[Porsche-O-Phile]

Getting laid off SUCKS. It's the single worst experience I've ever gone through; if you recall it happened to me in 2008. I was out of work almost an entire year, lost a house and almost $100k in savings / retirement, had to move cross-country to a place / situation I'm not really all that crazy about, plus went through much more I won't post here... If there's any upside I'll say it helped me reorganize my life priorities. I'll never again be a "company guy". I was the most senior guy at my last firm (aside from the principal / founder) and still got whacked. Everyone (8 people) did on the same day except one person that was kept on as a part time drafter and another that was a part time bookkeeper / office clerk. It was a horrible time. I now very deliberately put myself / my life first all the time and don't get sucked into the whole "the more you burn the more you earn" schyte. I don't give a fk what other people in the office think of me. I make money and kick ass when I need to and that's good enough - if it ain't and they want to let me go, oh well. They would have anyway. It just ain't worth it. Employers will get my knowledge and talent (in exchange for renumeration of course!) but never again my loyalty. Sure I'll bust my ass when needed and make money and I am damn good at what I do, but I'll never again let work / job / career take over my life he way I once did. Life is too short and nobody is non-expendable. I'll eventually start my own practice (once I get settled post-relocation) which will be a different animal. Again, I think getting laid off and going through all that hell made me really realize how much I don't want to keep working for other people and making them rich off of my contributions. Now that I've more or less recovered and gotten myself into a situation where I can go anywhere and have a good chance of making it I'm working on doing that. I doubt I'd have done it if I hadn't gone through that experience. I likely would've gotten complacent and settled (I did have a damn nice gig and actually do now too, but the "chip on my shoulder" that the experience out there is proving to be a helpful and even positive motivator to go do it).

Best of luck. Try to stay positive - there's no bigger morale-killer but try to stay a gated work-wise and not just fall apart. I know it's hard to do, believe me. That said, place yourself, your needs and your interests first (and right now one of those is interviewing for a replacement job, building networks, etc.)