TerryinMD
Veteran Member
This post is a bit long so get a cup of your favorite. I haven't been on as much as I use to and figured that I would share my experiences of the past few months.
The past six months have been quite interesting. It all started when WorldCom decided that they did not need the use of my services anymore on June 28th!! I have never been laid off and didn't know what to expect - gulp!!
July
I get my collective act together. Since I had no prior experience in being laid off, I had to figure out what I needed to do.
First thing, I applied for unemployment. Hey, no big deal! Call the Maryland Unemployment Office, talk to the nice young lady. She forwards my claim to the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC). They tell me to wait for 10 days and if I don't hear anything, call the VEC.
Like a good boy, I did. Not hearing anything from VEC, I call them to check on my status. "Excuse me!!! ???? You have not received my claim. ????" The backtracking and checking begins.
I call the Maryland office and find out that the nice young lady sent my claim to the District of Columbia rather than Virginia. Oh nice!! To make a long story short, the problem is corrected in 1 day and a personal apology comes from the errant state employee. I was truely impressed.
I make the conscience decision to approach my new job search cautiously. I'm over 50 and, quite honestly, companies shy away from seasoned professionals. Not always true, but just the way things are!! I find out about a local employment consortium office that helps people find new positions. It's focus is re-educating people who have lost manufacturing jobs but are commissioned to help anyone needing help since they receive all of their operating money from local, state, and federal grants.
The rest of the month is spent cleaning up and editing my resume. Having other people review it is very helpful. Whoops, forgot to mention - lot's of seat time getting the garden ready for the garden market season.
Hey, I haven't received any serverance pay yet!! Call WorldCom, a lot of hemming and hawing... very odd! OBTW, the checks are in the mail. Not! WorldCom files for Bankruptcy. Yikes... what does this mean!!!!!
August
I go to a few job fairs and find out that lots of people are looking for jobs. Some are laid off, some are not. Hmmm... competition is tough. So, I get into my daily routine of getting up early, checking my email, getting on IM to network with friends, and searching the Web for job openings. I also keep tabs on what WorldCom is up to since they have really affect my life even more with the Bankruptcy proceedings.
I go throught the pains of putting my resume on the Monster Board and setting up a search agent to show me possible job postings to match my experience. This actually frees up some time looking at company Web sites. A side note - too be honest, I think that most HR departments need to clean up their job postings. Most are cumbersome and not user friendly. Well, for that matter, a lot of Web sites in general are cumbersome and not user friendly!!! Enough of that..
I start to get job listings sent to me daily and with my resume on the Monster Board. I begin to get emails and phone calls. Most are exploratory and lead nowhere. However, it's exposure.
I get a letter from WorldCom stating that, "We're sorry but we cannot honor the severance agreement and will not be providing the severance package as agreed." Oh nice!! A few days later.... "Whoops, we cannot provide you the medical package either. Sorry!! OBTW, it was cancelled 10 days ago!! Best regards!!!!" This is getting very serious now. Hmmm.... no severance, no medical coverage. Not good.
Get somemore information about the severance and medical benefits - as per bankruptcy rulings, you only get $4,650. Don't mind mentioning this fact as it applies to any company that goes backrupt. What!! Well, better than nothing. Ahhh.. your medical benefits. You can pick up the COBRA coverage for ~$900 a month. Ok... no medical coverage. Too much... need to come up with a plan.
Spent the month getting stuff done around the property. Rebuild the fence around the garden. We're under attack by the local mafia deer. Since we're under a drought, they are getting their nourishment anywhere they can. Since it is so danged hot and dry, you can only go out early in the morning to get things done. Not a bad deal, but cabin fever in the middle of summer???
Also get to spend more time doing what I like doing. Going to the local county fairs. Doing some volunteer work, etc...
September
More of the same. Still looking for a job, but nothing is materializing. My friends and myself speculate that things will pick up with the new Federal fiscal year approaching. with all of the talk of war and terrorism, things may pick up in the DC area.
No interviews, no phone calls, no emails. A bit discouraging, but what else can you do. My wife has her merchandising jobs and the garden market which is doing very well this year. Since I am collecting unemployment, I hold back at earning any money on my own. A stange conundrum. We pick up a few jobs mowing grass and bush hogging community acreage. This is done by my girls and they get paid by my wife since she is the owner of the business. Nice how that works!!!
