Twenty Years in One Line
The Finality of Severance
As of Tuesday the 30th I am officially no longer an employee of Nortel, but this past Friday the entire “severance machine” started grinding and the portion of my severance that I have elected to take this year, appeared in my bank account, and my first reaction was that of shock seeing that value in my bank account.
After panicking that my instructions had not been followed for my severance (they had), I then calmed down and became my normal philosophical self and started hearing that old Peggy Lee song, “Is that all there is?“. Twenty years of my life summed up in a bank entry (a 5 digit bank entry so I am not really complaining about the sum itself), it just seems so final.
Over my twenty years at Nortel, I have met and worked with some of the most amazing people and seen technological changes that staggered me, when I think about how life was before these technological “miracles”. I have had four children, and many wonderful things have happened, and many sacrifices were made for work, and at the end of it, I have one line in a Bank Statement to sum it up?
It could be worse, I know people that don’t even have the one line in their bank account.
To The Folks I leave Behind
My other regret is I never got to send a “So Long and thanks for all the fish” e-mail or posting inside of Nortel, so for those who are still on the inside at Nortel, please treat this posting as my “You’ve been a great group of folks to work with” posting. I learned a lot in Nortel, let’s see if it is true that Nortel/BNR was a “great place to have worked at”.
Now the Hard Part
Need to get that new job (some prospects), soon and then be able to apply this package to some serious financial planning and debt reduction schemes. The job of finding a job these days is not a simple one, and I have learned a lot, but still have more to learn.
I leave you with this one factoid I have learned, 80% of jobs are found through networking, so simply applying to a plethora of jobs is not enough, you must go out and market yourself and “press the flesh” like a politician to find your next job.
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September 30th, 2008 at 8:47 AM
Good luck on life post-Nortel. I think you’ll find many new and interesting opportunities.
cheers, Mark
September 30th, 2008 at 2:17 PM
Best of luck. It could be worse, you could still be working at Nortel.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:58 PM
Good luck. I’ve enjoyed your series on the matter.
October 6th, 2008 at 11:27 AM
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October 19th, 2008 at 4:55 PM
Twenty years is indeed a long time. Best wishes in getting into another line
October 28th, 2008 at 4:41 PM
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