Category Archives: Quitting or Fired

Volunteer to be the first person laid off

Posted on February 14, 2014 | Leave a comment

The best people have the hardest time finding jobs when they are laid off. It is a fact. It is not for the reason you are thinking.

This is my experience.

I was the only person out of 300 that knew for sure that layoffs were coming.  I had a mole in the headquarters in Dallas.  I asked my boss, Mike, when the layoffs were going to start.  He said, “There won’t be any layoffs.” Then, he checked with Dallas and was told there would not be any layoffs.

He was wrong, and I knew it.  My source sat 50 feet from the division president who was laying plans.

So I told Mike, “If there are layoffs, I want to be in the first group you let go.”

Mike assured me that it wouldn’t be necessary.  There would be no layoffs.

I started looking for a job and started a small recruiting company.  A week before the layoffs were announced I gave my 2 weeks notice.  My company, AGI, had its first contract.  Mike acknowledged that my timing was perfect.  The only thing that could have gone better was waiting a week so I got severance pay.  The new job security was a lot better than any severance pay.

Everyone who was laid off in the first group got a job immediately.  Everyone. And they were the problem children that managers wanted to get rid of.

There were more layoffs.  The people laid off 6  months later didn’t find as many open jobs as the first group.  Those laid off a few months after that were unemployed for a lot longer.

The funny thing is that the best employees were laid off last.  But they couldn’t find jobs.  Why?

By the time they were laid off, there was a serious business malaise.  All the local companies had staffed their urgent projects.  Now everyone was afraid to hire more people.  So the best people had the hardest time finding jobs.

Isn’t it strange that the best workers, the most loyal staff, the absolutely essential people all had a hard time finding jobs? The reason is that they were let go at the absolute worst possible time.  Every job was filled months before. They were hurt the most by their own loyalty.

Are you concerned about layoffs?  Even if you are planning to stay, start setting yourself up for a job. Start setting yourself up for a promotion. Work harder than ever.  Take over new tasks.  Figure out how to make the company more money. Write a resume and hand it to your boss.  Ask for a promotion or an award for doing so well.  Don’t worry about a raise. Worry about getting recognized for exceptional performance where you are.  Then figure out if you really should look for a new job.

And consider asking to be the first person laid off.

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Posted in Finding jobs, Quitting or Fired

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Sample resignation letter and comments

Posted on February 7, 2014 | Leave a comment

When you quit, make a clean break.  Offer to work for two weeks.  Let them know you have made up your mind. Don’t tell anyone at work where you are going.  Use this letter:

Date

Name of Person Resigning To

Company

Address

City, State  ZIP

 

Dear Boss,

Please accept this letter as my official notice of resignation. I appreciate the work we have been able to accomplish together at [company name], but I have now made a commitment to another organization and will begin with them in two weeks.

It is my intention to work diligently with you to wrap up as much as possible in the next two weeks to make my resignation as smooth as possible. If you have any suggestions on how we can best accomplish that goal, I hope you will share your thoughts with me, as I am eager to leave on the most positive note possible.

 

Sincerely,

Sign your name here

Type your name here

This sample resignation letter has been used by hundreds of candidates that we have placed.  It is a very professional way of telling your employer that you are leaving, that you resign.  This letter informs them of your decision to leave, thanks them for your learning experiences, tells them why you are leaving, and states to them your last day of work.  It also informs them that your decision is unchangeable and that you will assist them after you leave should they need to call on you.

Please, don’t tell anyone at work where your new job is.  Sometimes people are surprised at their new job by lawsuits forcing their new employer to let them go. Even if there is no basis for the suit, your new employer may not want to fight it. Make it a clean break.

Your employer can react to your resignation in a number of different ways.  I caution you on this because we have helped all of our candidates through the resignation process.  One reaction can be “You picked a fine time to leave” or “What did I do to you?”  Another reaction is “What company are you going to?” or “What are they offering you?  Perhaps we can match their offer.”

