they ever had. But they changed the product and said they didn’t have any work for me on the project. Instead, they hired all these young kids (with no children and good health) and let many of the rest of us go. Again, they called in a layoff, but I don’t think they wanted us around any more.
After each job loss, it took me around six months to a year to find my next job. I’m used to it now. I know what a job search is all about, but I don’t want to do it again.