When I woke up this morning (not too early mind you), I realized that a year ago today, my comfy little life as I knew it had changed forever.
March 15, 2009....as my husband and I were heading to bed for the night, he got an email alert about his company, a large, international bank based overseas. The London papers were announcing a downsizing of the company in the USA and plans to significantly reduce the amount of business done in America.
Needless to say, we didn't sleep much that night. Visions of pink slips and resumes and trying to find a job in a difficult economy took over any chance of counting sheep.
The next morning, my husband was one of the few people who knew anything about what had been reported just hours before in London. When word did come from the home office in Chicago, it was vague and noncommittal.
Then, Thursdays started happening. The dreaded Thursdays where the pink slips were handed out. Each Thursday morning, my husband and I would wonder, "will it be today?". To avoid the embarrassment of packing up his desk while security oversaw his departure, my husband started boxing up things and bringing them home, "just in case"...
In the meantime, my real estate business was doing well. After 10 years in the business, I was used to the jump in business that spring brought and I focused more and more on my work, rather than the depressing state of my husband's.
But, I could see the sadness...the worry. A man who prided himself on supporting his family was suddenly thrown into an unknown world of seeing his coworkers lose their jobs and wondering if and when his time would come.
That night, we made a decision. We were not going to sit back and wait for the inevitable. We would look at this as an opportunity. To be grateful that we had been given notice of what was about to happen and use the time left to find another job...a better job...perhaps in another place.
Using the skills I had learned through blogging and online networking, we worked on his LinkedIn profile, built a website for him, joined multiple online job search sites, contacted former coworkers and everything else we could think of to market Frank Merritt. He listened to interviewing books on his commute to and from work and searching for a new career became a full time job in itself.
To be continued.....
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Tina Merritt and Assoc. can be reached at email: tina@tinamerritt.com or 757-287-6338.
Our Network consists of both buyer and listing specialists helping buyers and sellers in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Isle of Wight County, Hampton, Newport News and Poquoson, Virginia.
Dang, I love the suspense.
Actually I hate it but I will check back and see what happens.
Knowing social media I am sure this has been awesome for your husband.