When the “guilt laying” occurs or if they try to flatter you by offering more money to stay, you must understand that your company doesn’t want to lose you.  It means they’ll have to spend time and money to find your replacement.  And that can be a real pain.  But the truth is they can live without you.  The reasons you are leaving are not going to change because you accept a counteroffer.  The other two reactions may be no reaction at all, or you may be terminated on the spot.  If the latter should happen (and it does happen), call your recruiter or new employer immediately and arrange a different start date.

Please call your recruiter after you have given notice.  This call can relieve any stress you may have felt prior to resigning.

Remember, people give notice every day, and employers expect it.  Many employers handle it as professionally as you do. The ones that don’t?  That just means you were right to leave.

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Posted in Quitting or Fired

How to be sure of your career direction. Can you?

Posted on January 27, 2014 | Leave a comment

It can be difficult if not impossible to know where your career should go.  It’s not that you can’t pick a direction, it is making sure it is the right direction.  You may climb the career ladder of success, only to find out it is leaning against the wrong wall.

Here is a great article on how to figure out where you should go.

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Posted in Focus, management, Perseverance, Promotions, Quitting or Fired

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Can you outlive a job at an evil company?

Posted on January 16, 2014 | Leave a comment

Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will.  And outlive the bastards. (Lois McMaster Bujold)

I know two accountants who were in leading positions when something went wrong: fraud.  Both did exactly the right thing.  Both had to pay a price.  Both will recover.  The folks who were actually at fault are ruined.

One accountant didn’t like the basic morals of the company leaders.  He quit.  Two years later massive fraud was discovered.  He got out because he didn’t like the feel of the place.  Because the fraud started under his rule he was investigated.  He had done everything right, but his reputation was still blackened by association.  He’ll be fine in five years.  If he had stayed, it would take a lot longer even if he was not at fault.

The other accountant discovered massive fraud at his company.  His bosses were doing it.  He took a briefcase full of evidence and his lawyer to the Feds. Some of the bad guys went to jail. A year after the leadership was replaced, he was fired.  It took him a year to get a job and five years to clean up his reputation.

Both men guarded their honor.  Their reputation was sullied for a while, but they did outlive the bastards.

There is always time to do what is right, to be honorable.  Your reputation may suffer for a while, but you’ll recover.  It is worth quitting if the morals of your company are questionable.  It is never wrong to turn in your company for breaking the law.

Something To Do Today            

Do what is right, let the consequence follow.

————————–

Later:  We’ll see.

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Posted in Attitude, Quitting or Fired

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How to deal with absolute idiots, bosses, and 6 year olds

Posted on December 20, 2013 | Leave a comment

Into everyone’s life comes people who just don’t get it.  There is even a chance that you will be that person for someone else at some time.  The fact is, no one sets out to be an idiot.  They are always well intentioned, they just don’t get it.  So how do you deal with an absolute idiot? What if he’s your boss?

Pretend he is 6.

How do you deal with a 6 year old?  If they are not causing any real trouble you just smile and ignore them.  Sure, you correct them occasionally, but you let them mature until they understand something about life.  Smile and enjoy it.  You don’t spread malicious gossip.  Why should you?  They are only 6 after all.

And what if the 6 year old just gets too annoying? Do you gossip behind his back? Do you shoot him for target practice?  No.  You give him chores.  If you can, you give him chores that will educate him and make him less of an idiot. Otherwise you just have him do a lot of things that need to be done.  That gets him out of your hair, and gets things done.  In the end he may even learn that if he is annoying, he gets more chores to do.

If that 6 year old is destroying property or reputation, you take him aside tell him to stop, and tell him what the consequences are if he doesn’t stop.  Then you follow through.  He may consider it a threat.  You should just consider it a statement of fact. You essentially tell a 6 year old, “I love you too much to let you do that.”

What if the 6 year old isn’t yours?  Then you politely draw boundaries with the kid.  If the kid goes past them, you rudely let him know. You call his mom if he won’t cooperate.

Can you do that to your boss?

What if the idiot is your boss?  Same thing.  I mean, do the same things.

Sometimes you just have to smile at your boss and let him go about doing whatever he wants.  If he is doing something destructive, give him chores – try to help him see that there are things he can do that will help, or at least won’t slow people down.

