When I was fired I had no idea that within a month I’d be firing people. You just can’t make this stuff up. The evening that I was fired I got a call from a friend who invited me to help with his start-up. Pretty quickly we realized that the organization was in real trouble. …
We all know that networking is the answer, no matter what the question. But networking isn’t making new friends on the bus. It’s connecting and re-connecting with people from your past who can vouch for what you can bring to an organization. Who can open doors for you, and would be willing to speak up …
Want to know what it feels like to be fired? It’s easy, go out and let all the air out of your car’s tires. Sure you can get from point A to point B, but it’s a bumpy and precarious ride. Welcome to life as a recently fired person. Your immediate concern after being fired …
I remember the feeling of being on a short leash when I was growing up. Whenever I forgot about it, my parents would yank it just to remind me. Unemployment is like that too. I got an email for a mandatory meeting with four days notice. There was no option for rescheduling it, and the …
I woke up in the middle of the night physically shaking, frozen in fear about how I’d pay my bills. I had totally soaked through my sheets, so I had to climb out of my unintentional water bed. Once I realized what was going on, I decided I would go online and do some research …
If a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, getting back into the work game begins with re-writing your resume. Sure, networking is how you’ll find an opportunity, but resumes are the foundation of your networking. A quick confession, I haven’t written a resume in fifteen years. Ever since I’d become an …
When I started networking after I was fired, yes, I actually follow the advice that I’ve been writing about for the last sixteen years, I came across an interesting issue. Do you use the “F” word with potential employers? You know, fired. My initial tendency was to avoid it. I moved on, I was let …
On Friday I was fired. It’s 48 hours later, and I decided to blog about the emotional roller coaster ride that I unexpectedly found myself riding on. I’m never going to mention the name of the company, because its not about them. It’s about anyone who has ever been fired, and the journey that we …
Blog #5. Fired in real time: What the fallen need to hear Read More »
One phrase comes to mind as I started calling my friends to tell them that I had been fired, “a little bit pregnant.” I’m a guy, so please remember, this is a metaphor. I’ll explain. The American Dream isn’t just big cars and summer houses. No, at it’s heart is the belief that everyone has …
Within an hour or so of being fired, I somehow ended up at a Whole Foods grocery store. It wasn’t on my way home, so I’m not really sure how, or why, I ended up there. Still partially in a fog, I was surprised to look down to see my hands pushing a grocery cart …
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