We begin to think about expanding the garden and going to other garden markets in the area. Based upon what we do at our local market, we could earn a decent living by expanding to 3 or 4 markets a week. Hmmm... but increasing the production by that much... might need more land. Need to rethink. We had planned on building a garage this year. Good thing that we didn't arrange for a contractor to do some of the work. We would have had to cancel the contract. But, if we expand, we still need to have another building for storage and also to build a certified kitchen. We do a lot of baking, jamming, and making of fresh products so it would be good to have the certified kitchen. However, that would cost big money. hmmmm... more to consider.
We look into getting our own medical insurance. What!! Catastrophic coverage for $450 a month. Yikes, but you need to have it just in case.
October
More of the same. A couple of phone interviews, but nothing to get excited about. Some good news. A bunch of Ex-Worldcom people get together to collectively put pressure on WorldCom and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to get the severance promised. They talk to the AFL-CIO and get them to help. AFL-CIO has helped the Enron folks get more of their severance money. The plan works. We get up to $13,500 of our severance. As it turns, out WorldCom petitions the court and receives permission to pay out all of the agreed to severance. That makes life a bit better for awhile.
More seat time preparing the garden for winter. Clearing out a few areas of brush and brambles. The drought has made the job a little easier since the vegetation is not as lush this year.
I talk to the medical insurance people about trying to reduce the cost of the policy. I have high blood pressure and if I can get off of the medicine for six months, they will reduce the premium. This could save us $200 a month. Money talks. Go to my physician to find out what I need to do. Lose weight and exercise. We come up with a plan. Additionally, to my surprise, I have lost nearly 20lbs since my last visit. Being laid off isn't bad thing. Not eating out so often and I forget to eat while I'm at home. Bonus!!!!!
November
Things are looking better. More responses to my resume posting. Get one interview and it looks promising. Find out that I do not get that position. Got beat by the competition. Tough break, but to be expected. A week later, I get another call to interview for the same type of position with the same company. However, it will be direct instead of being a subcontractor. Go to the interview and, low and behold, I see a familar face. I worked with one of the interviewing managers. An in!!! Things may be looking up. I get home from that interview and guess what. I get a call for another interview with a small company. Oh boy!! Things are picking up. This is all happening around Thanksgiving and usually job postings and hirings slow down.
I go to two more interviews for the second call. Things are looking great!! Two possible job offers in the wind!! May have to make a decision on which one!!! Yikes, this is great... but terrible on the other hand. Which one??? May need economy sized libations to make an educated decision!!! I also get a phone call from my contact at the first interview. He says that everything went well and I should be receiving a job offer soon. Wow!! This is great. Thanksgiving comes... snow storms come... Thanksgiving goes... snow goes... nothing else is heard. Rationalization time - it's the time of the year.
Additionally, I find out that I am competing for a postion with an ex-cooworker. What a hoot!! We begin to exchange our experiences and find out that maybe the people for the small firm don't know what their doing.
Get the tractor ready for winter. Change the oil and get the toothbar off of the FEL.
December
Ok... ok.... What's the deal? The wife and I look at our finances. What is this??? What the heck??? Now, wait a minute. How can we be saving money and me being laid off????? You must be kidding!!! Nope, it's a fact. Somehow, we are able to be in the black, paying all of our bills, having life's little crisis's, go out for dinner occassionally, and still save money with me not working. Hmmmm....
Oh yeah, the job front. Still no word. Job 1 is still supposed to happen. No offer letter, no news. Job 2, I still am supposed to interview with the Deputy CIO Government guy and nothing is happening. Call my contacts and they have no news. They will tell me when they hear something. Sigh....
Well, some disturbing news. Our Gubmint decides not to decide. How novel!!! Tons of people being affected by the WorldComs, Enrons, etc., etc.. And me too!!! Well, looks like it was a good thing that we were able to save money. We may need it sooner than later. A job may happen soon, but then again maybe not. Have to wait and see.
In the meantime, we are progessing with our plan to expand the garden market business. We go to an auction to possibly purchase a walk in cooler. We do some thinking and take some measurements. Oops... we may not be able to fit the thing into our basement. Too tall!!! Hmmm... but wait. There is a 72 cubic foot refrigerator. We bid on it... and win the bid. At least it was at the end of the year and we can depreciate it on '02 taxes.
With December comes snow and that means frozen seat time. Get a few hours in.... I like moving snow with the tractor. Less time and fun to boot!!!
Christmas finally comes.... not the best of Christmas's, but nice none the less. No major problems and there is light at the end of tunnel. Next year will be better. You can count on that... we will make it better.
