So… do you recall this post in which I touched briefly on the fact that my employer was planning a string of redundancies? Do you remember how I mentioned that the whole of my team (and therefore my role) was at risk?
Weeeeeeeeeeeell, I have now received the news that I am one of those to lose their jobs.
I am redundant.
Now there’s a phrase!
Not that I need to panic just yet; I still have all of my maternity leave to work through (or be at home for o.O) and then a four month notice period when my leave is over. So, in truth, its going to be something like a year – and a little bit more – before I’ll be without a job.
Its still scary; in a climate where somebody can put out 80 job applications and receive one interview, despite having a first class qualification to do exactly what the advert describes. In a climate where most employers insist not only on previous experience, but previous paid experience (which is the problem for this person close to my heart who has applied for 80 jobs since finishing university over Christmas). Of course I’m concerned…!
But I’m also curiously liberated.
I’m not going to spit bile and venom about my employers. I’m not even going to tell you who they are, but I am going to say that I’ve lost faith in the way they do things and the direction they’re heading, which is a real shame because I’ll be honest and say they did, at first, show plenty of promise. In light of that, I’m not sad that I won’t be working for them. I’m sad that I won’t have a secure income, but that’s something I can fix.
With the news of the twins, I’ll admit that I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to go back at all because I would have had to do so full time. The team I work on is not capable of taking another key-time worker, so I would have been obliged to continue working 9-5 days or find another job anyway. At least this way there’s a tidy severance payout. Its not massive, but it will certainly help when the time comes.
So it was already in my head that I wasn’t necessarily going to stay.
What then, you may ask, was I planning to do with myself?!
What do you think?!
Lol, this blog isn’t here for nothing. My words, as much as I simply love the act of writing them and sharing them, are not without a purpose. They’re a showcase, my portfolio, my literary CV. This blog, excerpts and talk of my plans are not without forward thinking and, at last, a point.
I’m going to write for a living. I’ll finally have the time to do it (!) without a 9-5 job to tackle each day. Yes, I’ll have children and yes, they will absorb a lot of my time, but what is life without a challenge? Certainly not worth the XP, that’s for sure!
I’m going to keep writing fiction and I’m going to start trawling every newspaper, website, leaflet and convention for jobs that require freelance writers. I’m going to start right now, getting an idea of what I can and can’t do, what pays, what doesn’t, and if its even feasible to consider doing this at all. I can’t act on most of it until my leave period is over – otherwise I’ll lose the small amount of SMP I do get – though if I find things work out the way I want them to, I may even be better off doing that!
I’m under no illusions as to how difficult this is going to be or how slow it might be to take off. But I will say that I have support from ground zero in the form of Dave and my mum cheering me on. Even my dad seemed impressed at my stance on things, as well as my circle of friends. If the worst comes to it, I can find part time work to tide me over and offer my services to schools and clubs. I’m CRB checked (though that may have run out by then) and there’s nothing to stop me asking local schools if they would benefit from an after school writing club. It would be good for me AND help the next generation of budding writings get the support they need from someone who is interested. I wish I had had an opportunity like that when I was younger.
So… the beginning of the rest of my life? In more ways that one and I’ve never been more excited! There is so much out there for me to do and see and try and learn. Redundancy may, bizarrely, turn out to be the best thing to ever happen to me… bar motherhood, of course! 
Sorry to hear your news, in one way, but also excited for you in another way. What a great opportunity! Best of luck with your endeavours.
Thanks Ruth.
I totally can’t wait to get started. Once the twins have settled in fully and can sleep through the night I’m going to have do much (more) to do.
Its going to be wonderful!
x
Wishing you every success with your writing career!
Ta very much, Tony and thank you for stopping by!
^_^
If it had to happen, it’s better to have happened now, when you want and need to be home with the wee ones. Take some time, if you can, to recover and settle in before you go back out into the world. Best of luck.
The timing certainly is impressive. Its part of what made it easier to cope with.
Part of me is ready to begin right this second and the rest just wants to lie down and finish taking it in. Thankfully I have time.
You’re going at it with a great attitude. You’ve got time to plan, and you can turn this into a win-win situation. Best wishes for the new phase, and hopefully those boys start sleeping through the night before too long!
Fingers crossed they do. I’ll treat sleeping through the night as a sign that I can begin drawing up my plans (and filling in their scrap book!)
So sorry to hear about your job….but so excited about your decision to write! I often dream of doing that, but I’m still plugging away 9-5 and writing on nights and weekends. Maybe this unfortunate turn of events for you will actually work out to be the beginning of somehting new and exciting –a career as a writer.
How cool is that?!
Totally! I’ve got my fingers crossed for it and i’m too excited for words!
Hi Ileandra! Sorry to hear about your job… but its also exciting news. I”m genuinely happy that you’re going to take that leap… Its something that I wish I could do myself.
In a tiny way I’ve done just that. For many, many years I worked in nonprofit work. By doing so, helping my community, I worked hundreds upon hundreds of hours over the time I was paid for. Organizing health fairs, running after school community programs, counseling HIV/ AIDS patients and their family members.
Although rewarding, it literally took a chunk out of my life.. and my spirit in some ways. I allowed it. After 13 years of working 40-60 work weeks, illness forced me to take a harder look at what I was making a priority in my life. This resulted in searching and finding a job that perhaps wasn’t as rewarding during it’s laxed 9-5 hours, but now it has allowed me to leave at 5 and do what I wanted most… write.
Honestly for me, I’m to the point and believe its ok to want to do the things that make you happiest. It may come with a few trades (instability of funds, sparatic hours) but in the end haven’t we all at one point or another traded more time with family, or more time to take care of ourselves because of a job…working for the ‘man’.
I understand now to never expect a company to do the right thing, nonprofit or not. You have to do what you are most comfortable with and happiest. Don’t they say if you do what you love your will profit from it? LOL!
You’ll do great with your writing!
13 years is a very long time to spend working so hard like that. I’m impressed that you were able to do it for so very long. Rewarding work is one thing, but its still important to do things that make you happy. I totally agree with that.
I remember when I took the 9-5 job it was in the fortnight window I had after university not just to find somewhere to live, move and settle, but also to look for, interview for and secure a job. It was all a crazy rush, but it was never my intent to stay there as long as I have. I’ve worked for them for seven years now.
I’m glad that you’re able to write now, even if you have to wait for the 9-5 day to be finished first. Hearing about people who have taken steps to follow what makes them happy, however large or small those steps may be, goes a long way towards reassuring me that I’m not nuts!
Thank you for sharing your story.