The dardest thing...
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Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Leesburg, VA
The dardest thing...
I got a call from my boss's boss on Friday morning... "Come to my office ASAP..." I am busy as all get out trying to resolve a major issue with the site plan at my project in McLean and I don't really have time to talk to him, but he is so far over my pay grade that I can't exactly just ignore him so I head down to his office anyway. I get there and the HR manager is sitting in his office, too. Not good.
Things at my company had not been all that hot. They RIF'd a bunch of field staff the day before and the rumor mill was churning BIG time about what was going on. I figured my division was safe, though. We had three starts for the new year and business was booming, for us at least. Plus the VP said, months ago, that no matter what happened, Custom Homes was going to stay. We have a good niche in the market. Well... Not true...
Turns out, corporate had decided to ax the entire division. The only person who was to be left behind was our Project Manager; my boss and I both got RIF'd!
Needless to say, I did not take this all that well. I was (and am) pretty broken up about it. Not so much for me but for our clients. When you build homes, you are in the business of building dreams. Especially when you are in the "dream home" business. My clients, in particular, were very, very excited about the work we were doing for them. I can only imagine what is going through their heads now... I truly feel for them.
As for me... I was offered a six weeks severance package plus unused vacation. Since it is just after the new year (no vacation taken yet), that means two whole months of paychecks before the cash goes away. Generous? Yes, but I would have rather kept my job...
I was not about to let this get to me, though. I immediately started working the phone. I called several people I know to see if there was anything available to me. The first person I called turned out to be the best...
I set up an interview for this (Monday) morning. This guy was a former client of mine and is involved in commercial real estate and land development. Not exactly a perfect fit, but I figured I could make it work. The best news is that he owns his own small company. Family run and operated. No more big brother! Plus, he had offered me the job about six weeks ago. I dissmissed it then for a variety of reasons, but I was not about to ignore it now. 
I met him at his home in Leesburg (a house I helped to build, by the way...) at 8:00 Monday morning. He offered me a job at 8:15... Less stress, shorter working hours, closer office (Leesburg), and a $8,000 a year raise!
Of course I said, "Yes."
Things at my company had not been all that hot. They RIF'd a bunch of field staff the day before and the rumor mill was churning BIG time about what was going on. I figured my division was safe, though. We had three starts for the new year and business was booming, for us at least. Plus the VP said, months ago, that no matter what happened, Custom Homes was going to stay. We have a good niche in the market. Well... Not true...
Turns out, corporate had decided to ax the entire division. The only person who was to be left behind was our Project Manager; my boss and I both got RIF'd!
Needless to say, I did not take this all that well. I was (and am) pretty broken up about it. Not so much for me but for our clients. When you build homes, you are in the business of building dreams. Especially when you are in the "dream home" business. My clients, in particular, were very, very excited about the work we were doing for them. I can only imagine what is going through their heads now... I truly feel for them.
As for me... I was offered a six weeks severance package plus unused vacation. Since it is just after the new year (no vacation taken yet), that means two whole months of paychecks before the cash goes away. Generous? Yes, but I would have rather kept my job...
I was not about to let this get to me, though. I immediately started working the phone. I called several people I know to see if there was anything available to me. The first person I called turned out to be the best...
I set up an interview for this (Monday) morning. This guy was a former client of mine and is involved in commercial real estate and land development. Not exactly a perfect fit, but I figured I could make it work. The best news is that he owns his own small company. Family run and operated. No more big brother!
Plus, he had offered me the job about six weeks ago. I dissmissed it then for a variety of reasons, but I was not about to ignore it now. I met him at his home in Leesburg (a house I helped to build, by the way...) at 8:00 Monday morning. He offered me a job at 8:15... Less stress, shorter working hours, closer office (Leesburg), and a $8,000 a year raise!
Of course I said, "Yes."
