Victim of Merger

MisterB · 05-31-2007, 02:31 PM

It just feels weird, after 12.5 years I am out of employment. I knew I would probably have one more job change in my career however looking for a job after 12 years does not thrill me. I have not had much luck using headhunters. I have no choice but to be optimistic and take each day as it comes.

Ed

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

Sorry to hear. Best of luck to you - in adversity lies opportunity.

Avoid the headhunters - in my experience at least they're nothing but professional cheerleaders & time wasters. They'll talk you up and make you feel good about yourself, but ultimately deliver nothing.

Maybe try consulting? Or is this a complete career change/I-want-to-do-something-else kind of thing?

on2wheels52 · on2wheels52's Garage

I trust it wasn't a dream job, hope you hit the ground running. I've been self-employed so long I forget what resume/job applications were like.
I still remember the line one of the mechanics said when let go, "I was looking for a job when I found this one".
Jim

MBAtarga · 05-31-2007, 06:14 PM

What line of work are you in?

Joeaksa · 05-31-2007, 08:42 PM

Happened to me twice. No fault of your own and the company does something silly and all of a sudden 10-20% of the employees are on the street.

One door closes, another one usually opens... look at it as a positive thing and move ahead.

HardDrive · 05-31-2007, 08:56 PM

What do you do Mr. B?

MisterB · 06-01-2007, 03:25 AM

I was a VP & Controller for an equipment leasing company, responsible for financial reporting, budgeting and federal tax. It was a good paying job with nice perks. Starting over sucks.

Ed

Paul_Heery · Paul_Heery's Garage

I just went through this recently. I was "RA'd" as part of the current IBM Resource Action a couple of months back.

The best advice I can pass on comes from this quote by Slappy White, "The trouble with unemployment is that the minute you wake up in the morning you're on the job."

You should now be working harder than you ever did. The only difference is that your job now is to find a new job.

You need to include all types of approaches in your search. Most importantly, you need to network. People need to know that you are available and actively considering new opportunities. That's how I landed my new position.

I had informed an acquaintance that I was looking. A couple of days later he called and told me he had given my name to a headhunter. Later that day I was called by the headhunter and we had a lengthy, detailed conversation. He asked for a copy of my resume which I sent over to him. Now, I had dealt with headhunters before and would tend to agree that most of them are worthless. But, I got lucky. This guy was a true professional. He knew what I could do, and most importantly, wanted to do. He was extremely good at communicating with me.

To wrap up this story, less than three weeks ago I started my new job. It turned out to be very close to my dream job. I am being well-paid, have great benefits, and it is an excellent work environment. My new company has been listed as one of the top 100 places to work by Fortune for the last 7 years.

VaSteve · 06-01-2007, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MisterB
I was a VP & Controller for an equipment leasing company, responsible for financial reporting, budgeting and federal tax. It was a good paying job with nice perks. Starting over sucks.

Ed

If it's any consolation, good accountants/finance people are hard to find. So it should be easy to get something new. I would go with one of the temp/contract/consulting shops to get a little variety while you find the next big thing. A couple of searches and some time with the recruiters will tell you who the contract firms are.

Good luck!