The Unfortunate Market…
Well…. this wasn’t something I was expecting to ever happen to me. I just got laid off today.
Over the past few weeks, I have had a little voice in the back of my mind that this would happen, but I think I just pushed it away. But honestly, I should have seen it from a mile away, I hadn’t really been given any solid work to do that would carry me throughout the week. I was always asking for more work, or finding ways to slightly extend the time I was working on something so that I did have something to do. I’ve never been let go before, and I know it wasn’t my fault, but ouch I didn’t think I would be so emotional about it. I kept a straight face while I was packing up my things at least. My mind just went numb and I was on autopilot. I was leaving work early that day too because I was about to head up to Hume Lake for a retreat. So mind = blank.
I will say that even though there was very short notice, I at least got benefits. I mean these are probably required when you are laying people off, and it is through no fault of their own, but benefits nonetheless. I got my last paycheck - in full, plus the three days of paid time off that I had accrued up till then. Plus I will be getting another full two weeks as my severance pay. All I have to do is sign a termination contract and give it back to my boss. So at least I am not being just left out to dry. I also get to use my boss as a professional reference for future jobs I apply to.
The next steps I get to do now are….
Apply for unemployment
Apply for food stamps / Medicare
Update my resume and portfolio
And then brave the job market and start applying for positions
I am a bit overwhelmed at the moment because I feel like all the plans I had made for the next year sort of blew up in my face and now I need to rearrange everything. But I know this isn’t the end, I just need to stay positive and look at this from a different angle. I was planning on moving away from San Luis Obispo anyway at the end of next year (2024) with my boyfriend. So this just moved my timeline up a bit haha. Also depending on what firm I end up with, I could get more architectural experience in areas that I wouldn’t have if I had stayed at Catch Architecture. I need the scope of projects and tasks to vary a bit more so I can get all of the AXP hours that I need to apply toward my licensure.
In the end, there are benefits, it just stinks a bit that I have to deal with them now - unexpectedly - rather than having control over when I do deal with them. But hey that’s life, there are always going to be things that happen that will be unexpected, it’s the way you handle them after that fact that will dictate the outcome.
