A Company Man
Days unemployed (-2). Jobs applied for (17). Company/Job search websites joined (6) Responses(0).
A Company Man
They say if you can get a job doing what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. Well, I’ve had one full time job or another for almost a decade now and I have been working that entire time. But for the most part, it’s been enjoyable. Whether it’s the colleagues, the pay or the opportunities for personal advancement, I’ve gotten something out of most of my jobs beside a paycheck.
I’ve always tried to be a company man. Probably has a lot to do with my military indoctrination: “Mission first, Soldiers always.” But I also lean toward the mindset that if you don’t want to work for The Company, why are you working for them? Early in my marriage, I decided to make very conscious decisions about going “above and beyond” when it came to hours put in, and I try hard to avoid taking work home. But aside from that, I tend to put the company’s interest and those of my subordinates ahead of my own.
This is why I stepped down from the most secure management level position in The Company when I was ordered to 6 months of training with the National Guard. I figured with the high turnover rate, my team needed a permanent replacement not a temporary one.
As a Guardsman, I have certain job protections and employment rights when I’m ordered to active duty status to ensure that I am not overlooked for promotions or let go because of my military commitments. However, my lay-off is part of a workforce reduction, and I’m not the only one being let go. Although the position I left is not being terminated, the one I returned to is. I am consulting a rep from Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve to ensure my rights aren’t being violated, but because I volunteered to step down from the position, I don’t have much of a tree to piss on. On the one hand, there’s not much point fighting to keep a job that I’m trying to move out of anyway. One the other hand, my boys need food to eat and diapers to catch that food on the back end. My advocate does think he can get The Company to extend my severance package to make the job hunt a little less dire. I’ll update you on the progress.
If you’re in the Guard or Reserves and have a question about your rights, feel free to post it here and I will forward it to my advocate, or go to the ESGR website.
Lesson Learned: The polite thing to do isn’t always the wise thing. When it comes to my career and taking care of my family, I have to look out for number one.
I met most of yesterday’s goals, and am tempted to add a lot more to tomorrows list. However, between meeting them and taking care of the boys while the wife is on nights, I’m exhausted. A lot of the burn out was from the repetitive nature of entering myself into company websites. For now, I’ll continue to pace myself.
Tomorrow’s Goals: Research unemployment (historically and practically). Apply for 10 jobs. Improve Resume. Shave. Exercise. Take kids to the park.
Let us know if you need babysitters for a night out with your wife… Or a day, or whatever. I mean it.
I can relate to the polite thing not always being the wise thing. When my husband got orders to move out of state, I gave my job 3 months notice. I rewrote my job description and had my position reclassified so that the person after me could get paid what I should have been getting paid. I advertised the position, I screened and interviewed applicants, and finally trained my replacement. Then I found out my husband’s orders got canceled. Should I have kept my mouth shut… at least until the very last minute? What is the worst crime — a burnt bridge or unemployment? I am actually quite happy with the way things turned out, for reasons that are too long and unrelated to explain right now — but at the same time I do feel burnt by the experience, and unsure of how to reconcile military spouse-dom and career in the future…