Let’s talk portfolios. I spent the better part of yesterday cobbling together a writing portfolio. I was prompted to do so by a job that I wanted to apply to — the first one I really liked that required such a thing. Work Product and Attribution The reason it took me so long to put … [Read more…]
I took the weekend off from being unemployed. Rather, let’s call it a couple half days. A little over week ago, I posted a list of things I was going to do every day to have a successful, sustainable, and hopefully short unemployment transition. I’ve been doing pretty well, completing most things every day. Everyone … [Read more…]
Hard to believe it’s been a week already. It’s funny how quickly we can settle into a “new normal,” even if we hope that it’s not normal for long. Moving On I moved a lot as I grew up. By the time I graduated high school, I lived in 9 cities in 3 states and … [Read more…]
My LinkedIn impressions are up 40,000% in the last 7 days. I’m clearly amazing at engagement. Someone should hire me. Fun Numbers The reality behind the metric is that I rarely posted on LinkedIn before I was laid off last Friday. Since then, I’ve been posting daily. It doesn’t take much to increase 40,000% from … [Read more…]
I got ghosted. 👻👻 No, this isn’t a post about my dating life (though it’s happened there, too). This is about someone who reached out to me the day I first posted that I had been laid off. SEO CEO According to his LinkedIn profile, the person who reached out was the CEO of an … [Read more…]
Today’s the first day that my jobless status feels “real.” The weekend was a weekend—they weren’t days I would have worked anyway. Yesterday, Monday, I was able to dig in and check off items on my list of daily things to accomplish, making the day pass by fairly quickly. Today, however, it’s been harder to … [Read more…]
An odd coincidence occurred to me this morning. About 24 years ago, in August 2000, I got my first “real” job in at FleetBoston1 Financial in Waltham, Massachusetts. On August 2024, I lost my most recent job. Although my logical brain knows that coincidences like this don’t really mean anything, I’ve always been fascinated by … [Read more…]
This past Tuesday I started reading “The Consolation of Philosophy” by Boethius. (In English translation—it’s been a long time since I studied Latin.) In hindsight, that may have been a mistake. For those who haven’t read it, my very reductionist summary is this: Boethius, in exile and about to be executed, gaslights himself into believing … [Read more…]
Yesterday, I was laid off after 10 years at the same company. This is my first official day of unemployment. I guess this post makes me “that guy” — i.e., the one who aspires to document the experience in some effort at exerting control, refining my thoughts and emotions, and picking a way forward. One … [Read more…]
One of the mysteries that J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay have set up for the first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is the identity of the unnamed character who comets to Middle-earth near the encampment of the nomadic Harfoots. Known simply as “The Stranger” (Daniel Weyman) in marketing materials … [Read more…]