Hey, the first half of my career I was bouncing from one job to the next because the company: a) moved to Florida, b) stopped doing engineering altogether (focussed on service/repair), c) went out of business, d) eliminated a whole department, e) just plain hated me for not bending over and kissing their asses.
The secret is to amass as large a “F@(% you!” fund as you possibly can, don’t “identify” with the job (ie, don’t make your job your identity), and never ever take it personally.
The last place I mentioned where they hated me, they canned me only after they made several attempts to fire me “for cause” but I didn’t bite. Finally, they just made the excuse they were “laying off” people (1, me), and did. My tech told me with a chuckle that in the next 3mos they hired and fired 3 new engineers to try to do what I was doing.
Finally, my old boss who was promoted up and out (and I was hired to fill the void) had to go back down to doing my old job as well as his new one as chief engineer.
To quote Ahnold, “This must be what they call… poetic justice”. (“Raw Deal”)
Oh, the best part? I found out that I got canned… from American Express! The company offers to pay the AmEx annual fee if you get the card, because back then AmEx was the only card to include insurance if renting a car with the card. So I did the 1-800-THE-CARD thing to apply. Things were getting stressful at work, I finally said that I got a week’s vacation coming, I need time to decompress. “Uhhh, this isn’t the best time to take time off, as things are going to be happening fast in the company.” “Okay, so I take a week’s vacation, or a week’s sick-time.” I took the vacation. That was the Friday afternoon immediately before I took off the whole next week (nb: the timing!).
I call AmEx first thing that Monday, ask about my status because it’d been a while, “Oh, I’m sorry, you’ve been declined.”.
“Huh? Really?”
“Well, we called your company to verify your salary and how long you’ve worked there, but were told that this Friday’s going to be your last day.”
“Really? Wow, that’s news to me!”
“Wha- what? Oh my God, I’m so sorry!”
I had to calm down this poor woman, because she was in tears letting me know I’d gotten canned. I’m actually happy, breathing my first “free air” like someone just let out of jail, telling her it’s the best thing for me, to go find someplace new and better.
Wehehehell, I’m home all week, chillaxing, didn’t go anywhere, and no one from work ever bothered to call me and let me know. I waited ’til 4:45 that next Friday to call and find out for sure.
The receptionist’s voice changes as soon as she recognises mine, like she’s talking with a ghost. I get transferred to Boss-Man’s line:
“Tony LastNameHere…”
“Hey, Tony, guess who?”
“Oh… uh… hi.”
“Say, Tony, should I bother coming to work this Monday?”
pause
pause
pause
“Uh… well… no, I guess not.”
“Well, gee, thanks for telling me.”, and I hung up.
Yeah, a real POS company.
Feel any better?