HACKER Q&A
📣 giantg2

What did you do after being fired?


I feel like I could be fired soon. I have been looking at internal and external postings, but haven't found anything that would be a good fit. Part of it might be that I'm tired of the corporate BS and think everywhere will be just as bad as where I am now. I almost want to quit and just work at someplace like Lowes or Walmart.

What did you do after being fired and what was the situation surrounding that?

  👤 derivagral Accepted Answer ✓
Take time to recover and re-orient. If you're sick of work and have savings, evaluate how long you can take a break. Length of break depends on a bunch of stuff, but don't forget that a job search can take 1-3 months. (Probably faster these days, at least in CS.) I find that the firing process and what went on still causes me some issue years later; if you need help, find it! I'm still searching for that myself.

Personally, when I was younger I got very deep into hobbies until eventually I had to find a job again. Very useful reset, but it did take a good amount of time and not everyone has that luxury. If you're truly feeling sick of work and can afford it, personally I found I needed more than 1-2 weeks to really relax and recover from some of these situations and what led up to them.

Another time was around holidays (Nov); I took a much shorter amount of "time off" (partner, mortgage, etc), and found a new job in a month. That job was not a good fit and it was clear in 2-3 months. I was fortunate I could rely on my partner to bridge the benefits gap for a while until I found a much more ideal position afterwards (1.5 months, iirc). Now we've been acquired, this time I have something lined up before being kicked out :)

Also, if your state/country has unemployment benefits, set those up ASAP. My state has a good program but also requires weekly activity; I would get the details on whatever your local support might be and go from there as needed. "Fired" without particular cause in my state is treated the same as general termination, so you aren't always disqualified. Definitely pay attention to the details; in my experience the public servants just want to check a box if you get audited/reviewed but they aren't long on humor or excuses. Don't skip steps!