One of the (Many) Things I Remember from the Days I Was Unemployed
The self-esteem
Ever heard of this advice, "Take this as a short break from your career. Do something less demanding for a little while," followed by, "You can always get a temporary job to pay the bills. Take your time to figure things out," first thing when you quit your job without another one waiting?
I thought they sounded as comforting as "Enjoy your vacation" ie not at all.
Here's (could be) the reality.
When you are unemployed, it should be no surprise to you that you'd lose your bargaining power (extent varies), even for a temporary job, let alone anything permanent or better than your previous one.
I once attended an interview for a data entry temp, and the interviewer made fun of my former employer, the Hell House -- THE giant O&G company. Some nerve. I probably have about a total of zero emotional connection to my former employer, but I've already cursed the guy enough (in my head).
And this one, I thought, was funnier: A recruitment company interviewed me for a temporary accounting post and sort of told me that I had a pretty good chance of getting the job. But I didn't hear from them for days, so I called the lady for the status. I was told, unfortunately, "the position has been filled", which is understandable.
Somehow, later that afternoon, the same lady called me, sounding like she'd never spoken to me before and the conversation went:
Lady: Would you like to come for a preliminary interview at our office?
Me: ?? I attended the preliminary interview last week. We just spoke this morning... (and this is the part where I reminded her how apologetic she was this morning for having to turn down my application because the position had been filled.)
Lady: Oh, that was you aa? Err, can I call you back? (and the line went dead).
Lol 😉.
Fast forward a couple of weeks...
The turnaround
The short(er) story is, I never managed to land any temporary job that I was told pretty easy to get. After I got a job in XYZ with, thank God, a slightly better post and pay than my Hell House's, only then was I offered a couple of other jobs and could actually negotiate some of the terms -- one thing I wouldn't even dare to think about two months earlier. (I was lucky I don't have very high standards. I was lucky they were pretty ok too.) Ok, I'll stop now because...
The point (I'm making to self) is
Letting go of a job is a choice. People may treat you differently following that. But so do you -- you may see the world in a different way too.
Ever heard of this advice, "Take this as a short break from your career. Do something less demanding for a little while," followed by, "You can always get a temporary job to pay the bills. Take your time to figure things out," first thing when you quit your job without another one waiting?
I thought they sounded as comforting as "Enjoy your vacation" ie not at all.
Here's (could be) the reality.
When you are unemployed, it should be no surprise to you that you'd lose your bargaining power (extent varies), even for a temporary job, let alone anything permanent or better than your previous one.
I once attended an interview for a data entry temp, and the interviewer made fun of my former employer, the Hell House -- THE giant O&G company. Some nerve. I probably have about a total of zero emotional connection to my former employer, but I've already cursed the guy enough (in my head).
And this one, I thought, was funnier: A recruitment company interviewed me for a temporary accounting post and sort of told me that I had a pretty good chance of getting the job. But I didn't hear from them for days, so I called the lady for the status. I was told, unfortunately, "the position has been filled", which is understandable.
Somehow, later that afternoon, the same lady called me, sounding like she'd never spoken to me before and the conversation went:
Lady: Would you like to come for a preliminary interview at our office?
Me: ?? I attended the preliminary interview last week. We just spoke this morning... (and this is the part where I reminded her how apologetic she was this morning for having to turn down my application because the position had been filled.)
Lady: Oh, that was you aa? Err, can I call you back? (and the line went dead).
Lol 😉.
Fast forward a couple of weeks...
The turnaround
The short(er) story is, I never managed to land any temporary job that I was told pretty easy to get. After I got a job in XYZ with, thank God, a slightly better post and pay than my Hell House's, only then was I offered a couple of other jobs and could actually negotiate some of the terms -- one thing I wouldn't even dare to think about two months earlier. (
The point (I'm making to self) is
Letting go of a job is a choice. People may treat you differently following that. But so do you -- you may see the world in a different way too.
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