Just watched Monty someone or other living on the west coast of Scotland. This on the day that the 'definate' job I had following my redundency fell through made me wonder.
I sometime thought about giving it all up and living off the cheese that grew in my beard but now I am faced with the tark reality I have reconsidered.
I am not that rich but am comfortable. No savings but some nice assets. The current financial situation means all my 'nice assets' are worth crap all and I am due to lose everything in the next few months if no job comes along.
Not sure of the point of this rantlet but is anyone else pi55ed off with hearing about redundecy being a 'great opportunity' and how they can 'give it all up' and be happy living as paupers? I quite liked my life when i was earning!
Get your head up.
You'll find something soon enough.
Yeah, I know that. This wasn't a sympathy troll. I just get fed up hearing about great opportunities and becoming a pig farmer in Wales.
I actually enjoyed being a well paid IT Consultant evn thoug the travel was a nuisencesome times
I got made redundant in Aug 2000. Walked straight into a new job, doing the same thing, but the commute was further, the money was less & the work was, well, let's say "patchy". Driving from Bratfud to Sheffield to sit on my hands was not fun.
I stuck it for 6 weeks before finding another new job. 15 miles each way less commute; 25% more money; and enough work to keep me interested.
However, I don't believe there was a "recession" in 2000...
if it happened now I'd have to turn pro...
pro musician. Doubt if playing drums will pay the mortgage though 🙁
johnnooo - I had the new job lined up before the redundecy got annouced. was down to the final interview at the new place when they decided on internal recruitment despite the two verbal confirmations I had the job.
I hadn't bothered chasing jobs for two weeks as i had this 'certainty' lined up so now I have six weeks befre I can't pay the bills instead of 2 motnhs. My on vanity i guess but today has been a long day
Wasn't doling out sympathy. There are enough gurning bastards on here without you starting. 😉
Just sit back and "chillax" for a bit, and maybe, put on a mountain bike festival to fill your time in. I f I was doing it I call it the big bike bash or somethig 😀
ouch
ok apart from IT (my trade too), what else can/do you do?
I have 3 skills that could possibly be put into real world use:
Programming - in a niche language in a niche market
Driving - I guess I could become a driving instructor
drumming - too many goddam drum machines out there; and playing the club circuit for beer money is soul destroying
other than that I'd probably have to be a gardener's mate or something
I can do lots of stuff but generateing 70- 100K pa from bitsa this and bitsa that won't pay the bills.
Don't worry, I am the wrong side of some Leffe and my wife has gone down with shingles because of the stress. I just need a forum to spout on. I am God's gift to business so something will come up. I was more ranting about people telling me that losing everything and living in shbite was a positive thing. There is a reason people stopped choosing to be crofters just as soon as they could.
"No savings but some nice assets"
hmmm
I too am an IT consultant. Golden rule as far as I am concened is to live well within my means incase the worst (i.e. now) happens.
ay up Neil, how do?
Always exced your earnings. I personally caused the crash we are now suffering.
I can do lots of stuff but generateing 70- 100K pa from bitsa this and bitsa that won't pay the bills.
If you're not interested, any hints on how to generate 70-100k from bitsa this and bitsa that? 😯
Pucker up WCA
I know its hard I am in the same boat no one wants electricians at the mo, so thats me buggered.
If nothing comes up in the next 2 weeks I will drop the idea of continueing my trade and get a job doing whatever
Even the minimum wage is ALOT better than the Job Seakers Allowance
Time to finnish my half full cup of tea
To quote my wise old pa
[b]look forward not backward because that is the direcion you are heading in[/b]
Good luck
Same here Nick, but no assets not even a house.....still no job bar little bit of cash work i pick up along the way....really considered moving up into the hills and living wild for a while, but the 3 kids i have makes that an stooopid option so i'll be stacking shelves in a super market soon me thinks.......
Good luck with the job hunts everyone, and ride when you can to keep the spirts up...
Can you talk to the bank and try and get a mortgage payment break? I know you will get a job soon rather later. Its just a mater of finding a good one.
If theres [b]anything[/b] I can do just say the word.
No I dont have £70K hidden behind my sofa.
WCA I have 70£ under the pillow quite nto 70K but close enough 😉
Chin up WCA - spend your days doing something positive to help the situation. Sell one of your cars and bikes, speak to the bank about a mortgage payment holiday, consider selling or renting out the house (negative equity?) and buying something smaller - there are only 2 of you aren't there? Get stuck into the BBB and plan BBB2.
Not all of this is going to help with paying the bills and/or getting another job, but it will keep you going in the right direction.
