So there I was. Unemployed. But the twist is bigger than you expect. In the previous weeks I had been looking for a new job. And guess what: the same day I got fired, I got hired! How did all this happen? Well just read on..
It all started when I got back from my vacation on July the 18th. I just started working 1 day and we had a sales meeting on the 19th. Our CEO announced there that our figures were off the scale (in a negative sense), so technically speaking we were bankrupt. However, there wasn’t any money to reorganize (I’ll spare you the details, but in Holland we have laws that protect people from reorganizations). Next he told us that they would take ten people from our organization, put 5 behind to phones to do sales that way, and 5 to “go out on the streets” for sales activities. There was no money to train these people, so they would receive some training from whatever “sales-people” we had left. Oh, and then he just announced he would go on vacation for 14 days.
WTF!
That was the moment something snapped and I decided to go apply for jobs. Our CEO is just some dumbass nitwit that reorganized our company 4 times already (and fired numerous people) but STILL was not able to do it the right way. I was so pissed off I could have kicked him around the office all day long. Instead I just decided: I need to go! And fast.
That week I applied for 5 jobs in total and got invitations for a job interview with 3 of them. One never responded and another just answered they weren’t interested. I had one job interview that went really good but they just send me a e-mail after that, stating they didn’t hire me. No reason given.
The two other jobs both told me I was “overqualified” which is just a nice way of telling me they could not afford hiring me (I told about one of them in my recent podcasts). Anyway: to make a long story short, a ex-collegue of mine (our previous sales-director) that I happen to like a lot and with whom I have worked together a lot, called me. He asked if I was still looking for a job, and if so he maybe knew an opportunity for me. Off course I responded with a “yes”.
And so I went on a job interview at a certain company not far from the one I was working for (also in Amsterdam, just afew miles down the road). It worked out fine and on thursday the 15th (the day they announced they we’re going to fire people the next day) they called me telling me that they were going to do me an job offer.
The next day during my lunchbreak, I was on my way to get my contract/proposal when my mobile phone rang. “Were are you?” they asked. I told them it was my lunchbreak so I was doing some “errants”. Then they told me the CEO was looking for me. “Ah, does he have a envelope for me?” I asked (knowing that it would be the equivalent to the proverbial “pink slip” people get in the US). “Uhm, yeah he does.”
So there I was: when I would get back to the office, I knew I would get sacked.
Anyway: I just went to get my contract. We went over the details (I would earn less money actually because they have a 36 hour work week) and I told them: “I’ll get back to you on monday: since I have another job-offer coming”. This off course was not true: I just wanted some time to think it over and see what kind of financial offer I could get from me being sacked.
Back at the office I got my notice and the CEO explained in person why they had to fire me. Basically they fired my whole department. They would discontinue the service that we offer (mainly graphical IT-solutions based on Internet technology) and that’s why they would not longer require my services… Yada yada yada. All the time they had this weasel of a lawyer there to explain the legal stuff (been there, done that, bought the T-shirt).
With the new job-contract in my pocket I wanted to shout at them to stuff all there crap up there *ss! But instead I acted professional and said that I would see what I would do (I have legal insuarance). Then I just went back to work.
Back home, at 7pm my home phone rang. “Hi this is [..], I heard what happened today”. For a few moments I tried to remember who it was. Then I knew it: in November 2003 I applied for a job as projectmanager at this company, together with a collegue of mine. We both knew we were in the race for the same job but my collegue got it. The CEO of that company was on the phone.
Another collegue of mine was leaving our company and was going to start working for them. He told him what happened and also informed him of my situation. He even knew I had another job offer. “Still”, he insisted, “we would very much like to talk to you and maybe give you another offer.” So I told him in all honesty, that all I needed to do was sign the contract that I had in my pocket.
But it never hurts to talk. So now I have an appointment with him this monday! Could it be that I now can even choose from two job offers?
To be continued….