Where do you live?
Raleigh, NC
What job did you hold? Staff Scientist
How old are/were your coworkers? Most were in their 20s or early 30s. A few were in their 40s. How did you find out you were losing your job? My boss told me first thing on a Monday morning that I was being laid off. It was a one-on-one kind of thing. He was apologetic about it and gave me as long as I needed to clean up and update his right-hand guy as to where I was in my work.
Did you have to leave immediately, or did they give you a few weeks to get used to the idea? I left within 2 hours of being notified.
Tell us a little about what you did? I was the "fixer." I got things to work that weren't working previously, and I also worked on some of the more unusual projects that came along.
What was your favorite part of the job? Using my brain and my hands, and not being tied to a desk all day.
What was the worst part? Meetings that felt more like interrogations.
Did you like going to work? Not every day, but most days.
Did you feel like you were making a difference? In some small way, yes. I always wanted to use my chemistry knowledge to help clean up this rock in space we call Earth.
What have you done since you've been laid off? I've done a little traveling, an odd job, worked on projects that I either didn't have the time or motivation to finish while I had a job.
How do you spend your days? I've spent a good amount of time on the internet. I spent several hours one day updating my resume. I'm a gamer, not a serious one, but I've spent a little too much time with the XBox. I at least finished making my way through Guitar Hero World Tour. The finale, "Satch Boogie," was tough. Now I need to start on the real guitar stuff.
Have your spending habits changed since you've been laid off? (Have you cut back on anything? Given up coffee?) Give up coffee? Civilization would have to break down on a pretty heavy scale for me to give up coffee. I have drastically reduced the frequency of eating out, however.
Do you have big financial worries -- kids in college, etc.? Not at the moment, knock on wood.
Do you have a spouse who works? Yes.
What are your days like? Right now, a little too unstructured.
How many jobs have you applied for since you've been laid off? Two.
Are they in the same part of the country or a different part? Same area.
What kind of job are you looking for next? Will it be in the same field or a different one? Why? I'd like to find something in my current field, but those jobs are hard to come by now in the environmental field, so I may have to provide my analytical skills to a different type of laboratory. I have been thinking often of finding something completely different to do, whether it's just another type of job working for someone else, or starting my own business. The problem lies in the fact that I'm not sure what either of those would be, so I guess I'm not ready yet for that kind of change.
