Category Archives: Quitting or Fired

There’s always a reason for getting fired.

Posted on February 26, 2022 | Leave a comment

My son was the best checkout clerk in the store. His checkout speed was consistently the best. Customers loved his happy personality. He often had the most “add on” sales at the cash register. Then one day he was put on probation. Shortly thereafter he was fired. It was because he had decided not to double check when the cash register said that a particular coupon had no corresponding product bought by the customer. Most of the cashiers ignored the warning at least part of the time. One of the baggers had noticed it and informed the managers. They checked, asked him, and found out he was guilty. Probation was a formality. They fired him as soon as they could get it approved.

I’m proud my son accepted responsibility and never told anyone who the bagger was. When asked, he admitted what he was doing immediately. He was fired as a warning to the other checkout clerks. He didn’t have a chance to eat crow and change his ways. 

The real question is: What about the other clerks? The clerks had a chance to get upset at the baggers in general. They could moan and complain on breaks about how unfair it was. They could become paranoid and follow each rule to complete stupidity. Or they could admit their problem and humbly accept the truth, like my son did. They knew they had been costing the store money by not checking coupons. They had been breaking the rule all the time, not just when the checkout lanes were jammed. They had talked about it. They weren’t listening to the managers about it anymore when the firing occurred. It was time to eat crow. And crow is best served warm, when the offense is fresh.

How about you? What do you do when someone is fired for doing something everyone does? What about when you are passed over for a job you apply for?

If you blame another person, you are human. If you blame society, you are human. That being said, it doesn’t make YOU right.

If you got fired for poor performance, accept it. If you were the best at a particular job but got passed over for a promotion, there was a reason. Admit defeat. Find out why. Don’t brag about how smart you are and how stupid the managers are. There was a reason.

Back to job hunting. If the job is evil and horrible, drop out of the interviews or don’t apply. If you found out the manager, company or division is full of idiots because they didn’t hire you, thank God you didn’t get that job. No need to ceaselessly murmur about the idiots. However, you may want to eat crow and find out why you really were not hired. Getting the truth can be difficult. Still, the time to eat crow is when it is still warm. Ask what you did, said, or put on paper that disqualified you. Then decide if you want to fix it.

Something to do today

Ask why you didn’t get the job. Ask the recruiter. Ask the company. Ask the hiring manager. Don’t worry about offending someone. They already offended you by not hiring you, didn’t they? Ask politely, but ask.

Leave a comment

Posted in Quitting or Fired

Tagged ,

Turn a bad career into a good one

Posted on November 19, 2021 | Leave a comment

Tim tells me why he has to leave his current company every couple of months. Then he says he has to stay. Leadership is lacking. The work ethic stinks. His office only stays alive because it is propped up by corporate headquarters. He and his boss both know what is wrong. Tim can’t fix it and the boss won’t fix it. 

Tim does have a good reason to stay. He had five jobs in four years before he took this job. He wants to make it to the two or even three year mark here to clear up his resume. If the office lasts that long without being closed, he will stay.

More important than collecting years of service, he is collecting accomplishments. Tim can prove he produces 2/3 of the output at his office of 6 people. He has proof that his occasional training of coworkers has had a deep impact. Tim has numbers. Tim has projects and accomplishments. Those numbers look even better because of his unproductive coworkers.

This is not a race away from his old job. Tim is slowly rowing away from the rocks in his career. He may need a new job tomorrow or in two years. There is no telling how long corporate will suffer losses cheerfully. So he is preparing to leave. 

If you are in a dead end job, use it as a lifeboat to your next job. Be the most important person in your office. Keep track of exactly how good you are. Slowly row away from the rocks in your lifeboat job.

Something to do today

Whether you plan on it or not, your current job is the boat you are in until your next job. Collect accomplishments, projects and cheerful statistics.

Write those accomplishments in your job journal. Give a list of them to your manager. That is the only way to be sure he notices what you do.

Leave a comment

Posted in Quitting or Fired

Tagged ,

Safety and job ethics

Posted on September 15, 2021 | Leave a comment

I made a 2 year commitment to the first company that hired me out of college. I said I would do that job and not quit. I had a safe job. I was over-educated and working hard. “Safety first,” I thought. I was happy to make that commitment. A year into it I got a sweet job offer. A huge promotion into another company. I was torn. I couldn’t take the new job. 3 months later I was laid off. I had made a commitment to my company, but they could not keep their commitment to me. 

