You know how they say that half the population will get fired at some point in their life? Well, I'm part of that half now.
No worries - I'm fine. The company has gone through some significant changes just in the last 6-8 months, and it had slowly but surely become apparent that my experience and talents were no longer required. So, it was not too shocking to learn of their decision regarding my employment late last Friday afternoon. (I had even mentioned to Elisa the night before, "Someone will likely get fired tomorrow, and it just might be me." She was skeptical, but I couldn't shake the gut feeling.)
Officially, the reason I was fired was poor performance, but I don't believe a single person actually believes that, even the people that let me go. The real reason was money. I say this not to brag (I am unemployed, after all), but I was getting paid better than nearly everyone else in my position, and had earned a bonus in 2006 that quite possibly could have been the highest in the company at my level (about 50-60 people). I had earned another nice bonus for the first quarter of this year, and my annual review (and therefore a salary increase) was due at the end of this month. Bottom line: They just wanted to get me off their books, and they could afford to get rid of my experience due to the internal changes in structure and strategy.
Anyway, because of all of these recent changes, I had already updated my resume several months ago and started checking out job listing boards. Earlier this month I sent my resume to an executive search firm as well. My heart was already gone from the job, and that is one reason why this whole scene has not been terribly earth-shattering for me. My only disappointment is that they falsely accused me of poor performance rather than simply telling me the truth about why they were letting me go.
But now I need to get down to business and find out where my next opportunities are, because we can only live off of severance and savings for so long. Even before last Friday, we were discussing the possibility of moving out to California to be near Elisa's family including Sara Sue's cousin Lucy (and another cousin due in July!). My current unemployed status may be the sign we needed that it is time to leave DC after almost 12 years here. Currently Elisa is waiting to hear the results of an interview she had for a job teaching for a local college this fall. If she does not get a job offer from them, we will likely call a realtor the next day in preparation for a move. We may be calling that realtor even if she DOES get the offer. It is somewhat liberating to be "free agents."
We appreciate all thoughts and prayers for us during this transitional time. Our hope is that our next steps will be made very obvious to us, but if not, that our spirit will be strong as we move forward, wherever "forward" may be.
But you know the best part of this whole situation? I got to play Candyland and then have a tea party with my three-year-old at 10:30 this morning. That's good stuff.
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