Know what you mean WCA. I'm finishing my contract in 2 weeks, got a few leads but nothing concrete yet... Got enough money for perhaps 6-8 weeks then the trouble will start.
I've got liabilities rather than assets.. sunk loads of money into my house for sod all return.
geoffj - Sell one of my cars or bikes? Are you mad? Thnigs aren't that bad!
Been there, done that. I think I've got a couple of months left.
🙁
My advice is to get with some good agents, and also keep an eye on the websites of compnaies you could work for - ex-competitors, parallels, partners, etc.
And get a good LinkedIn profile and make as many contacts as you can.
Good luck
sitting around whining certainly won't bring home the bacon.
I was thinking about what I would do if I got made redundant. I think I'd have to go to college to do my accountancy qualifications to get the same cash I'm on now, so I'd probably take a big pay cut, let out my house and rent something smaller and live off my savings / redundancy payment for a year whilst I studied.
You always need a plan 😐
I'm having a weird experience with this one agent. The guy that placed me here ended up leaving his old job under a cloud and now heads up a small company that's trying to grow. So he really wants to place me in my specialist position presumably so that he can then be a specialist in the same area... upshot is that he's scouring the country trying to get me opportunities.. he calls me nearly every day.. it's brilliant! 🙂
molgrips - does he do IT Presales/BI consultancy placements?
nick clark southampton AT googlemail DOT com
Without the spaces if he does. some of the stuff I have been pushing out there seems to be paying off as I have had a couple of calls and emails. Still nothing about living with sheep in a converted cow shed though.
I'll ask, WCA.
It's a shame we can't do something with all the STW unemployed IT folk.....
That programme you refer to is "Monty Hall's Great Escape". It's a lovely idea, but financially it doesn't stack up. E.G, he's shelled out £700 for some hens and a chicken coop that produce a few egs a day. The RIB he bought cost £1000's and he said he did £20 of fuel to catch a couple of Mackarel. I have no idea how much it cost for the rental of the solar wind energy unit, but it seems excessive for a couple of low energy light bulbs and a fridge. I'd have used a simple 12v solar charged car battery system for lighting and run a fridge on LPG, but then I don't have a BBC programme maker's budget!
It looks idyllic, but what makes me laugh is that he is eternally positive and so very enthusiastic about everything. I wonder how he really feels when the camera is switched off, it's wazzing with rain the novelty has worn off. Great entertainment though. I forecast that he will end up presenting some TV show like Ben Fogle did. Good luck to him!
I am sorry you feel down. The stress of unemployment is a tough one and I too had a career in IT. It's becoming a distant memory now so I am forced to consider other things. I have an aversion to risk and paid off my mortgage and built up some savings. Boring, but safe.
I know what it's like to be verbally offered a job, only to be let down later. It can be really tough, but the conclusion I drew was that I was better off not working for people who were prone to bullshitting about such a major thing. It was a business development role and I put this faux pas down to the fact I was dealing with a salesman and not an engineer. Who would you trust? Stereotypes always seem to be perpetuatued don't they!
By the sounds of things, you are better placed than many to get a shot at a decent opportunity. You might have to do some commuting or live away from home for a while, but i'm sure you will find something soon.
Good luck and enjoy the Leffe!
sign on, if the banks can shamelessly request money from the gov then so can you!
sign on, plan the BBB, cut up your cards, look for work and enjoy your time off!
before you know it you'll be back in work wishing you were bleeding your brakes in the conservatory with a bottle of leffe.
oh and get out and ride, I'm sat at work!!
Hey guys, thanks for the support. I am actually feeling fairly happy at the moment. I have a few leads and an initial discussion interview (whatever that is) on Monday. I guess I might just head up the trails.
Thanks again to the people who have emailed me directly. I will follow up those leads too.
Spongebob - that was the programme, it struck me as a very middle class 'getting away from it all'. Spend six months during the summer and have a big bank balance to keep you going.
I've got a few good leads, but just that. Welsh Assembly asked for my CV this morning too, which is nice...
Am a bit worried tho in general. Which is unlike me.
WCA.
Think yourself lucky. Im in a similar situation as you but to top it all, Ive an achilles tendon which is 5 weeks post op (ruptured) so cant even go riding! Not many jobs around either.
Still. I understand where you come from on the getting away from iit all programmes.
Now, what was the URL for that Italian country villa estate agent.......
Anyone got some shooters? We could plan a big bank/depot job and retire on the proceeds. Afetr all it's our tax money now not the banks 😉