When Does It Stop????

[lostforgottensoul]

what about competitors of your company? Did you have to sign any disclosure agreements to work at this company?

Disclosure agreements, like disclosing specific company info, yes, and working for a competitor while employed, yes (not allowed), but after they lay me off if i dont disclose company specific info, no.

Brighthouse (our cable company here) is their biggest competitor here locally. Im planning on applying at both their Maitland Customer Serivice call center and Orlando tech support call center.

There's another small (as ive never heard of them) fiber only internet/tv company called Summitt Broadband thats rumored to pay $15 an hour in Orlando. Also planning on applying there.

Only two local competitors locally i can think of.

Though i fear for my car going back and forth from Orlando every day. If i get $15 an hour i aint worried about it but im trying to get hopes to a min here.

Sprint i cant go back to as i drew unemployment from them. Sucks too as they higher in a dollar more an hour i currently get and are just around the corner.

 

[Sideways]

I like brainstorming decisions like this - writing down the options and pro/con each one. Usually it helps me decide by showing me which options I'm just too chickenshit to follow through, but you can run it by your T, and if the whole thing goes pear-shaped, you know that you made the smartest decision you could with what was on your plate at the time.

Don't underestimate the importance of security. Sometimes, situations like these are a good opportunity to take the leap of faith to try something new. But if you want to stay with your job for no other reason than it's familiar, that's not a small thing. Feeling secure can be the thing that keeps us coping in stressful times.

That said, I do honestly believe that if you took the money and turned to the future? There's going to be hard times and it would be stressful, but I think you'd land on your feet in the long run.

At the end of the day though, you're the one that has to cope, so make the decision that suits you, even if it sounds crazy to the rest of us:)

 

[lostforgottensoul]

But if you want to stay with your job for no other reason than it's familiar, that's not a small thing. Feeling secure can be the thing that keeps us coping in stressful times.

Well its not the it feels familiar, it, after Dec 16th (if they keep me), it feels much more secure. If i take it, i HAVE to leave at that point and i just feel very unstable knowing my dad is moving anyway. And im not likely that unstable feeling.

But theres zero guarantee that they'll keep me.

Sometimes, situations like these are a good opportunity to take the leap of faith to try something new.

It likely is but in regards to school, i cant go without an income so in my opinion, i need to job search first. Even if get a grant that give you "live on" money there no health insur and i need that badly.

*** Side note my dad just said "since you cant move, you'll need to find a job close by." There arent many jobs I can physically do close by.

And then he disagrees that i cant get unemployment if i dont take severence but i cant see someone being approved for unemployeement if i didnt take severance offered to me.

That said, I do honestly believe that if you took the money and turned to the future?

My 2 issues with that, with school, is health insurence and money enough to live (a bit over a $1,000 a month).

If im working and going to school, say online, then i still have to get another job.

I dont know what to do.

run it by your T

YES! I dont see him until Fri but YES!

 

[aut555]

It's hard to make a decision when you feel so much is balancing on the outcome. So take a deep breath, realise there is change coming up in your life and you just have to work your way through. I have a big change on my plate, and l just realized that the fear of all the change is making you nervous especially if there has been little change. It's like that for me too. I feel like l am jumping and don't know the parameters, so l am afraid to jump. But we just have to do what is next to move on. My fear is my legal contract for divorce but at some point, l have to move forward. It's ok, you have to believe things will work out for you in the end. Me, l would have a job, and go online school part-time, then you are covering your bases. Think the economy is actually getting a little better in Florida, so stay grounded, don't obsess on what you don't know.

 

[joeylittle]

It likely is but in regards to school, i cant go without an income

Do you need school to achieve the higher-level certifications you've mentioned? I know they cost money, but you described them around a couple hundred dollars a pop.

There arent many jobs I can physically do close by.

I would encourage you to formalize your status as a disabled person. You had a major injury, you have trouble walking...this is what disability is for.

i cant see someone being approved for unemployeement if i didnt take severance offered to me.

Check the rules on that. You may be right, but it's not a helpful thing to make an assumption about.

I'd also suggest you start playing around with ways to keep charts or make lists of the big options, and their sub-categories. I'm assuming the severance offer has an expiration date.

As I see it, there are three big roads: totally change the direction of your life (school), improve the opportunities of your current life (certifications, employability), or status quo.

Something that runs across the top of all those is enacting your status as a disabled person - which as far as I can see, isn't necessarily a PTSD-only case, but it's also to do with your back injury. Everything you've described as a barrier has more to do with your back injury. And even if you stayed right where you are, you have housing assistance needs that are coming up.

?

