Fired or laid off? Naturally you’re worried, as I was when I faced both predicaments. After being fired I was doubly worried when my boss told me, “You now have 3 strikes against you, and should find something else to do.” I listened to that advice, landed on my two feet, while learning the following:
Before you interview:
- Seek advice from people with whom you’ve worked, especially close associates who have risen up in their organizations. I called Steve Cabler who had worked for me and was now a VP at MiTek. He let me know a lot about my management style.
- Qualify your job references. Always speak personally to those you list as references. I made the mistake of listing a customer for whom I worked tirelessly, and who often complimented my work. Unfortunately, he blamed me when he was mistreated by my successor and gave me a job-killing reference.
- Consider all possible work venues including both customers and suppliers with whom you have worked. Though all my experience was truss related, I interviewed with TrusJoist (now Weyerhaeuser) without success, but I found out what I didn’t want to do.
- Go first to established companies with the highest apparent profitability.
During your interview:
- All your past experience, even restaurant work, is relevant. While I didn’t list it on my resume, I was never afraid to highlight my teenage experience working at McDonalds.
- Ask how they weathered the Great Recession, and figure that’s what they’ll do in the next one. In that regard…
- Don’t be fooled by an over-abundance of work, or the promise of stability. I moved across the country to run a builder’s truss plant who assured me that “the DC area has never had a recession” – until it did.
- Always ask specifically who will make the hiring decision and when you should place a follow-up call. Talk to as many potential (and former) co-workers as possible.
After your interview:
- Follow-up aggressively, but respectfully. Keep all options open as long as you can.
- Be wary of start-ups, especially if you have “bounced around” the industry like I have. I nearly accepted an attractive offer to “get in on the ground floor” of a brand new EWP product, until I realized their uphill battle against the big commodity suppliers. They were sold to Georgia Pacific two years later. Even the most professionally marketed new business (like those “redefining the construction industry”) have to deliver.
Lately I have been heartened to see two people in their mid-50s land on their feet when their (many) previous jobs didn’t work out. If you, like me, have toured the country looking for the right job, recall the words of St. Augustine: “Life is like a book, if you don’t travel, you’ve seen only one page.” And from each of your experiences, even the toughest, you’ve gained a world of marketable knowledge.