If your boss is destroying property or reputation, take him aside and tell him what the consequences are if he doesn’t stop.  Are you telling his boss?  Leaving the company? Asking for a transfer?  Let your boss know that what he is doing is absolutely unacceptable and you will not allow him to continue doing it.  Be prepared in case he fires you.  Think about it, if your boss is damaging your reputation, won’t you be better off looking for a new job?

Of course there is always the final way to get rid of an idiot.  Move.  Get a new job or a new house.  Maybe you should try the other things I mentioned first. Treat the idiots in your life like a 6 year old.  It will preserve your mental health.

Something To Do Today

Don’t get mad at idiots.  Get an attitude change.  Look at them as really big 6 year olds.

————————–

Later: Did you notice that job boards are mostly ads by agencies?

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Posted in Attitude, management, Quitting or Fired

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Are you paid enough?

Posted on October 29, 2013 | Leave a comment

I help people get paid enough.

A lot of folks are underpaid.  I’ve gotten a few people 50% pay raises.

I try not to get them paid too much.  If they are paid too much they get laid off.

This article gives some good answers to the question, “Are you paid enough?”

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Posted in Negotiating, Promotions, Quitting or Fired, Raises

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You have to give me a job – the scariest phrase I hear

Posted on September 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

How would you react to a candidate who said, “You have to give me a new job.  I am seriously considering suicide.”

I deal with that problem for real, literally.  Forgive me, please, all of you suicide counselors, but I react the same way to that statement as I do to a threat on my life.  The people who make that comment are a threat to me, my family, and my job. We have literally locked the front door of the office when worried about someone who made that comment.

You tend to infect people with your attitude.  We locked the door because we were physically scared.  Of course, we didn’t physically expect to get infected, but becoming psychologically infected is worse than a physical problem.  When your mind is infected with hopelessness and negativity it takes a lot of work and treatment to become employable.

Nowadays men lead lives of noisy desperation. (James Thurber)

There are ways to change your attitude.  If it really is caused by your job, you may want to quit right now.  The trouble is that most of the time the job does not cause the attitude, and quitting may make it worse.

What you need to do is grab a book that helps you change that attitude. Go to Amazon and under books search for “attitude”.  I like to get samples of the books delivered electronically to find out if I really want to buy them.  You can get a Kindle reader for your PC just for that purpose.

No one has to give you a job.  You have to earn a job.  Figure out what you can do to have an attitude that someone else wants to get infected with. Work at it. Get a book or get a counselor.

————————-

Something To Do Today

Check out two books on changing your attitude from the library.  One interesting one is “Learned Optimism”.  There are a lot of books that can help.

—————————-

Later:             Inferiority

3-do’s

Networking facts

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Posted in Attitude, Interviews, Quitting or Fired

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Quitting for more money is new?

Posted on August 27, 2013 | Leave a comment

America believes in education: the average professor earns more in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week. (Evan Esar)

News Flash from the Wall Street Journal:

People are changing jobs to get more money!

Even worse, the best employees, the most valued workers, are the ones most likely to quit for more money. These are the best paid people that are quitting for more money.

Seriously, that was in the WSJ.  It was a first. And it still applies today.

The reason it made news is because all the old surveys and studies show you will be dissatisfied with money but not quit over it unless it is way low.  You are supposed to quit because you dislike your boss, the company policies, your duties, or your advancement opportunities.

Some studies are showing that people are now quitting for money more often.  This is probably caused by years of 3% raises.  All of a sudden money is more than a dissatisfier, it is a reason to change jobs all on its own.

I’m not suggesting YOU quit only for money.  I’m just letting you know that I’m willing to learn something new.

Maybe you should get a copy of this posting and put it on your boss’s desk.

Something to do today

Do you dare put a copy of this posting on your boss’s desk?

Just a thought.

————————–

Coming up

Back to job hunting

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Posted in Economy, Promotions, Quitting or Fired, Raises

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Why the best people have the hardest time finding jobs when laid off

Posted on August 1, 2013 | Leave a comment

The best people have the hardest time finding jobs when they are laid off. It is a fact. It is not for the reason you are thinking.