Everyone have a great New Years and I pray that all are well and have a prosperous and healthy New Year. I plan on that for me and my family.
Terry
The past six months have been quite interesting. It all started when WorldCom decided that they did not need the use of my services anymore on June 28th!! I have never been laid off and didn't know what to expect - gulp!!
July
I get my collective act together. Since I had no prior experience in being laid off, I had to figure out what I needed to do.
First thing, I applied for unemployment. Hey, no big deal! Call the Maryland Unemployment Office, talk to the nice young lady. She forwards my claim to the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC). They tell me to wait for 10 days and if I don't hear anything, call the VEC.
Like a good boy, I did. Not hearing anything from VEC, I call them to check on my status. "Excuse me!!! ???? You have not received my claim. ????" The backtracking and checking begins.
I call the Maryland office and find out that the nice young lady sent my claim to the District of Columbia rather than Virginia. Oh nice!! To make a long story short, the problem is corrected in 1 day and a personal apology comes from the errant state employee. I was truely impressed.
I make the conscience decision to approach my new job search cautiously. I'm over 50 and, quite honestly, companies shy away from seasoned professionals. Not always true, but just the way things are!! I find out about a local employment consortium office that helps people find new positions. It's focus is re-educating people who have lost manufacturing jobs but are commissioned to help anyone needing help since they receive all of their operating money from local, state, and federal grants.
The rest of the month is spent cleaning up and editing my resume. Having other people review it is very helpful. Whoops, forgot to mention - lot's of seat time getting the garden ready for the garden market season.
Hey, I haven't received any serverance pay yet!! Call WorldCom, a lot of hemming and hawing... very odd! OBTW, the checks are in the mail. Not! WorldCom files for Bankruptcy. Yikes... what does this mean!!!!!
August
I go to a few job fairs and find out that lots of people are looking for jobs. Some are laid off, some are not. Hmmm... competition is tough. So, I get into my daily routine of getting up early, checking my email, getting on IM to network with friends, and searching the Web for job openings. I also keep tabs on what WorldCom is up to since they have really affect my life even more with the Bankruptcy proceedings.
I go throught the pains of putting my resume on the Monster Board and setting up a search agent to show me possible job postings to match my experience. This actually frees up some time looking at company Web sites. A side note - too be honest, I think that most HR departments need to clean up their job postings. Most are cumbersome and not user friendly. Well, for that matter, a lot of Web sites in general are cumbersome and not user friendly!!! Enough of that..
I start to get job listings sent to me daily and with my resume on the Monster Board. I begin to get emails and phone calls. Most are exploratory and lead nowhere. However, it's exposure.
I get a letter from WorldCom stating that, "We're sorry but we cannot honor the severance agreement and will not be providing the severance package as agreed." Oh nice!! A few days later.... "Whoops, we cannot provide you the medical package either. Sorry!! OBTW, it was cancelled 10 days ago!! Best regards!!!!" This is getting very serious now. Hmmm.... no severance, no medical coverage. Not good.
Get somemore information about the severance and medical benefits - as per bankruptcy rulings, you only get $4,650. Don't mind mentioning this fact as it applies to any company that goes backrupt. What!! Well, better than nothing. Ahhh.. your medical benefits. You can pick up the COBRA coverage for ~$900 a month. Ok... no medical coverage. Too much... need to come up with a plan.
Spent the month getting stuff done around the property. Rebuild the fence around the garden. We're under attack by the local mafia deer. Since we're under a drought, they are getting their nourishment anywhere they can. Since it is so danged hot and dry, you can only go out early in the morning to get things done. Not a bad deal, but cabin fever in the middle of summer???
Also get to spend more time doing what I like doing. Going to the local county fairs. Doing some volunteer work, etc...
September
More of the same. Still looking for a job, but nothing is materializing. My friends and myself speculate that things will pick up with the new Federal fiscal year approaching. with all of the talk of war and terrorism, things may pick up in the DC area.
No interviews, no phone calls, no emails. A bit discouraging, but what else can you do. My wife has her merchandising jobs and the garden market which is doing very well this year. Since I am collecting unemployment, I hold back at earning any money on my own. A stange conundrum. We pick up a few jobs mowing grass and bush hogging community acreage. This is done by my girls and they get paid by my wife since she is the owner of the business. Nice how that works!!!