 

[Deleted member 541]

Disability, and if you want to go back to school, then apply for a PEL Grant. They pay for the classes, books and other crap. What you don't spend in a semester, you get in a check to do what you want. At least that's what people here do if they can't afford college.... they apply for PEL Grants. Check it out...

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Do you need school to achieve the higher-level certifications you've mentioned? I know they cost money, but you described them around a couple hundred dollars a pop.

No, only self teaching. Its a test. You pay a few hundred for the test. Past the test and you get that one certification. There's training you can take but I self teach generally.

Here's a few:

Certifications - Training & Certifications

Cisco :: Voucher prices & order forms :: Pearson VUE

Cisco Certified Network Associate - Routing and Switching (CCNA) - GoCertify

To answer the rest let me fill you into new information I received today. I didn't have time to read all of the forms of all of the links provided in all 3 emails but came in early today and really dug. I found that severance pay is being determined first by "high performer" and "lower performer". They are going off of the year end review of 2015 so NOTHING in 2016 counts here. There is a 10 block rating scale, 5 being mid-line performer. Although all performance got better, I was rated a 4 in the 2015 year end review, making me a "lower performer". This all improved GREATLY in 2016 but for severance, that doesnt matter.

If a "Lower Performer" wants to take severance they are taking about a 3rd of the money I first thought with a 25% tax rate coming out (not much) and must leave the company immediatly. The severance I was guess-tamating is 3 yrs at a "high performer" and I also would not get my pay chck from Oct 7th to Dec 16th.

That, in of itself, makes it not worth it to me if in the end I may not even be laid off.

I just got out of Sept team meeting where this was discussed. My sup is a very honest straight shooter. I asked if they are talking about closing this call center and she said, with no hesitation "No!" This was a conversation so there was more to that but no, they arent looking to close this call center, which was a BIG worry of mine.

I then asked what are the odds of them laying me off vs not laying me off and she first reminded me that its 4,000 people BUT thats this is company wide. All sups, all engineers, all Central Office techs, employees, area plant sups, all departments...everyone. So the chances are, as long as I keep my performance steller, they wont lay me off.

I dont want to change companies. Things like "new-ness" & health insureance aside, I do adore my job, and want to move up within this company. Possibly branching out later once I gain actual networking experience and likely certifications.

Also I got an email today about a virtual education fair going on Oct 6th 11am - 7pm called EdAssit. Employees have free access. Over 50 colleges offering programs for working adults, chat live EdAssit advisors and school staff through the day. (The person to ask about grants and what not). Learn more about tuition discounts and other benefits offered by the school. Plus the company has tuition re-embursments and also training cheap for IT certifications.

So I can ask about school oppurtunities while, hopefully, keeping my job.

So all of that taken into account, I think its best to not take the much lesser severance then I first thought, having to exit my job right away, keep my performance steller but still keep a resume on hand both hard copy and eletronically, and a list of hiring companies just in case, and hope for the best.

 

[Sideways]

I really like that thought process- balancing stability with plans for the future. Security and hope. I really like that. And you may keep shifting, and that's okay.

But the thing is, this is a really stressful situation. Anyone would be stressed by this. And coming from where you have recently, it would have made sense if this job situation had made you crash. But you haven't.

Instead, you're thinking it through in a really balanced way, using your resources and asking smart questions from the right people, and you're looking after yourself. You're actually making positive plans for your oan future, and I'm so stoked for you lady, I really am. Instead of going back to panic and punishment, you're taking care of yourself and your future. I feel privileged to be able to watch that unfold:)

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Awww! Thank you @Ragdoll Circus! I feel like ive been an absolute basket case (and slipping on "steller job performance" but unsure how much nonstop screaming one can take before they raise their voice...and the customer did calm down and appologize and Quality commended me once for sort of taking charge of the call like that, so maybe ok?) and see, Im paranoid that any minor slip will result in job loss.

But I guess I will keep in mind the end of my post, keep my Resume and a list of hiring companies on hand...

 

[Ronin]

see, Im paranoid that any minor slip will result in job loss.

I think that's common, both with anxiety land & being stateside specifically, it's a super reasonable worry with how craze the job market is these days and yah, you're keeping aware of the current flow of things, that's a good thing. :)

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Thanks @Ronin! I feel like im hanging in midair flailing. Just what it feels like. Im certianly constantly in panic mode still. Im more focused and do much better very focused, but until I go into the beginning of the year i dont think i'll breath. And even after that, if you let your performance slip i think they'll be even more cut throat about things.

 

[Pakadlangitok]

(((LOST)))) I hate to see you so sad. If I had any words to cheer you, I would say them. When I get down and feel that my life is coming to an end, I like to read Homer's Iliad. It makes me see things differently.....I read Homer's Iliad a lot these day. I wish I could make us ALL well.