Today was spent largely reading, playing games, and with friends (for lunch). I was very glad to join three of my former co-workers for sandwiches and soup at Mosaic Cafe (a wonderful lunch place I’ve written about before). Amazingly enough (considering it wasn’t planned) they were serving my favorite chicken and rice soup. Tax season is in full swing at the firm I worked for but evidently not overwhelmingly busy for most of my friends as yet – busy enough, but not awful.
I did also hear from a friend (another accountant) who was told by his partner to “hang on to your tax refund, save it, because you never know what might happen down the road”. This firm also experienced lay-offs, so needless to say, he’s worried. It got me wondering how things might have been different if I’d known in advance what was coming. (Keep in mind that I did wonder how the firm was going to maintain it’s employees when there were clearly more people than chargeable hours. I’d asked on more than one occasion, first at our team meeting in the fall, continuing on through the tax meeting held two weeks before I was let go, “Are we okay? Do we have enough work? Is there a plan for making more work?” … and I’d been assured and reassured that all was well, there was a plan, and staffing levels were exactly where The Powers That Be wanted them.)
So. If I’d known, if someone had come to me and said, “I’d working on building up some savings, because you don’t know what might happen in two months…” and we’d had recent lay-offs, and I was able to guess this might mean Bad Things, what would I have done?
- Save. Begin saving every penny that didn’t need to be spent on living, and staving off the inevitable “am I really going to lose my job?” depression.
- Seek out varied assignments. I worked in a very tight niche. If I’d had any inkling that I’d be asked to leave, I would have tried to gain more experience in general accounting type things (payroll, bookkeeping, corporate tax) so that I’d have that experience now that I’m looking for jobs outside of my niche (there aren’t all that many positions that say, “Non-profit tax experience a plus!” out there).
- Network. I planned to work with my former company for the rest of my life – as long as they’d have me. I loved it, breathed it, lived it. It was everything I’d ever wanted, everything I hoped it would be. Perfect. I never ever looked at another company – and I certainly didn’t consider where I might want to land if things went wrong. In “do over” world, I’d have kept my ears open, my mind open, and paid attention to those opportunities that might exist, those people who might be a help to me now that I am looking for a job.
Oy. So my advice to my friend at this time is: think about the opportunity this affords you. Knowing that your job might dry up in a few months give you a chance to hit the ground running. And who knows – maybe you’ll find the job doesn’t dry up after all.