More time passes

Continuing with my apparent pattern of one post per month--here is June's update:

I got a job at SkyWave Mobile Communications (www.skywave.com)
Really quite painless--it was the fifth or sixth place I had applied and only my second interview.

I started work on June 16, only about a week after the paycheques stopped coming from Nortel.

I'll be developing firmware for a line of small Satellite transceivrs which can be used for such things as tracking vehicles or monitoring remote equipment. Really nice little company.

Time Passes

Well that turned out to be quite a break (from blogging anyway). What have I been up to?

• worked on my resume
• applied to a few jobs
• contemplated life
• made plans
• talked to a financial adviser
• Helped my daughter Heather move
  
• got depressed
• snapped out of it
• started networking
• joined LinkedIn

I'm resigned to the fact that my best chance of employment will be something in high tech--embedded/real-time software or something similar. Preferably for a smaller company.
I'm still open to something radically different as long as I can make enough to pay the bills! In the meantime I'm going to try to make the most of my time off--I'm not likely to have an opportunity like this again until I retire.

Taking a break

It's finally feeling like spring--although there's still a couple of feet of snow on the ground from our almost record setting winter, the sun is warm and the air is fresh. I've turned off the furnace and opened some windows.I'm listening to a Vinyl Cafe Podcast and roasting some vegetables for supper so I'm surrounded by interesting music and ideas, warmth, and wonderful smells. Very healing.

Supper tonight will be Roasted Vegetable Macaroni and Cheese from Rick Gallop's "the g.i. diet" book. We've been loosely following the g.i.diet as a guide to selecting healthier food and maybe lose a bit of weight.

Getting Overwhelmed!

In the last two days I've attended a financial workshop, a Career Evaluation seminar plus started working on my personal plan and resume. My head is swimming! Each seminar just adds to my list of decisions to be made and possibilities to consider (good and bad).

I'm torn between the urge to rush out and try to get a job quickly and the little voice that says I should take my time and find the perfect next step for my career. I have two months of "notice" plus a large enough severance that I really don't need to panic, but it would be nice to be able to find a job soon enough that there's money left over to pay off some debts (that is if the taxman leaves any--another factor to take into consideration!)

The Career Evaluation included a "Birkman First Look" analysis that is supposed to help me determine what kind of job/career would suit me best. It's very pretty (and clourful) but I'm not quite sure what it's telling me--need to look at it a little more closely and think about it, I guess.

7 days later

Well...
One week ago I was laid off from Nortel after 13 years of service (and about 10 years of "dodging the bullet").

I'm actually not all that upset (yet--I'm sure it will come). Rather, I see this as an opportunity for change, something that Bev and I had been starting to consider anyway now that the children have (mostly) left home.

I've spent the week getting used to the idea and organizing my "history" in preparation for evaluating my desired direction and stating the search in earnest.

Nortel is providing unlimited access to "Right Management", a career counselling/job hunting service so I'm taking full advantage of their seminars, tools and resources. I'm off to a financial seminar today for tips on how to handle our money until I land that new job.

Watch this blog for updates on how I make out...