Since then I have learned a few things about “Safety First” and job ethics.

Douglas Adams (Arthur Dent in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy”)

“Safety” is important. Just remember, you are only safe if your company is making money and you are a significant part of that money making machine. By the way, all that safety goes out the door if someone buys your company.

Job ethics works just like a contract. A contract is of no effect unless both sides receive something of value. You should live up to your commitments. Absolutely. But, if your company is not living up to their commitments, your side of the commitment disappears too. 

Staying with the company was the right thing for me to do. Did it hurt? Absolutely. I could have gotten that promotion I was so eager for, but I would have had to break my own commitment. 

Yes, the company was sold a month before I was laid off, and 75% of the capacity of the whole industry was cut over the next month after the company was sold. They had to lay me off.

I learned to feel good about fulfilling my commitments. I also learned to be careful about what I commit to. I paid a steep price. I learned, and have used what I learned for the rest of my life. It was worth it. I made a 3 year commitment to EDS a little later. I fulfilled that commitment too. That also was worth it.

Something to do today

What commitments have you made? What are the commitments made back to you? 

Write down both sides of the agreement. Does it still make sense when you look at it today? 

Leave a comment

Posted in Quitting or Fired

Tagged , , ,

How to know your company might be in danger

Posted on September 1, 2021 | Leave a comment

Some signs of trouble in your company are easy to ignore. They aren’t obvious signs of trouble. They can even look like progress.

In the great Indian Ocean tsunami some people survived because they knew the signs of a tidal wave of disaster waiting to happen. They learned, “When the sea retreats far past the beach, run for the high ground. It will soon come roaring back.” It is a natural occurrence before a tsunami.

Job disasters have signs of impending doom like the tsunami causing water to retreat from the shore. Think about it. What happens before a car plant closes down entirely? Work is cut back. Minor layoffs occur. Sales are obviously dropping. Cars stay on dealer lots for longer and longer. Rebates and special incentives are used to sell cars. Managers, supervisors and foreman are laid off. Finally the plant closing is announced.

An old Thai proverb says, 

At high tide fish eat ants. At low tide ants eat fish.

A healthy company succeeds by doing effectively what a dying company struggles to do over and over without success. 

Signs of doom I have seen where I worked included: 

  • A new quality program annually 
  • No more flowers sent to funerals of workers and their family members 
  • Business travel is cut back 
  • On-the-job training is cut back to “just in time” training 
  • Payments for outside tuition is cut back 
  • Technology innovation specialists moved back into production jobs 
  • Promised bonuses cut back or not paid 
  • Refusal to let employees transfer to other areas in the company 
  • Relocation expense reimbursement eliminated 
  • Sudden personal interest in the workers by the company president and chairman. 
  • Empowerment training during declining markets. 
  • Not replacing people who quit. 
  • Reorganizing more and more often. 
  • Stock price dropping. 
  • Replacement of salespeople at a quick clip. 
  • A frenzy of competitor acquisitions.
  • A sudden focus on getting “good press” or being in trade publications.

When you see the signs of impending problems, you may still have years to prepare. Or you may have days. The important thing is to start preparing without being part of the problem. Take positive steps in your own sphere of influence.

When the water retreats from the shoreline, it may look like a great time to go out and pick up the fish left behind. When your boss is sacked, it may seem like the perfect time to get into management. And it may be true. But be careful and look for signs that a tsunami is coming to wash your whole company away.

Later I will talk about how businessmen in India cope with far worse problems than Americans can even begin to understand, and do it with a smile.

Something to do today

Draw a line down the middle of a sheet of paper. On the left side write signs of company strength, reasons for optimism. On the right put a list of troubling signs of decline. Now pick how you can help accentuate the positive or eliminate the negative. Not only will your actions help your company, they will insulate you from layoffs and prepare you for a new job if disaster strikes.

Leave a comment

Posted in management, Promotions, Quitting or Fired

Tagged , , , , ,

Absolute Proof: it is time to leave your job

Posted on February 12, 2018 | Leave a comment

Man working painting a pipe on an amazing mountain.

The most amazing place to work for another person, may not be yours.

Ron has absolutely, positively and without a doubt overstayed his current job.  He has finally admitted it to himself, so he called me.  He will be sending me his resume this week.  I also asked him to talk to his current boss and let him know the situation.  His current boss may be able to move him to a job that will completely solve his problem.

This revelation came indirectly from his boss.  Ron has been living 800 miles away from his home.  It’s a great opportunity.  The money is good.  He likes the job and who he works for.  The revelation came when he was told, “It’s time for you to sell your home and move the whole family up here.”

Ron realized he would NOT reapply for the job he has.  He doesn’t want to move.  At first it seemed like a good idea, but things have changed.  He doesn’t want to live in the city he is working in anymore.

Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else. (James Barrie)

Is it time for you to leave your job?  Ask these two questions:

  1. Would I apply for any job at my current company?
  2. Would I apply for my current job?

If you are in the wrong company, start your job search today.

If your company is fine but your job is bad, talk to your boss.  Network within your company.  See if there is a better job within.  Also start looking outside the company.  Even if you stay with your company, it will open your eyes to how good or bad you really have it.

If you wouldn’t apply for your current job, it is absolutely positively time to leave.

Something To Do Today

In your job journal answer those two questions.  Give 5 reasons why you answered each one “yes” or “no”.  Writing it down will help clarify your thinking.

————————–

Next:     Mental hygiene

Cover letter anesthesia

Leave a comment

Posted in Promotions, Quitting or Fired, Raises

Tagged , ,

The one critical component in a career plan

Posted on December 1, 2016 | Leave a comment

kicking to success

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. (Dwight Eisenhower)

When it was critical

The hottest technology in 2008 was the iPhone.  It was simply a small computer with cell phone reception. Its rise was carefully planned.  The most significant pieces of the plan included a snazzy look, rugged portability, and simple secure paid download of music. Apple, the creator, had a plan to continue making money forever.

Here is where career plans worked

2008 was the perfect time for Apple’s hottest talent to abandon their jobs with the iPhone division.  2008 was also the time for Apple’s best job security conscious talent to move in and take over. Why?  Because it was obvious the market would be buying upgrades to iPhones forever.  The iPhone was becoming a top-end commodity, but a commodity.  The music distribution system was ahead but developing strong competitors.

iPhone is no longer innovative genius.  It is now a cash cow.  iPod and iTunes are no longer what the bold innovators want to be working on.  They need a new challenge.  iPod and iPhone are now the perfect product for the long term managers.

The single critical component in your career plan

Your career plan will be a rousing success if you focus on your personal growth curve. Do you treasure security? Do you want to innovate and take outrageous chances for outrageous reward?  Do you really want technical challenge?  Is your goal to make enough money, but have a lot of free time for your skiing?

When you know what you want, you can plan your career successfully.  However, what you want will change time and time again.  So you need to be prepared to change your career plan as you see changes beginning in yourself. Your personal growth curve will tell you how fast you are getting to where you want to be in your career.

Career plans work

They work when they are reviewed every year.  They work when you review your real personal desires at the same time.

Tomorrow I’ll talk about the “personal growth curve.”  You have to understand it in order grow as fast as possible.

Something To Do Today

This week will be a great time to review your career plan.  Today you need to start writing down what you really want.

————————–

Tomorrow:     Your personal growth curve

Later:              Useful career plans

What is “the next big thing”?

 

Leave a comment

Posted in Focus, Quitting or Fired, Raises

Tagged ,

Career killing shortcuts

Posted on October 26, 2016 | Leave a comment

3 different ways to go now

Choose your direction carefully.

The modern age has been characterized by a Promethean spirit, a restless energy that preys on speed records and shortcuts, unmindful of the past, uncaring of the future, existing only for the moment and the quick fix. (Jeremy Rifkin)

Lufkin is the premiere maker of the pumps sucking oil from Oklahoma’s prairies. In 1981 used Lufkin pumps were selling for more than new ones. Fancy business school graduates said Lufkin was nuts. They could sell the new pumps for much more. “Take your profit now!” they said. The owners of Lufkin said, “We’ve been here a long time. Demand goes up and demand goes down. We will service our customers the best we can. We won’t take advantage of them when they are desperate. When the bubble bursts we will still be here. We’re in this business for the long haul.” Today, after decades of recessions and some good times in their business, they still make a solid profit, now as a GE subsidiary.