We begin to think about expanding the garden and going to other garden markets in the area. Based upon what we do at our local market, we could earn a decent living by expanding to 3 or 4 markets a week. Hmmm... but increasing the production by that much... might need more land. Need to rethink. We had planned on building a garage this year. Good thing that we didn't arrange for a contractor to do some of the work. We would have had to cancel the contract. But, if we expand, we still need to have another building for storage and also to build a certified kitchen. We do a lot of baking, jamming, and making of fresh products so it would be good to have the certified kitchen. However, that would cost big money. hmmmm... more to consider.
We look into getting our own medical insurance. What!! Catastrophic coverage for $450 a month. Yikes, but you need to have it just in case.
October
More of the same. A couple of phone interviews, but nothing to get excited about. Some good news. A bunch of Ex-Worldcom people get together to collectively put pressure on WorldCom and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to get the severance promised. They talk to the AFL-CIO and get them to help. AFL-CIO has helped the Enron folks get more of their severance money. The plan works. We get up to $13,500 of our severance. As it turns, out WorldCom petitions the court and receives permission to pay out all of the agreed to severance. That makes life a bit better for awhile.
More seat time preparing the garden for winter. Clearing out a few areas of brush and brambles. The drought has made the job a little easier since the vegetation is not as lush this year.
I talk to the medical insurance people about trying to reduce the cost of the policy. I have high blood pressure and if I can get off of the medicine for six months, they will reduce the premium. This could save us $200 a month. Money talks. Go to my physician to find out what I need to do. Lose weight and exercise. We come up with a plan. Additionally, to my surprise, I have lost nearly 20lbs since my last visit. Being laid off isn't bad thing. Not eating out so often and I forget to eat while I'm at home. Bonus!!!!!
November
Things are looking better. More responses to my resume posting. Get one interview and it looks promising. Find out that I do not get that position. Got beat by the competition. Tough break, but to be expected. A week later, I get another call to interview for the same type of position with the same company. However, it will be direct instead of being a subcontractor. Go to the interview and, low and behold, I see a familar face. I worked with one of the interviewing managers. An in!!! Things may be looking up. I get home from that interview and guess what. I get a call for another interview with a small company. Oh boy!! Things are picking up. This is all happening around Thanksgiving and usually job postings and hirings slow down.
I go to two more interviews for the second call. Things are looking great!! Two possible job offers in the wind!! May have to make a decision on which one!!! Yikes, this is great... but terrible on the other hand. Which one??? May need economy sized libations to make an educated decision!!! I also get a phone call from my contact at the first interview. He says that everything went well and I should be receiving a job offer soon. Wow!! This is great. Thanksgiving comes... snow storms come... Thanksgiving goes... snow goes... nothing else is heard. Rationalization time - it's the time of the year.
Additionally, I find out that I am competing for a postion with an ex-cooworker. What a hoot!! We begin to exchange our experiences and find out that maybe the people for the small firm don't know what their doing.
Get the tractor ready for winter. Change the oil and get the toothbar off of the FEL.
December
Ok... ok.... What's the deal? The wife and I look at our finances. What is this??? What the heck??? Now, wait a minute. How can we be saving money and me being laid off????? You must be kidding!!! Nope, it's a fact. Somehow, we are able to be in the black, paying all of our bills, having life's little crisis's, go out for dinner occassionally, and still save money with me not working. Hmmmm....
Oh yeah, the job front. Still no word. Job 1 is still supposed to happen. No offer letter, no news. Job 2, I still am supposed to interview with the Deputy CIO Government guy and nothing is happening. Call my contacts and they have no news. They will tell me when they hear something. Sigh....
Well, some disturbing news. Our Gubmint decides not to decide. How novel!!! Tons of people being affected by the WorldComs, Enrons, etc., etc.. And me too!!! Well, looks like it was a good thing that we were able to save money. We may need it sooner than later. A job may happen soon, but then again maybe not. Have to wait and see.
In the meantime, we are progessing with our plan to expand the garden market business. We go to an auction to possibly purchase a walk in cooler. We do some thinking and take some measurements. Oops... we may not be able to fit the thing into our basement. Too tall!!! Hmmm... but wait. There is a 72 cubic foot refrigerator. We bid on it... and win the bid. At least it was at the end of the year and we can depreciate it on '02 taxes.
With December comes snow and that means frozen seat time. Get a few hours in.... I like moving snow with the tractor. Less time and fun to boot!!!
Christmas finally comes.... not the best of Christmas's, but nice none the less. No major problems and there is light at the end of tunnel. Next year will be better. You can count on that... we will make it better.
Everyone have a great New Years and I pray that all are well and have a prosperous and healthy New Year. I plan on that for me and my family.
Terry
