About To Be Fired? Here''s What To Expect.

It’s a terrible thing to be fired – whether it is called a downsizing, outsourcing or just a “temporary layoff”

What can you possibly do in such a situation? All seems lost. No options what so ever. “Henny Penny the sky is falling”.

Yet there is much you can do. First of all get as much of your records out the door before the security guards knock on your door to escort you out of the building as the saying and description say. You can do this either physically in your briefcase, or in this day and age of modern communications – by simply emailing the files as attachments to another email account of yours. If the files are large you can compress them with a program such as WinZip or winrar – either for size or packaging. If the files are larger than the standard 10 or 20 megabytes allowed currently by most email providers such as gmail m hotmail or yahoo there are any number of services to either send you larger packages. Yousendit.com is one example. In a flash if you need larger capacities that are offered in the free services you can pay a small amount to obtain the premium services. Remember time is of the essence.

Next you want to continue with an income stream as long as possible. The longer a steady income can be maintained the greater your flexibility will be in terms of options.

In most cases vacation days are a cache protected by local state labor laws. What that means is that if you have 10 vacation days unused that year then the employer cannot declare them null and void since you are no longer working at the firm. They must provide you with the cash payment for those days of employment. You earned them in the previous year of time employed by that organization.

Next apply for unemployment insurance benefits more than promptly. The paper trail and general government processes delay the receipt of unemployment insurance benefits. The quicker you get on the ball here the faster the results – and the cash i.e. unemployment insurance checks.

Your benefits such as health benefits may continue on with your employer for some time after employment. However often in a reduced state with greater financial inputs by yourself. This is another reason for you to both request your earned vacation pay and as well follow through on your unemployment insurance benefit payment request promptly. Be careful though of employers who arbitrarily decide that they want to change the rules – so as not to pay benefits. Just as you have obligations in life; an agreed deal is an agreed deal. An employer cannot just decide arbitrarily that they do not want to pay benefits and change the rules midstream.

If the employer offers professional services for help in seeking new employment accept it graciously. In a way it’s a slap in the face – as if insult to injury. The decision has been made so to speak. Any help and contacts in networking that you can make, at no expense to yourself can only be a good thing. Whether it is to update your resume, or to network – these services would cost you money out of your pocket and time. Why not have it provided for free, at high quality by your present or former employer.

Lastly it is always best policy to leave on good terms and not burn your bridges no matter how you feel. A good reference from your former employer is among the most important assets in being rehired and finding another new source of employment. You are always most valuable to a new employer if you are currently employed. Get on the bandwagon to find new employment and a new job promptly as soon as possible.

It’s a terrible thing to be fired – whether it is called a downsizing, outsourcing or just a “temporary layoff”

What can you possibly do in such a situation? All seems lost. No options what so ever. “Henny Penny the sky is falling”.

Yet there is much you can do. First of all get as much of your records out the door before the security guards knock on your door to escort you out of the building as the saying and description say. You can do this either physically in your briefcase, or in this day and age of modern communications – by simply emailing the files as attachments to another email account of yours. If the files are large you can compress them with a program such as WinZip or winrar – either for size or packaging. If the files are larger than the standard 10 or 20 megabytes allowed currently by most email providers such as gmail m hotmail or yahoo there are any number of services to either send you larger packages. Yousendit.com is one example. In a flash if you need larger capacities that are offered in the free services you can pay a small amount to obtain the premium services. Remember time is of the essence.

Next you want to continue with an income stream as long as possible. The longer a steady income can be maintained the greater your flexibility will be in terms of options.

In most cases vacation days are a cache protected by local state labor laws. What that means is that if you have 10 vacation days unused that year then the employer cannot declare them null and void since you are no longer working at the firm. They must provide you with the cash payment for those days of employment. You earned them in the previous year of time employed by that organization.

Next apply for unemployment insurance benefits more than promptly. The paper trail and general government processes delay the receipt of unemployment insurance benefits. The quicker you get on the ball here the faster the results – and the cash i.e. unemployment insurance checks.

Your benefits such as health benefits may continue on with your employer for some time after employment. However often in a reduced state with greater financial inputs by yourself. This is another reason for you to both request your earned vacation pay and as well follow through on your unemployment insurance benefit payment request promptly. Be careful though of employers who arbitrarily decide that they want to change the rules – so as not to pay benefits. Just as you have obligations in life; an agreed deal is an agreed deal. An employer cannot just decide arbitrarily that they do not want to pay benefits and change the rules midstream.

If the employer offers professional services for help in seeking new employment accept it graciously. In a way it’s a slap in the face – as if insult to injury. The decision has been made so to speak. Any help and contacts in networking that you can make, at no expense to yourself can only be a good thing. Whether it is to update your resume, or to network – these services would cost you money out of your pocket and time. Why not have it provided for free, at high quality by your present or former employer.