In the recruiting business one recruiter said, “I take people out of one rut, and put them into a different rut.” Some recruiters don’t care. I do. I find people in good jobs who could do significantly better. I then place them in a job where they can more quickly meet their career goals. I help people shave years off of their career growth. I move them into a better long term opportunity.

Be mindful of how your resume looks. People who have changed jobs 3 times in 2 years have a hard time getting a great job. Later, even after 3 or 5 years in one job their resume is tainted. The manager hiring for a great job wants someone who will be there a long time. He knows he can attract bright stable workers. Why should he settle for someone who may be gone in 6 months?

A new job should give you a significant LONG TERM advantage. It should help you take charge of your career. Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times. In 2005 he only won one day out of 21 racing days. On one day he was 20 minutes behind the fastest bike. But he was always mindful of where he was in relation to his competition. He made sure he had the best bike and the best team even if he wasn’t getting the glory of being first over the finish line. Looking for the long term advantage is how he won.

Find the best team and opportunity you can. Get in it for the long haul. Go win. You cannot speed up your career by taking a lot of shortcuts.

Something To Do Today

Write down your career goals in your job journal. Where do you really want to go? Can your current team get you there? If not, time to change teams.

Leave a comment

Posted in Attitude, Promotions, Quitting or Fired, Resumes, Training

Tagged , ,

Is your job like rollerskating in a buffalo herd?

Posted on June 7, 2016 | Leave a comment

buffalo blocking traffice

You can’t drive in a buffalo herd either.

I talk to many job seekers who want to change careers.  Some of them are accountants who should be salesmen.  They got into accounting because it is safe, pays well, and has a great future. Their personality is wrong for accounting.  They don’t like carefully following precise rules.  Reporting on what other people are achieving gives them the itch to do more, not the pleasure of a job well done.

Some people who want to change careers are salesmen who should be accountants.  Salesmen make so much money that, for some, it is irresistible to get into sales.  The “should be accountants” are great with logic, and to them, buying is all about carefully planned decisions.  But developing relationships quickly is not their way of living. Pressing emotional buttons feels somehow wrong.  Sales is just not working.

A favorite song of mine says, “You can’t rollerskate in a buffalo herd, but you can be happy if you put your mind to it. Knuckle down, buckle down, do it, do it, do it.”

If you have the wrong personality for your career field, CHANGE.  Do it now.  You will only have more obligations in a couple of years.

The first step is to work within your current company to see if you can switch careers.  Will they let you go from being an accountant to being a salesman?  Can you go from being a salesman to being a sales engineer or financial analyst?  Is there a way you can exploit your current job?

Often you have to change companies to change your career. You will probably have to take a big cut in pay.  Only you can decide if it is worth it.

One more thing to consider.  Is your career the problem, or the people you are working with?  I don’t know any accounting companies that are filled with rollicking, frolicking, totally off the wall, hard charging adventurers.  I do know that accountant personalities range from nearly dead, to micromanaging bosses from hell, to nurturing versatile entrepreneurs with great attitudes.  Carefully look at your situation.  Make sure that your company and the people you work with are not the real problem.  You may still need to change jobs, but your career may be fine for you.

Don’t settle for a job or career that you just can’t be happy with.  Seriously look at what it will take to work with a better bunch of people or to switch careers entirely.  Life is too short to choose misery.

Something To Do Today

Go online or to your local job center and take a personality test.  You will be surprised how accurate they are.

————————–

Next:   Resume magic

Later:  Imperfect and highly paid

Leave a comment

Posted in Attitude, Focus, Promotions, Quitting or Fired, Raises, talent

Tagged , , , , ,

8 signs you will be laid off

Posted on March 23, 2016 | Leave a comment

Another person just told me they think they will be laid off, they aren’t sure. Some layoffs and firings you just can’t avoid.  One smart guy said,

Getting fired is nature’s way of telling you that you had the wrong job in the first place. (Lancaster)

laid off?

Are you going to be laid off?

There are always hints that you are going to be laid off. They are obvious after the fact.

True stories:

Susan is going to be fired. She appears to be clueless. She is a great person but is not getting the job done. She’s in a genteel company where people are expected to take hints. She has not taken the hints. She has been all but told to find a new job. She refuses to accept that. We’ve even read the tea leaves for her after her boss asked us to help get her out of the company. She refuses to accept it. Susan is going to be fired for not being above average. It just makes no sense to her.

My old friend Larry was at a major computer company. Every year his reviews were stellar. Then one year his review changed from “superior” to “needs improvement”. Larry asked, “Is this a hint?” The reply was, “It is what it is. You’ll need to figure that out.” Two weeks later Larry had a new job with a 25% pay raise. He’s still at that new company and still getting superior performance appraisals. Larry was being pushed out because his salary was too high, even though he was worth every penny of it.

The two main reasons for firing or laying off people are that they are not good enough, or they are too expensive. For either problem, some of the signs are the same, such as:

  • Pay raises less than the rate of inflation – particularly NO raise
  • A job review with average or lower ratings
  • Reduction in responsibilities or some of your duties given to others
  • Being on probation (some people actually miss this one!)
  • You are asked to relocate to a place you won’t go
  • Your company, division or location is losing money
  • A competitor just won a big contract you should have won
  • A new boss promises to “revitalize” your group, division or company

If you are wondering about your own situation, take the bull by the horns. Ask your boss two questions:

  1. Are there going to be layoffs?
  2. Should I start looking for a new job?

If you have the guts to ask, he just might tell you the truth. It’s better to know for sure if your boss will tell you. If your boss lies, you’ll still get a feeling for the truth. Find out. It’s better to look for a job while you are still employed rather than when you are jobless.

Do you have even one of the 8 signs in your job? Go talk to your boss. Do you have three or more of the symptoms? Look for a job no matter what the boss says.

Leave a comment

Posted in Quitting or Fired

Tagged , , ,

How fast can you find a new job and get your career back on track?

Posted on February 15, 2016 | Leave a comment

steam engine crashed out of a building

Getting your career back on track? It depends on where you are right now.

How fast can you find a new job?  Let’s talk about the Beatles.  They were an overnight sensation….except for the years they spent playing clubs in Germany and England.  Years lost to the world.

I bet you know a guy who quit and had a new job a week later.  He wasn’t even looking when he quit.  He told you so, and he wouldn’t exaggerate.  So how long will it take you to get a new job? No one knows.

The best way to find a job (It actually speeds things up)

The best thing to do is keep your current job and start looking.  Use your network.  The first thing to ask them is not, “Find me a job,” but, “How’s the job market?”  Get the people you know to tell you how long it took for their acquaintances to find a job.  This will tell your network to keep their eyes open.

Be careful how widely you let it be known you are looking for a job.  If you are employed, use your network, recruiters and respond to ads.  LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, CareerBuilder, and others are great places to put your resume. You have to understand that you will be getting calls for a year or two if you put your resume on the internet.

How long will it take?

Executives often look a month for every $10,000 in income they want.  If they are earning $120,000 then they may search for a year.  Technical experts are often either hired within days of their search beginning, or they take 12 months and then get 3 job offers at once.  Why?  They may have critical skills, but there is no job until someone else quits or a project starts. Then openings pop up as a mass of people all change jobs at once.

Your job search will be over much more quickly if you will commute a long distance or relocate.

The modern steam locomotive can cross the plains at the lightning speed of 15 mile per hour.  The only thing faster is a telegraph. (circa 1870)

Let’s get serious about money.  Are you overpaid?  Do you have golden handcuffs that will keep you from leaving?  Then you may never find another job without taking a pay cut.  If you are underpaid, you’ll get a new job quickly.  That’s just a fact.

How fast will you get a new job?  No one knows.  So it is probably best to start looking while you are still employed.

Again, here is the first step to finding out how fast you can find a job.

Don’t just ask your network to help you find a job.  Ask people how long it took for folks they know to find a job.  Search for stories of quick searches and also ask for horror stories.

————————–

Next:      Daydream

Audible

Down by 20 at halftime

Feel the fear, and¼

Signs you will be laid off or fired

Leave a comment

Posted in Finding jobs, Perseverance, Quitting or Fired

Tagged , , , ,