NO JOB NO MO'!

WOW! After 17yrs...a tap on the shoulder and a YOU'RE DONE! Although I knew it was eventually coming because of the downturn in sales in the music business, I thought I would at least have until March, the end of our fiscal year. But nope! January 15th ended an illustrious, fun, vibrant, loooooooong career in the music business. With the same company at that!!! When I started at BMG in Atlanta as an intern in 1991, I NEVER thought it would end with technology taking us down. I mean, in 1991 computers were supposed to help! Fast forward to 1999 and along comes the popularity of NAPSTER and BAM! The beginning of the end! Well, enough about that! This blog is not going to be about the good old days or even the bad recent days! This is about the place I'm in right now...the in between....the time in the middle of your old job and your next job...the time known as.....MY LAID OFF LIFE!
I have been laid off since Thursday, January 15th, 1:22pm. Over the phone, Bob(last name withheld) and Nancy(last name withheld) called me to break the "news". Ironically, they were in a more somber mood than I was because not only was I OK with it, as I knew it was eventually coming, but they had the unenviable task being the bearers of bad tidings the whole day. In person visits and phone calls. By the way, the phone is a hella way to tell someone your taking their means of monetary survival away. But, for me, it was all good. I had been disenchanted with the job, the company, the business overall anyway! So, actually it was a relief! A part of my separation package would be a 3-6 month service with a career consulting company(Who will remain nameless..no free advertising!). This experience has been a most interesting part of my work sabbatical. Job hunting has changed in the years since I first went to work with BMG. And remember, when you are a part of a certain industry, your rules of hiring, interviewing, resume submitting is usually tailored for THAT industry based on the fact that your are either 1)being promoted within your own company 2)Going to a competitive company where they know your industry 3)Getting a job in a third party company that you have done business with or where you know someone. So your job search abilities, resume format, knowledge of the job market isn't going to be as strong as you think! I found that out quick! It's not that I didn't have the skills and all that, it's just that for 16 years, I hadn't had to really "job search" like I am doing now. Now, this is quite a bit to take in so here is what I'll do. In the next few days, I will post again. I will talk about what it's like to be in the house all day, what I'm doing and working with the career transition company. Until then.....