Thread regarding Chicago Bridge & Iron layoffs

Get Ready

Your severance will s---. Your unemployment benefits will s---. Your medical will run out and your new medical will be expensive.

How long will your bank account keep you afloat? What investments can you sell if you need to? Should you "reallocate" your investments, like take profits from the market rally now?

Do you need a home equity line of credit? Don't wait until you need it to apply for it.

Network, network, network. Volunteer at church or a charity. Join a social or athletic group or professional organization.

Do a self assessment. Think hard about what you WANT to do, what you ARE ABLE TO to do, and what you HAVE TO do.

Do you want to KEEP DOING what you are doing now? To stay in THIS INDUSTRY with its cyclicality? To stay in Houston with its heat and hurricanes?

Are you going to be able to continue in your current career path but with a new company? Will someone hire you and pay you enough money to get by if you keep doing just what you do now?

Maybe you WANT to do something completely different. Maybe you SHOULD diversify your career to give you some flexibility in the future.

Maybe you will HAVE TO work a second job just to earn enough to get by. There will be a lot of other people on the streets competing for the same job openings pushing comp down. Some of them are sitting around you at CB&I right now.

You might not be able to earn the same $$ as now. A lot of people these days need multiple sources of income to get by. Maybe it's for the short term for you. Maybe it's permanent.

Are you willing to relocate? Do you want to relocate to be closer to family or to get away from Houston and its hurricanes and its cyclical economy?

Update your cv for your responsibilities and accomplishments. If there are alternative careers you might be interested in, prepare a second version of your cv.

Contact your possible references to keep those relationships alive, especially those who work for companies you might want to work for. Update your salary history.

Look into getting a real estate license or some other credential.

Consider working as a job recruiter. There are people you know right now that will need headhunters and need to sell their houses.

Look into franchising opportunities. Consider part time work, contract work, temp agencies.

Google "tough interview questions." HR likes to ask questions that begin with "tell me about a time that you…" did something difficult or challenging or heroic. Be ready. Practice interviewing with another person. Maybe go on a couple of interviews for jobs you don't care about just to get the practice.

Look for jobs openings advertised on Monster or Indeed or on the job boards of some professional associations or on company job boards.

Get your interview suit cleaned and pressed.

Get ready to move. First movers will have an advantage.

by
| 1811 views | | 7 replies (last October 13, 2017) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+PvtbTj2

7 replies (most recent on top)

Why is bankruptcy inevitable??

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @epcc+PvtbTj2

If there is a bankruptcy will creditors allow anything more than the legal minimum to be paid? I guess no. If bankruptcy is inevitable, the choice is between being laid off first with small severance payment and a big financial hit or no severance and a big financial hit. Or getting out now on my own terms. Not much of a choice.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @epup+PvtbTj2

Better hope the inevitable bankruptcy doesn’t pre-empt severance payments.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @ecvi+PvtbTj2

The executives are doing well. Hello America, you better wake up.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @crtp+PvtbTj2

NO. NO. WHY YOU SAYS GET READY. I NO GET READY. YOU GET READY.

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @2yih+PvtbTj2

No

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @2pfc+PvtbTj2

Great post

by
| | Reply
Post ID: @1brh+PvtbTj2

Post a reply

: