Life Comes at You Fast® -Nationwide Insurance slogan

Life came at me on Monday when I was fired after 16 years at the same place.

I am not very upset about it because while he was paying my medical insurance, I had not gotten any sort of raise or bonus in the five years since he bought the business from the previous owner.  I can,t say I liked my boss but did always like at least one other person at the office very much.  Three people who I consider close friends work or have worked there with me.

I was stagnant at my job and had no motivation or passion for it, so I don’t want to go in to another job like it. (I am a CPA and worked an public accounting office which did tax returns, accounting, bookkeeping, payroll etc.....)

What have I accomplished this week-

Very little according to my overblown work ethic-but here is what I did accomplish

1) Registered for Unemployment and at EDD’s job site
2) Check out city/county websites for job opportunities and sign up for the job announcements
3) Checked out job sites like monster and craigslist
4) Found 3 potentials Leads/listings which I need to fill out the on-line application &/or send cover letter with resume
5) Rented a PO Box for several licenses which will have the address publicly posted (It is sort of cool-first PO box I have ever rented and it has a combination not a key)
6) Got books from the library on cover letters and resumes and “What color is your parachute?”
7) Created a Quick Books file for a bookkeeping business and created my first invoice (I saw the client the Friday before I was fired and never logged her time in (so will not be paid for it) so I will bill her myself)
8) Started my resume
9) Contacted friends, family etc.... to let them know what was happening

Wow, by listing it it seems like I accomplished something!!!!!  Yea Me!!!


Next post-My homework-Goals for next Week-

Any suggestions, hints, advice would be very much appreciated.

Wow, M, that is a whole lot to have gotten done in the first week. I’d say you are not taking this lying down!

It is hard to lose your job suddenly. I had that happen once. But, generally, it sounds like you know what you want and how to go about it. Networking with friends and family is a great way to start. And don’t be afraid to ask people you trust to help you write or rewrite your resume. Selling yourself on paper, in that format, is one of the hardest things for a lot of people to do.

I have a friend from work whose position was sort of being consolidated with another, and she decided to resign but gave plenty of notice and had severance coming to her. Unfortunately she hasn’t used her time very aggressively and I’m worried she needs a gentle kick in the pants to get a little further along in the process. She kind of wants to start completely over in a different field, which can be quite intimidating as the possibilities are so broad and vague.

I wish you the best, and hope others have some great ideas for you!

Peace and joy,

Ann

Thanks for the support Ann!

Congrats on getting so much done in such a short period of time during your pursuit of your dream job.  Stay true to:
1.  Your passions
2.  This is an OPPORTUNITY for you to REALLY go after what you WANT versus what you think you need
3.  Money comes.  Don’t let the highest paying job dictate your next steps.  Follow your dreams and passion and the money will come over time.
4. Continue to face the fears head-on:  fear of failure, fear of financial insecurity and fear of what others may think of you pursuing your dream job.  Let the naysayers go....they’re only too scared themselves to pursue their own dream jobs and see your potential failure as proof that they shouldn’t pursue theirs.  Fear doesn’t go away.  So deal with them the first thing you do in the AM.  Face them.  Take them to the worst case scenario.  Then realize that they’ll never get to the worst case scenario as you’ll do what it takes to prevent that.  Then move on from those fears for the day. 

You’re definitely on track to find your dream job...can’t wait to hear where you land.  All my best....go get ‘em!

Brian Kurth
Founder, VocationVacations & Author of Test-Drive Your Dream Job
http://www.vocationvacations.com

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the post Brian-What a great way to start a Sunday.

Also welcome to the forum, what an honor it is to be your first post.

Wow M, sorry to hear about the abruptness of the change, but thrilled to hear about the way you’re embracing this opportunity. I look forward to reading about your journey! How exciting!

Bree

Thanks Bree!

Hi M,

When I turned 50, I lost my job, and it came as quite a shock!

I don’t have any sage advice, expect network, tell everyone you know, and tell them to tell everyone they know that your’e available.  I sounds like your open to new stuff, and that is good to keep your options open.  You should love what you do, so it’s one of your passions of life (sounds like your job was not giving you that!)

My best wishes in your search, it sounds like your doing all the right stuff!

Thanks Tom!

M, you may be interested in a book called, “Now Discover Your Strengths.” It has a code on the jacket which enables you to do their Strengthsfinder test online and gives you the top line results.  Mine wasn’t exactly a shocker, but really clarified why I do things the way I do, why I always hunger for more feedback than I get, etc. Also all the sales department took this test and posted their top five, so I could see what commonalities (if any) I had with people as I worked with them. These are my top five strengths according to their testing:

I N P U T
People strong in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

I N T E L L E C T I O N
People strong in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.

I D E A T I O N
People strong in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.

C O N T E X T
People strong in the Context theme enjoy thinking about the past. They understand the present by researching its history.

E M P A T H Y
People strong in the Empathy theme can sense the feelings of other people by imagining themselves in others’ lives or others’ situations.

Three months and still looking.

Doing some bookkeeping as a business, but reporting it (on the EDD form) is a pain-they always have some sort of issue with it and then they also reduce the Unemployment check.

Thanks everyone for the comments.

You’ll find the right one. Don’t give up. Have you read the book “48 days to the work you love” or “no more mondays”? Dave Ramsey recommends both.

What are you specifically looking for?

Bree