Imagine, if you will, that you are sitting at your desk at work (or wherever you are when you’re at your place of employment). You’re working hard on a project, tying up some loose ends because it is almost the end of the day and you are ready to go home, and relax and not worry about work for a couple hours.
Then your boss pokes her head around the corner and asks you to come to her office.
Unaware that anything is wrong, you get up and walk with her, chatting about what you’re working on and making small talk about the weather, her kids, whatever.
You get to her office and she asks you to sit down. The door opens and there’s someone from Human Resources. Your heart sinks a bit.
“I’m sorry,” your boss begins with sincere apology in her voice. “But effective today, your position has been eliminated.”
Whoosh.
That sound you hear is the feeling of your financial security going down the drain. You start to sweat a little bit, mentally calculating how much you have in savings and how long it’s going to last you. This might be hard.
I don’t write all this to scare you but to let you know that it is a huge possibility these days. Even companies that take pride in the fact that they’ve never had to lay anyone off are suddenly making a beeline to their employees’ offices with bad news.
And what if it happened to you? What’s your back-up plan? Collect unemployment while looking for a new job? Sure, that’s a positive next step, but does that necessarily ease your burden?
See, that little story up there? That was me last year and I was shocked as anyone. I had consistently performed as hard as I could, and while I made some rookie mistakes, I was, in fact, a rookie. But the new economic landscape means that you are replaceable. Or at the very least, they can do the job without someone filing your role.
That is why I’m always preaching about having your own something so when ish gets real, you’re able to keep it moving without too much worry. Start a side business. Plot out where you want your career to go so you are not caught in the lurch when the unexpected happens. Always keep more than one source of income to give you a cushion.
So let’s start a conversation: What’s your back-up plan?
My back-up plan has always been YUMMommy. That blog has opened up so many doors and introduced me to some really amazing ppl.
I didn’t really have a back up plan. I wanted to focus on school but then my daughter got sick. Now I’m trying to look for a job that I don’t even want while trying to learn everything I can about blogging so I can be an entrepreneur and then pay off my financial aide so I can go back to school and pursue getting an M.A in broadcast journalism.
Oh gosh, I have no back up plan. I think this is the only area in my life that I do not have a plan B. I guess I thought my job would always be there. I need to think long and hard about this one.
Tara, this is actually EXACTLY what happened to me. Granted, it happened along with 2 other coworkers of mine. It happened 1 week after a car accident, 1 week after my 90 day probation period was over, 1 month before I was expected to move, and 7 months before my proposed wedding date. I had no emergency fund and no back up plan. I was SCREWED! Fast forward to now, we were able to move thanks to my severance package. We cancelled the big wedding and opted for a small, courthouse ceremony instead. I’m still collecting unemployment and have not been able to find another job, which is so frustrating. We’ve been staying afloat thanks to hubby’s job and my freelancing (I’ll be working on becoming an LLC soon). I wish I had a backup plan but I was completely blindsided.
Due to my online presence, I have connections with varies companies and clients so I could either type up a proposal to a few more companies, start freelance writing, open my web design business back up, create a few niche sites for affiliate and adsense revenue (actually gonna do that anyway), start a photography business. or Etsy shop. I love being able to do so many things, but it sucks when I wanna do them all at once just out of passion!
My back up plan is to work for myself. I left my job to go to school full time which I am doing now. I work part time for a personal injury law firm. But my real goal is to have a home office and help people with basic legal matters and to outsource my services to other lawyers. And the blog is in process. Should have my first post up next week.
My back up plan was nursing, The timing just wasn’t right with a newborn and a toddler so I decided to become a Medical Assistant. I will finish this August with that program and I am praying with every fiber in my body that I find the time and energy to start over towards my Associate Nursing Degree. The only thing that really bothers me about that is that when I finish my daughter will be 8 going on 9 and my baby boy will be 6 going on 7.
@Avery – Your kids will be 9 and 7 anyway…you might as well be doing the thing you really WANT to do…right?
That’s true and I just seen a post on your Facebook page about that. It made me laugh.:D