Wow I just lost my job... Advice?

[jessicam]

I was thinking of sending the people I worked with and enjoyed a note thanking them for the time I worked there. Both internal, and people I worked with outside the company.

Is there any ettiquette for this? Or anything else I should think of to preserve contacts and references?

I tried to do a mini-exit interview but my boss refused to say much, she just kept responding that she was legally not allowed to talk with me regarding my performance, so...

Hmmm... maybe I saw this coming and this is why my work has been bad. Or maybe this is because my work has been bad.

I've never been in this situation before. Any advice would be most welcome.

[Ned]

Most people just exit quietly out the back door. :)

I can't personally see anything wrong with any of what you are considering, though. How long have you worked there?

Sorry about your misfortune, Jessi...

[Derfie]

I agree with Ned, most people leave quietly, but there is nothing wrong with professionally acknowledging your co-workers. A man that I worked with was let go on a Friday afternoon, after everyone left. He didn't have a chance to say goodbye, but he wrote myself and a co-worker a really nice e-mail from his personal e-mail, Thanking us for all the hard work that we put in when working with him. It was done very classy. It's best to keep as many contacts as possible, you never know where people are going to end up, it's a small world.

Good luck to you

[budafist]

Nothing wrong at all with what you are suggesting. You do thank people discreetly though. A forwarding contact number may be handy.

[Red Kittie Kat]

Sorry Jessica http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/RedKittieKat/smilies/a042.gif

[PrintDriver]

Legal reasons? That's a weird one. Usually that is the rule hidden behind when someone calls them for references. It seems weird that they wouldn't tell an employee to their face why they were laid off...???

[Riya]

Unless they were laid off for reasons that weren't exactly legal. Then there would definitely be a legal reason not to discus it.

[D-Frag]

nah, in AZ its a right to work state, they can fire you for farting in the bosses office.

sorry to hear that jess, just keep in mind that this state, although appearing very large, is super small. I can name most of the key players here on two hands. I wouldn't see anything wrong with sending some of your coworkers or even clients a professional email just saying it was nice working with them, etc.

oh, and if your looking for work here, dont know if you know about this site, a friend of mine turned me on to it and ive gotten some great leads to some really nice places through it, check it out www.ad2phoenix.com and good luck to you in the future.

[captain spanky]

sorry to hear that Jess... i would totally send the notes.. :)
it's a bit odd why your ex-boss can't be reasonable? legal reasons? pah! none that i've heard of!

[SpugNothuson]

Sorry to hear that Jess.

I agree that you should sent some coworkers a note, just a little email thanking them. I've bumped into a few old colleagues over the years and knowing what they do now they'd've been handy contacts to have.

Sometimes it's about who you know, not what you know. Might as well cover both bases. :)

[Samakimoto Graphics]

*Pole*

*Sorry*

Yep, keep in touch with the co-workers by sending a note. Was there a dismisal letter, that should have some explanation as to why you were let go...

Like Riya says; unless they illegally dismissed you there shouldn't be any reason why your employer would not want to meet with you...

Or, perhaps she prefers you deal with the HR? less awkward I guess?

[Drorain]

Being dismissed form a job sucks, I don’t know what their reasons may be, and I suppose they don’t have to share them, but make sure you get the forms for unemployment compensation. They have no right with-holding that. Sending an email to coworkers is fine, becareful about contacting clients, especially if you signed a non-compete. If you never signed one though, I don’t know if there is any problem contacting them afterwards. They may provide you with a nice reference as well.

[BJMRGTIVR6]

Sorry to hear that. I know what that is like. I even was out for about a full year before entering back to the Creative side (had picked an odd job to pay some bills after UE ran out).

The best thing is when others you work with are as shocked as you are that you are gone and cannot understand why (better than saying yeah I figured you'd be out soon). Tell the ones you liked that you didn't get a chance to say good-bye in a way you'd have liked.

And MD is a state that can fire you for anything (other than actually saying you are of a certain race/religion/etc. - but maybe not combing your hair, fired) My wife was let go when someone (who was often in trouble) found confidentiall papers in her trash can after she left. My wife doesn't even know what the papers were and why they'd be there. life sucks, but keep your head high.

[jessicam]

HR told me I wasn't meeting the needs of the position, but no detail was given. I feel kind of blindsided because my last review was last fall and it wasn't bad. When I pressed my boss for details, she just said she couldn't talk about it legally, to take it up with HR. I have severance paperwork I haven't signed yet (want to get it looked over first), so maybe that's why. I guess it doesn't matter, at least now I have some time to shine up the portfolio and hopefully get a more rewarding position.

I appreciate the help, I am brand new here and I have already learned so much and gotten a lot of support in this crappy situation. Thanks. :)

[Drorain]

no prob jess, sometimes its bad chemistry, office politics or something else. Could be that they just hired you into a position which they needed someone with more experience. Or they are cutting costs, could be a million things

[TomBlaze]

A quiet exit is best, from my experiences. I do a lot of freelance production work and most times, it is part of our job to get fired when things go wrong because we are the perfect blame magnets.

Secondly, your employer is under legal obligation to tell you the EXACT reason why you were fired. You have the right to know why you are losing your job. A lawyer told me that when I lost a job for BS reasons and I was going to sue but I pulled out because I didn't want to hurt the busisness of my recruiter who actually paid me a nice bonus and made the employer sign a contract regarding the exact responsiblities of their production people. As a result (the description of the job was 5 pages long which was 4 pages shorter than everyone elses) all the production people got $10/hr raises. SO I left boon to my fellow workers. :)

I don't know why I ranted like that, but I felt like sharing. E-mail the people you liked and call it day. No need for formalities.

[mojoprime]

damn, jess. that sucks. yeah, i would write away. like d-frag was saying, even the largest states can have the samllest design communities.