Lastly it is always best policy to leave on good terms and not burn your bridges no matter how you feel. A good reference from your former employer is among the most important assets in being rehired and finding another new source of employment. You are always most valuable to a new employer if you are currently employed. Get on the bandwagon to find new employment and a new job promptly as soon as possible.

Almost everyone has been fired from a job, and just about everyone has a story to go along with it. Annabelle Gurwitch, the actor and screen writer, decided to capitalize on this fact by compiling and editing a collection of humorous "down-sizing" stories in her book Fired! Tales of the Canned, Canceled, Downsized & Dismissed. After being fired by the media icon (and consequently her idol) Woody Allen, Annabelle decided to take her story to the publishers- along with several other tales from well known actors and media personal, including Bill Maher, Tim Allen, Tate Donovan (actor and director in The O.C.), Harry Shearer (actor in This is Spinal Tap), Dana Gould (writer for The Simpsons), Bob Saget and more.

The book is divided into five chapters: The Job So Terrible You Can Only Hope to Be Fired, The Firing You Didn't See Coming, The Time You Deserved to be Fired, The Time Getting Fired Leads You to Something Better, and The Time You Had to Fire Yourself. Each chapter is as witty as the last, and will keep you reading and laughing through till the next. And with over a dozen "tales of the canned" in each chapter, you will have plenty of laughing to enjoy.

Many of the true stories found in this book are so funny, they will have you laughing out loud. The story of Paul Feig (director of Arrested Development and The Office) losing his Ronald McDonald gig because of a magical comparison between a rubber chicken and Chicken McNuggets he made to a group of school kids while wearing the clown suit will probably remain with me for the rest of my life. In another favorite story, Jeff Garlin (actor in Curb Your Enthusiasm) explains how he was fired for throwing a bowl of Fruity-Pebbles at a hotel wall... and all just because they stuck. Larry Charles (writer for Senifeld) reminds us that Taxi companies should never offer employment to a teen-age kid who has just acquired his license that very day; wrecking his cab before he even got it out of the parking lot. Stories like these are worth the price of this book alone.

To round each story off, the book also includes "Fired Facts": brief and amusing factoids about being fired, and the workplace in general. For example: "Increased risk of heart attack faced by employer firing an employee in the week after wielding the ax: 100%". What a great way to end your career - with your former boss in the hospital!

While Fired! Tales of the Canned, Canceled, Downsized & Dismissed is entertaining (being fired with the line "Take that hanger off your head, you idiot!" may be the best thing that has ever happened to me), it completely fails to connect with the reader. Each story falls into one of two major camps: meaningless high school jobs that no one regrets losing, and glamorous Hollywood jobs that, while interesting, are entirely foreign to the average reader.

In the introduction to this book, Annabelle Gurwitch concludes "So you were fired. Welcome to the club. We've been waiting for you." However, this book fails to present any "club" you or I are ever likely to be a member of. While almost anyone can related with being fired from a job, the stories in this book are quite different from any workplace axing I have experienced. And unless you have felt the horror of losing a job because your character was shot in the last episode, you will probably be unable to relate as well.

If you are looking for a light, entertaining read to get you through the work week, I would recommend Fired! Tales of the Canned, Canceled, Downsized & Dismissed. Though the book will probably not help you reminisce about jobs long past, that may be for the best. What better way to forget about your own "down-sizing" experiences that to hear the stories of a celebrity with their head on the chopping block.

Each week, millions of Americans go to work, do their jobs, and collect their paychecks. Unfortunately, there comes a time when that cycle is disrupted. If you have recently found yourself fired or terminated from your current place of employment, you may be in shock. Although shock is a normal feeling, it is important that you start taking action right away, should you ever find yourself fired from your current position.

As previously stated, you should take action right away if you ever find yourself terminated from your current work position. This action is patricianly important if you rely on your income to pay important bills, such as your rent or mortgage, or if you use your paycheck to help support your family. Depending on the circumstances, you will find that most states do not allow those terminated from their jobs to collect unemployment payments. This typically only happens if you are laid off. What does this mean for you? It means that means that you may need to try and find a new job right away.

Speaking of taking action and finding a new job right away, one of your first steps should involve creating a resume for yourself. This is important, as you will need a resume to apply for new jobs. Even if you are able to fill out a traditional job application, you will still want to attach a resume. Resumes add professionalism to all job applications and they can help to set your application apart from all the rest. If you are unsure how to write your own resume, you may want to consider using the services of a professional resume writer.

In keeping with resumes and job applications, it is important that you proceed with caution. Unfortunately, many job seekers make the mistake of including a job in which they were fired from on their job application or on their resume. However, in that same sense, many make the mistake of leaving the job that they were recently terminated from off of their resume, when it should really be on it. That sounds a little bit confusing doesn’t it? If you are unsure as to how you should prepare your resume, you are not alone.

