Two Weeks of Notice

Well, I did it! It was something that I never thought I would do. I resigned from my job of almost two years. When I first started working for the company, I thought I was so blessed because I found a job where they treat their workers like family, and I really loved the work! I kept recommending the place to everyone I knew who needed a job. I even helped my friend, my husband, and my stepdaughter get jobs there because I thought the place was so great! I worked my butt off for them day in and day out. I never even called in sick in the whole almost two years I was there. The first month I worked there, I worked sick as a dog for about three days. I just couldn't let myself call in because I valued the job so much, and I just appreciated them giving me a chance to show them what I could do. I hadn't worked outside the home for about 5 years, so it's almost a miracle that they hired me at all. I had run a home daycare and did medical transcription, but I had my degrees in English and education and a pretty good writing ability that the company was able to recognize.

I remained very loyal to the company until about February 2011, when I watched many of my co-workers get laid off because the project we were working on did not take off as expected. They were told it would only be for 60 days, and now it's been almost a year. Then in October 2011, there was another round of layoffs, and I had to watch my stepdaughter and friend whom I helped get a job there have their hearts broken. That was supposed to be for 90 days only, but I have a hard time these days trusting anything the company says anymore. Just before the second round of layoffs, our paychecks did not arrive on time. That is when I decided that it may be time to look for something else. So I put some resumes out. The day after I did this, we all had a mandatory meeting in which we heard that we had our product and were going to concentrate more on sales and less on product development, and that is when the second round of layoffs occured. Well, since I work in production of new material, hearing that did not make me feel any better about my future with the company, so I was glad I had put those resumes out.

About a month later, I got a call from an online university, and they wanted to interview me for a position as an instructional designer. They told me the position started in the low $40,000s, and there was a possibility of working remotely. Well, by this time, I had been forced to take a pay cut and was making less than I made when I first started working for my current company. I decided to go for the interview and see what would happen. The interview went well, so they decided they wanted a writing sample from me. I completed it and sent it back in. It took a couple of weeks, but they finally got back to me and offered me a position working remotely with a salary of $40,000 to start with benefits and 401K. Because of the significant increase in pay, it was kind of a no-brainer. I accepted the position and got a start date of January 4, 2012.

I decided to do the professional thing by following the policies and procedures manual of my current (now former) company and give them two weeks of notice. Well, they decided that they didn't need me anymore and told me to leave right away. This happened yesterday, right before lunch. While it's nice to have a 2-week vacation right before I start a new job, it kind of hurt because of all the hard work I put into my job there. They just decided that they no longer needed me and threw me aside. I have come to realize, though, that there really is no company you can trust. I thought my former company was different, but they're not. They are all in it for the bottom line without having a care about people. They pretend that you're all one big happy family, but it's all a facade. They will cut anyone's throat if it allows them to make money. I find it sad that it has to be that way, and I am now actually glad to be away from them. I am losing four days of pay that I was counting on, but you know something? I think it's worth it just to have some peace of mind and a break.

So here's to a new year with new possibilities and new hope! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!