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THE FIRST TIME I GOT laid off, I was working in an insurance company’s training and development department. I’d been working in another department at the company when I saw a job posting for the position. The training department was looking for someone with subject matter expertise and experience in teaching.
At that point, I’d been working in property and casualty underwriting for 14 years. On top of that, I was a certified instructor for the Dale Carnegie course in public speaking. This opportunity appeared to be a perfect match for me, and it was.
The training department appreciated my knowledge of insurance underwriting, as well as my ability to stand up and lead a class. This was a skill set the department was lacking until I came along. Everything was working in my favor. I thought I’d found my niche. And then it ended.
The company was experiencing financial difficulties due to a slew of costly claims resulting from hurricanes, tornadoes and floods. The first department to be dissolved was the training department. I was given a generous severance package. The company also paid for an outplacement service. The service gave laid-off workers an office space to go to, with coffee, fax services, research materials and classes to help us get back on our feet.
The outplacement service’s stated objective was to guide us not just to a new job, but to the perfect job. I’d always wanted a successful career, and I believed the service could be my ticket to the utopian experience I’d been hoping for.
One of the biggest advantages of losing my job this time around: I wasn’t alone. My whole department was shut down, so we were all in the same boat. We all needed a new job, and finding the ideal job was a goal worth pursuing.
On the other hand, this wasn’t the best time to be out of work. My son was four years old. We were starting to see signs that he had a learning disability. My wife wasn’t working, so she could focus on raising our son, but that also meant we had no paycheck coming in. Meanwhile, we had a mortgage, plus I had some medical problems, which meant I had to rely on COBRA coverage for my health insurance needs.
For those on COBRA, it’s a blessing and a curse. You have medical coverage, but the price is often steep. The subsidy your employer previously provided toward medical insurance is gone. You have to pick up the entire tab. The coverage was expensive, but I needed it.
Despite these financial burdens, I was determined to find that ideal job. This philosophy was also shared by other members of my department—that is, until the father of one of my coworkers straightened us out. He said, “It’s nice you want the ideal job, but first you need a job. After getting a job, you can then go after the ideal job.”
Talk about a Debbie downer. I was excited about turning this negative situation into a great, big positive, and then this reality check pops my bubble. But he was right. Utopia is nice, but first you need to put food on the table and a roof over your head before seeking your pie-in-the-sky dream.
To dream is great. It allows us to reach for the sky. The bigger our dream, the higher our final landing spot will potentially be. There’s a great self-help book called The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz. The title says it all.
There’s certainly magic in thinking big—as long as you already have the foundation of income that gives you the financial leeway to pursue that ideal job. I ended up taking a job in Upstate New York that was two-and-a-half hours’ drive from our New Jersey home. Not ideal.
I rented a studio apartment to use on weekdays and came home at the weekend. The job wasn’t in training, as I wanted, but I sold my new employer on hiring me as an underwriting manager who was skilled in training. It was a small company, with just 30 employees, so having someone with multiple skills was a good fit.
What about that ideal job? That came about 12 years later—by happenstance. The company where I was working got bought out, and that led to new responsibilities for me. The new job was in regulatory compliance, which was a better fit for my skills. Sometimes patience pays off.
David Gartland was born and raised on Long Island, New York, and has lived in central New Jersey since 1987. He earned a bachelor’s degree in math from the State University of New York at Cortland and holds various professional insurance designations. Dave’s property and casualty insurance career with different companies lasted 42 years. He’s been married 36 years, and has a son with special needs. Dave has identified three areas of interest that he focuses on to enjoy retirement: exploring, learning and accomplishing. Pursuing any one of these leads to contentment. Check out Dave’s earlier articles.
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From what I have read, only a small % get their dream job. One way to look at it is to focus on the parts of the job you like, and then to make a good living. You can also look at the earrings in a positive way. So even though you may not love your job, you can do the things you really enjoy with your family.
Early in my career at GE i was invited to a “meet and greet” luncheon with a new EVP. The lunch was for early career employees – we were all in our 20s. I still remember one of the things he told the group. He said that his idea of a great job was one where 70% of the time was enjoyable. Even the perfect job still has about 30% non-fun, or annoying, things to do. This was even more true as you worked your way up the ladder, and acquired more responsibility. One of the keys was to knock out the unfunny stuff quickly and efficiently, and focus on the valuable and fun part of your job. It was pretty good advice, and generally held up through my career.
What a nice way to set expectations!
In the old days before Obamacare COBRA was the only viable choice for many upon job loss, but as you say it was a shock because employees have no idea of the total cost, most paid for by the employer
Employees get a “raise” almost every year due to health insurance costs going up since the employer pays most of it (mine pays 80 %, I believe). The total cost of their employment goes up and few employees realize it or appreciate it.
Very true, the ACA can be a lifesaver, especially for one wage earner family.
I had an uninsured client who was adamantly against the ACA. I said that I liked it and explained that an uninsured heart attack victim who receives but doesn’t pay for life saving treatment causes the premiums of individuals and companies to be higher. I could see the wheels in his head turning but he said nothing. His wife was present on his next visit to my office, and in conversation with her, she told me that her husband actually had to go to the emergency room a while back due to chest pains. And guess what…. The hospital had to write off the cost of his care.
Being against the ACA is interesting. Those who are clearly do not know actually what it is which is no more than an insurance exchange (with subsidized premiums) and has nothing to do with actually providing health care.
That’s an interesting observation. Most of my employers informed the staff of the total individual cost of health insurance – both what the company contributed and what the employee paid. This usually happened during the enrollment period. It was a way to tell us there was compensation above-and-beyond the biweekly paycheck.
It’s listed on every pay stub my wife gets.