About 4:30 yesterday afternoon, I was sitting at my desk, working on my current project, when our team lead asked three other IT people and me to come to the conference room. “Sure, I’ll be right there,” I said.
Our VP of development was waiting for us there, in a somber mood. I saw envelopes on the desk with our initials on them. The VP told us that the company, still in its startup phase, had been hit by the tough economic times, and was forced to respond by letting some people go. “I’m sorry, but today is your last day,” he told us. I could tell he really didn’t want to do it, but the orders had come down from the CEO and the board. We cleaned out our desks, met with an IT recruiter who he’d asked to be there, and that was it. The envelope contained recommendation letters and our final paychecks, as well as pay for unused vacation days. “We want you to know this is not performance-based,” said the VP. “If things turn around, we’ll have you back in a heartbeat.”
Wow. That was totally unexpected. I mean, I knew it was a startup and a job there was not as safe as, say, FedEx, but still, I never saw it coming.
My reaction? I’m not panicking or devastated. With the last paychecks, I have about 4 months’ living expenses in the bank, and income that continues to come in from my web-based stores and affiliate marketing sites. Also, people with 4 years of .NET programming experience, as well as PHP and MySQL, don’t stay unemployed long, no matter what the economy is doing. So I know I’ll be okay. It could have been worse… the other three people let go were Indian, and for them, not having a job could mean they have to leave the country. Thank goodness I don’t have to worry about that.
The only real sadness I feel is that it will be hard to find another company as good as that one. Management always treated me well, accepting my request last spring to move from .NET to open source development. I got to work with some incredibly talented people on a great product. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about the company, and if you’re in management or HR and need background-checking services, I recommend them highly. I had to look at competitors’ sites as I developed, and having seen them I can honestly say our company is the best in the field.
On the other hand, I definitely see a silver lining in being let go, for several reasons. For one thing, it will give me a chance to really ramp up development on my own websites. Saving Consumers Time is already becoming successful – people are finding it through Google and ordering stuff through the links. Trouble was, I hardly ever had time to work on it, except on the weekends and maybe a random hour here and there after work. I had actually considered taking a hiatus from Sunday brunch until spring to give myself that day to work on websites. Now I have 40 extra hours a week. My goal was “30 by 30,” 30 articles on Saving Consumers Time by November 30 (currently I have 5 up, and a 6th in development). Now I will be able to get to 30 much sooner.
Also, it’ll be nice to have some free time. Yesterday I had to run by Bardog Tavern at lunch and pick up my debit card, which I had left there the night before. My friend Brooke was bartending. “With a 30 minute lunch break, I’ll never get to see her,” I thought. “I wish I could bring my laptop here and work.” Now I can. I’ll probably take the laptop up there this afternoon and work on Saving Consumers Time for a few hours. I’m actually a lot more productive in that kind of setting than I am in a cubicle.
I’ll get to catch up on sleep as well. The Dempseys play the Flying Saucer tonight, and it’s nice to know I can stay for all three of their sets (the last ending at 1:30 AM) and still get a decent amount of sleep. For a few weeks I can follow my body’s natural rhythm, which seems to be to go to bed around 2 and get up at 9, rather than have a schedule dictate when I sleep.
As for job hunting, I’m going to get in touch with my three best recruiter contacts tomorrow, and let them know that I’m officially on the job market as of November 3. Until then I’m going to take some time off, work on my web projects, and just generally enjoy life in Downtown Memphis. I’ll let them know that if anything exceptional comes along – meaning, as good as the job I just left – I’ll go ahead and talk to them. Otherwise, though, I want the next 2 1/2 weeks for myself.
Several people, over the past months, have contacted me about doing websites or other consulting projects, which I had to turn down because I didn’t have time. I’m now available if you still want to talk. Contact me at paul@paulryburn.com.
And, of course, if you know of positions for which I’d be a good fit, I’d like to hear about those as well. My resume is not up-to-date at the moment because I hadn’t planned on job hunting, but here are the basics – senior-level developer with 4 years .NET experience in both VB.NET and C# with SQL Server. I’ve worked with PHP and MySQL for years on my own, and about 6 months ago I got the chance to do enterprise-level PHP development, working with one of the most talented programmers in the field. My writing skills are also an asset – 3 years of Best Blog awards from the Memphis Flyer, and check out Saving Consumers Time for professional writing samples, and for evidence of my understanding of search engine optimization. In addition, I have 5 years experience teaching computer literacy and math full-time at a major university.
In summary: Losing the job is a setback, but I see opportunities as well as losses. Reacting with fear and panic is not productive. I’m completely confident that I will land on my feet, and in the meantime I’m going to enjoy some well-deserved time off.
Plans for today: I’m going to deposit my final paychecks, walk to the election commission and vote for my man Barack, drink a beer at the Flying Saucer, walk around the Main Street Mall for a while and enjoy the fact that I don’t have to go sit in a cubicle all afternoon, then about 2 I’ll take the laptop up to Bardog and work on Saving Consumers Time while enjoying a few $2.50 PBRs ($1.50 once the clock hits 5 and happy hour starts). After that I’ll attend the block party on Main Street to congratulate the Majestic Grille, Circa, Shelton Clothiers, Center for Southern Folklore, and Blue Fin on their Memphis Flyer Best Of awards. And then at 9:30, The Dempseys take the stage at the Saucer.
Probably more posts to come today, now that I have extra time.