When trying to determining how you should prepare your resume, what you need to do is examine your reasons for being terminated, as well as how long you were employed by your past employer. Many employers do not like seeing gaps over one or two years; therefore, if your last job, the one in which you were fired from, lasted over two years, you may still want to include that position on your resumes and job applications. With that in mind, you also want to use your best judgment with cases such as workplace confirmation, multiple missed work days, or theft.

Once you have created a resume for yourself, you can start to go finding and applying for jobs. This is the easy part, as you will find that you have a number of different options. You may want to start with your local newspaper. Most newspapers have an employment section. What is nice about using your local newspaper to examine all open job positions is that most of your jobs will be local. There is typically no sorting by location needed. In addition to using your local newspaper, you can also use the internet to help you research companies with open positions.

Once you have a collection of jobs that you would like to apply to, you will want to create a cover letter for yourself. Cover letters typically should not be developed in advance, as you will want to personalize your cover letter with the name of the position you are applying for, as well as the company you are applying at. You can create a template for yourself, but make sure each and every one of your cover letters is personalized in one way or another.

The above mentioned steps are just a few of the steps that you should take, should you ever find yourself terminated from your current position. In dire circumstances, such as ones where you need income right away, you may want to visit your local temporary employment agency, as they can help you find short-term temporary jobs.

Getting fired . . . it will happen to everyone! There are very few employees around who have who have not been fired or let go from a job . . . or who haven't wondered about it.

Look, it's no fun. All the same, it's important to understand what can and should happen if and when you get fired. After all, it's not the end of the world no matter how painful. There is a life after being let go.

Here are five procedures you have the right to expect if you get fired:

1. You should be let go in private, not in front of your co-workers. This should take place in a room away from someone overhearing. It's bad enough being let go or fired without the rumor mill grinding away over your misfortune.

2. The HR rep or your boss should make it quick. It's to your advantage for them to be clear that a firm decision has been made about you and there is no uncertainty or room for negotiation.

3. If it's a layoff and not a firing based on performance, management should let you know this is a business decision. If it's a firing based on performance, they should provide documentation.

4. Management should keep it cool, no matter how upsetting it is to you. They shouldn't react to your distress except with compassion. This is not a time for confrontation on either side.

5. Management should outline what support you can expect. For example, if they are offering a severance package, it should show how it can contribute to helping you find a job elsewhere. In any case, you want to be provided with written references (unless your employment has been a disaster.)

Suddenly being out of job can be devastating. Especially if you have others depending on your income. So it becomes very important to start picking up the pieces as soon as possible. This has the effect of getting you past the hurt as soon as possible. Plus it gives you a plan to start working on.

Finding a new job must quickly become your full-time new occupation. This is not the time to take a vacation with the family or anything else that will defer your main effort. Having a carefully thought job search plan of action is very healthy because it doesn't give you time to grouse about your bad luck.

With some alternative programs you can be entertaining job offers in as little as 14 days. You can be face-to-face with your next boss in a matter of days. Having a track like this to run on goes a long way to removing the sting of your recent loss.

It happens to everyone. There are very few employees around who have who have not been let go from a job . . . or who haven't wondered about it.

It's important to understand what can and should happen if and when you get fired. After all, it's not the end of the world no matter how painful. There is a life after being let go.

Here are five firing procedures you have the right to expect:

1. You should be let go in private, not in front of your co-workers. This should take place in a room away from someone overhearing. It's bad enough being let go or fired without the rumor mill grinding away over your misfortune.

2. The HR rep or your boss should make it quick. It's to your advantage for them to be clear that a firm decision has been made about you and there is no uncertainty or room for negotiation.

3. If it's a layoff and not a firing based on performance, management should let you know this is a business decision. If it's a firing based on performance, they should provide documentation.

4. Management should keep it cool, no matter how upsetting it is to you. They shouldn't react to your distress except with compassion. This is not a time for confrontation on either side.

5. Management should outline what support you can expect. For example, if they are offering a severance package, it should show how it can contribute to helping you find a job elsewhere. In any case, you want to be provided with written references (unless your employment has been a disaster.)

Suddenly being out of job can be devastating. Especially if you have others depending on your income. So it becomes very important to start picking up the pieces as soon as possible. This has the effect of getting you past the hurt as soon as possible. Plus it gives you a plan to start working on.

Finding a new job becomes your full-time new occupation. Having a carefully thought job search plan of action is very healthy because it doesn't give you time to grouse about your bad luck.

The good news is there is an excellent program that can have you entertaining job offers in as little as 14 days. You can be face-to-face with your next boss in a matter of days. Having a track like this to run on goes a long way to removing the sting of your recent loss.