Retrenchment blogging, day 67

If all goes to plan, today is my last day of unemployment. Back in early November, when I got my notice, one of the first things I did was to call various collaborators, in order to tell them that I would not be able to continue work on our projects. One of those people asked me if this meant I was looking for work, and when I said yes, he suggested I swing by for a chat. A few weeks later he did, and a job offer materialized as a result.

I also did a lot of calling and emailing around to other people I knew. Of those folks, those in a similar position to me (mid-early career 30-something industry geologists) were most pessimistic, with many saying that they had just weathered rounds of layoffs the weeks before. My best leads and tentative offers came from non-geologists with whom I had interacted professionally- representatives of instrument manufacturers, contractors, government agency personnel, and even academics.

The lesson here, far as I can tell, is to be nice, professional, and competent no matter whom you’re dealing with. ‘cause you never know which of those people will be the one who is hiring when it all comes crashing down again.