21–27 of 27 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"...there are worse things in life than being out of a job." Yes, but probably not many. I think being unemployed ranks pretty highly in all the 'most stressful life event' lists.
There's some truth to the old saying "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" though. In fact, I'd argue that stressful events are required for growth.
Getting fired generally says one of two things:
1) You weren't right for the job/company, but you had to have it pointed out to you (whether or not it's your fault), or 2) The company wasn't doing well, and rather than seeing that and getting out on your own, you waited until the company couldn't afford to keep you on (which doesn't necessarily mean you weren't pulling your weight, mind you).
When I take a job, I want to be the one who decides when it's time to leave. I may leave because I feel I've learned or advanced as much as possible, or because I don't believe the company and I are going in the same direction, or because I feel the company has a strong possibility of failure. And just as important, when I leave, I don't want people to be happy that I'm gone, although I don't want my departure to be overly bad for the company either.
Being fired may be able to teach you something, but it's more likely to mean you weren't paying attention.
I was fired at 19 years old, while I was being groomed to be in sales for the company I worked for. They decided that I didn't have "it" and would never make it in sales, so they didn't bother to train me or give me a shot. I then got a tool dealer (selling wrenches and screwdrivers) franchise and was 8th of 430 the next year for sales. I ended up making more than the partners of the firm that fired me (I had done th…
The first was because I fought for a better way to do things since the company didn't seem to go anywhere with launching their first product (startup). I had to make a stance: fight or sink with the company. Fired because they thought I was unhappy working there.
I was happy to be let go. I didn't enjoy working there anymore. The company is neither alive nor dead.
The second was because my role was considered a "luxurious" to have during the hard time of the company (they downsized 2.5 weeks before they decided to let me go). 1.5 weeks before I was let go, my supervisor informed me that my work was "in the line of being successful". I didn't know that their situation was really that bad. When I joined, I thought they were in a very good financial position.
The second time was tough, cause I just lost my job a few months before. Having said that, I was planning to quit 2 more months before it happened cause the job was really boring and have no concrete goal.
Every time after I got fired, my mind was clouded by the possibility of doing my own startup, learning different programming languages, learning new frameworks, blogging or something else. Should I make a web-app? should I make an iPhone app? should I sell something online? What should I do (copied from LeBron's Nike ad hehe)?
As someone mentioned in this thread: one thing about being fired is that you get a chance to collect unemployment.
Within that year, I took some time off to step back and think hard. Afterward, I managed to make a few key decisions. One of them was a tough one: decided not to pursue programming as a career. Instead, I chose Sys-Admin. Worked my ass off to get certified.
These days, things are more stable for me. I enjoy my life better than before.
No more indecision which programming language I should learn, fear that there will be another complicated framework to be released soon, overwhelmed by the job requirements as a developer (ranging from XML, to agile, to various RDBMS, to testing/algorithms/design patterns), fighting with your colleagues which solution is better (we're not even talking about building a gold standard code, just a simple should you use singleton or not, especially when you want your code to be unit-testable).
The money is good. The career is quite stable. My mind is clear now. I also joined the iPhone/iPad movement recently. But instead of coding the app, I outsource everything. I might run my own web-startup one day cause I'm still curious and feel unrest if I haven't done it. But, again, I will outsource everything to someone else.
And so, after my 6th job in 3.5 years, I decided to do what I had been itching to do for the last 2 or 3 of them, but not had the balls to do, given the conventionality of the steady W-2 paycheck. I've been running my VoIP consultancy for almost 36 months now and I am still here, growing steadily and slowly - but growing. It's twice the work, half the money, but I'm a whole lot happier for it. I don't think I would be exaggerating to say that I needed someone to kick me in the ass and push me out of the plane, or I might not have gone down this path for quite a while yet.
Ironically, and pleasantly, the same CEO sent me a lot of consulting work, especially early on, and continues to be an important relationship for me. When I occasionally come in, he shakes my hand and says it's nice to see me and asks, "how's business?"
I was fired at 19 years old, while I was being groomed to be in sales for the company I worked for. They decided that I didn't have "it" and would never make it in sales, so they didn't bother to train me or give me a shot. I then got a tool dealer (selling wrenches and screwdrivers) franchise and was 8th of 430 the next year for sales. I ended up making more than the partners of the firm that fired me (I had done th…
Can you share what kind of businesses you run now?