Out of work
This blog, a chronicle of the pain of my recent job loss, has particularly resonated with my fellow Cornell alums on LinkedIn. I posted it on the Cornell alumni LinkedIn group and I receive daily notices from other Cornellians who have recently gone through the same stages of grief. Since they have been posting to LinkedIn and not directly to this blog I thought I would share some of their comments (while keeping their identities private) here.
I was laid off a few weeks ago and am having a difficult time finding a job! I am either over or under qualified for most jobs out there and companies are not willing to take the risk to hire me in either scenario.
Hi, I was laid off for the first time about a month ago. Interesting experience, indeed.
I was laid off last fall from a position as Senior Graphic Designer.
My company laid me off and the entire Construction and Development Dept (Shopping Center Development) in Dec 09.
I was laid off two weeks ago from my director job at a business consulting firm. Companies that we were doing business with or trying to develop new business with stopped spending and my firm had to let many people go.
Its been 7 months since being laid off from a SVP Marketing position with no prospects to date for replacing anywhere near the income or role.
I was laid off 5 weeks ago and it is starting to get rough to deal with now. Too much time on my hands and no prospects coming through. It’s nice to have a place to vent.
All of these were written by Cornell alumni. We were the kids who were tops in our class when we showed up for college in Ithaca, NY only to find ourselves surrounded by lots of other high school superstars. Generally I have found that Cornell alums go onto great success. That is perhaps why these posts are resonating so with me. This economy makes no discrimination. The line worker at GM. The commercial real estate developer with an Ivy League degree. We’re all in this together.
2 Comments
Well put Mel – we’re all in it together – and it’s gonna take people like you, me, everyone now out of work, to be creative and figure out a better way out of this mess.
I can’t help but think that something must be wrong with the economy for talented folks like this to be on the sidelines. But can’t picture them on the sidelines for long, as I’d bet they either start something up themselves – like you 🙂 – or hook up with an innovative, smaller type of company.
Thanks Brett. That’s what I’m hearing in private messages from our fellow alums as well. People who once were directors and VP’s in corporate America are saying enough is enough and heading out on their own in creative endeavors like yours and mine. All the best to you and the gang at Chrometa.