This is my experience.

I was the only person out of 300 that knew for sure that layoffs were coming.  I had a mole in the headquarters in Dallas.  I asked my boss, Mike, when the layoffs were going to start.  He said, “There won’t be any layoffs.” Nevertheless, he checked with Dallas and was told there would not be any layoffs.

He was wrong, and I knew it.  My source sat 50 feet from the division president who was laying plans.

So I told Mike, “If there are layoffs, I want to be in the first group you let go.”

Mike assured me that it wouldn’t be necessary.  There would be no layoffs.

I started looking for a job and started a small recruiting company.  A week before the layoffs were announced I gave my 2 weeks notice.  My company, AGI, had its first contract.  Mike acknowledged that my timing was perfect.  The only thing that could have gone better was waiting a week so I got severance pay.  The new job security was a lot better than any severance pay.

Everyone who was laid off in the first group got a job immediately.  Everyone.

There were more layoffs.  The people laid off 6  months later didn’t find as many open jobs as the first group.  Those laid off a few months after that were unemployed for a lot longer.

The funny thing is that the best employees were laid off last.  But they couldn’t find jobs.  Why?

By the time they were laid off, there was a serious business malaise.  All the local companies had staffed their urgent projects.  Now everyone was afraid to hire more people.  So the best people had the hardest time finding jobs.

Isn’t it strange that the best workers, the most loyal staff, the absolutely essential people all had a hard time finding jobs? The reason is that they were let go at the absolute worst possible time.  Every job was filled months before. They were hurt the most by their own loyalty.

Are you concerned about layoffs?  Even if you are planning to stay, start setting yourself up for a job. Start setting yourself up for a promotion. Work harder than ever.  Take over new tasks.  Figure out how to make the company more money. Write a resume and hand it to your boss.  Ask for a promotion or an award for doing so well.  Don’t worry about a raise. Worry about getting recognized for exceptional performance where you are.  Then figure out if you really should look for a new job.

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Posted in Economy, Finding jobs, Perseverance, Quitting or Fired

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Give up and go elsewhere when things are bad

Posted on July 31, 2013 | Leave a comment

I found a great job for someone and was told”

“If I leave, deliveries will stop, sales will stop, and a lot of people will be out of work. I’m going to have to turn down this job.  I owe it to my boss and coworkers to see them through these hard times.”

Is this you? What’s next?  Layoffs 3 weeks later.  Suddenly it really is self sacrifice because you are laid off.  And you may lose the house too.

First secure an independent income, then practice virtue. (Greek proverb)

I am not saying to abandon ship when you are needed.  I am saying that you must be aware of what really is happening.  You finding a new job may free up enough money to save another person’s job.  The shock of your resignation may be what finally gets through to the big boys that things are going badly.  Sometimes a company is going bankrupt no matter how heroic everyone is. Reality is not always what you think it is.

When business is bad it taints your whole outlook.  You see problems everywhere.  In your distorted world, no business can be thriving.  You are wrong.  Some are growing.  Don’t be afraid to join them. I guarantee that you are replaceable. If not, the problems are so severe you should leave anyway.

There is an alternative. A while ago I was talking to an accountant at a company that was in bankruptcy.  He said, “I am earning more money than ever before.”  They REALLY couldn’t afford to lose him, so they gave him bonuses and guarantees. If you are the hero, make sure you are compensated and protected.

When business looks bad, it may be time to leave.  Don’t let the lens of self sacrifice or fear fool you.  Many times what is best for you, leaving, is also best for the company. If you really are indispensable, get paid and protected for it.  If they might fire you for asking to get paid for your risk, you are not indispensable.

Something to do today

Is business bad?  Find someone you trust who has business experience.  Talk with them about whether you should stay where you are or find a new job.  You may just need an outsider’s perspective.

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Coming up

How to ruin a phone interview

Start a new job excellently

New and better or cheaper

How everyone else sees you

The difference between fertilizer and ****

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Posted in Attitude, Counteroffers, Economy, Finding jobs, Negotiating, Promotions, Quitting or Fired

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