It has now been two weeks since I was laid off and I am finally settling in to my new found free time (though not to comfy, I’m still looking for work). In this time I have found there are two philosophies on being laid off, either you don’t talk about it or you tell the world (though I’m sure there might be a middle ground as well).

Some people see being laid off as a comment on the person, therefore you should hide the fact at all cost. They seem to blend together getting downsized and just plain getting fired. Others like myself, differentiate the two. Layoffs to me are a part of life. Companies are constantly restructuring and trying to save money (or make more) and strategies used for this include downsizing and outsorcing. No matter how comfortable you are in a job, this is always possible. So I have taken to telling anyone who will care to listen that I have been laid off. The way I look at it, the more people that know, the more likely I am to find out about the job possibilities that are out there.

In the mean time, after straightening out my resume and starting the job application process, I am now starting to get used to not having to go to work every morning. That doesn’t mean I lie in bed all day (a good as that might sound), instead I have been going to school with my wife, and working form there. There are less distractions for me at MUN and it is allowing me to get some IEEE work done and focus on writing my thesis.

I haven’t posted in a while, because life was busy. It’s amazing how quickly that can change. On Monday, first thing in the morning at work, I was called into a meeting. The company I worked for was taking a different direction with its products and it created a lack of work for software developers. The engineering team was downsized, and I was out of work.

So in the last couple of days, I have been getting organized, applying for EI and writing job applications. As much as I used to hate looking for jobs (work terms that is), I now find it somewhat refreshing. Don’t get me wrong, I would prefer to have a stable job any day, but job hunting gives you a chance to see what’s out there.

My last two jobs involved programming and software design. In one, I worked on a large system written entirely in Java and JSP with a web front end. In the other, I worked with desktop apps and microprocessors, sometimes fighting to squeeze on more byte out of the size of my code. Now, I get the chance to see what’s out there, decide what’s next. Do I want to continue programming, and if so, will it be “in the large” or “in the small?” Do I want to move to a role with more project management?

I’m not sure where the next weeks will take me, except that in the near future I should have a new job. Until then, I will spend my time working on my thesis, applying for work and catching up on some volunteer work. Wish me luck…