I got fired in 2010. The job by that point had become so miserable and soul-sucking, I wanted to quit so bad, but my job search kept coming up empty. The day they fired me (which was the day after I lost my patience and called my supervisor a "fucking idiot"), I was so happy. I wanted to get a bottle of champagne for the out-processing.
The job market sucked, so I got a Real Estate license and did that while drawing unemployment for a while until I got a job in another state.
If I lost my job now, it would be total BOHICA (Bend Over, Here It Comes Again). I'm going through a divorce that wiped me out and maxed out my credit, plus I have to short sale the house which is impacting my ability to borrow more for my financial vampire ex-wife and the divorce mediator she chose.
One of my goals for the next few years is to build up an FU fund, 6 months to a year worth of expenses so I'm never put in this kind of position again.
For guys losing their jobs, I recommend being mobile. Be willing to relocate if you have to. Another engineer was laid off a month or so after I was. I had a job in 6 months, because my mindset was "I don't care what you call me, as long as you pay me. These are my skills. What do you want me to do?" He insisted on staying in the same location and wouldn't consider a job that wasn't "Electrical Engineer". It took him more than 2 years to find another job.
If the job I moved for hadn't come through, I was making a list of every part of the country where I knew somebody I could stay with for a few months to get off the ground and find longer-term accomodations.
The job market sucked, so I got a Real Estate license and did that while drawing unemployment for a while until I got a job in another state.
If I lost my job now, it would be total BOHICA (Bend Over, Here It Comes Again). I'm going through a divorce that wiped me out and maxed out my credit, plus I have to short sale the house which is impacting my ability to borrow more for my financial vampire ex-wife and the divorce mediator she chose.
One of my goals for the next few years is to build up an FU fund, 6 months to a year worth of expenses so I'm never put in this kind of position again.
For guys losing their jobs, I recommend being mobile. Be willing to relocate if you have to. Another engineer was laid off a month or so after I was. I had a job in 6 months, because my mindset was "I don't care what you call me, as long as you pay me. These are my skills. What do you want me to do?" He insisted on staying in the same location and wouldn't consider a job that wasn't "Electrical Engineer". It took him more than 2 years to find another job.
If the job I moved for hadn't come through, I was making a list of every part of the country where I knew somebody I could stay with for a few months to get off the ground and find longer-term accomodations.