Sometimes, just when you think you have it all figured out, life comes along and delivers a solid punch right to the gut. That was my life this week. I’d just gotten a nice raise. I had my budget for the next six months sorted, giving me all the spending money I would need for my planned vacations.
Then, out of nowhere, my company was hit with a financial blow and in order to survive it, they needed to make some hard decisions. I was one of quite a number of people who were let go…laid off. Unfortunately, the technical writer is always one of the first positions on the chopping block.
I’ve been here before. In fact, I’ve been laid off of every job I’ve had since I left El Paso, Texas in 1999. Of course, I get asked at times like these why I don’t pursue any of my other skill sets, since writers get the brunt.
I do have other skill sets. I’m a good manager, of both projects and people. I could brush up my rusty data analysis skills. I could upgrade any of a number of skills. But, writing and editing makes me the happiest me I can be. Writing and editing is where my heart beats, and it always will be.
So, I’m on to the next opportunity, with a hope that it is at least half as great as the last one. It’s a pretty good market right now, so I’m not overly worried. I fielded a ridiculous number of recruiter calls yesterday, though most of them were for contract jobs in locations that I can not, in good conscience, commute to. Driving anywhere during rush hour here in the San Francisco Bay Area is nuts, let alone to a job on the other side of the bay and south of me.
Today I am not going to worry. I’m going to focus on the editing work I have in front of me, and maybe indulge in some Star Wars movies. My next thing is out there. I trust the universe to deliver it.
Happy Saturday, Readers!
Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash
