Laid Off

[Traviesa 0]

So I have been laid off today from my job. I am now writing this from the public library. I am wondering if any of you have been laid off how you have phrased it when dealing with prospective employers. I have 2 and a half weeks before my severance ends so I want to get something quick!

[nijusjaanu 0]

i was laid off before. really, if you say "laid off" it's really not bad. "fired" is bad.....

[britbird 4]

released from your contract.

[cmartyn 0]

Downsized, outsourced, laid off, all equate to being made redundant and cary a somewhat negative connotation. Obviously, not as bad as fired though. I usually say downsized.. Not as in I was downsized, but as in the company downsized or my company moved my function to another office or what I was doing was centralized to our head office in Tibet. That reflects the spotlight from you to your previous employer.

[Traviesa 0]

released from your contract.

I like that one but this was "at will" employment so I didn't have a contract.

Nijus, thanks! In fact I had an offer for an interview somewhere only a few weeks ago which I had turned down. I just e-mailed her back and what I said was the company "eliminated my position" which is what it says in my termination letter. I will probably use "laid off" from now on since you say it doesn't sound bad.

[irishgirl73 0]

I would spin it-saying that the department I worked in was"dowsized" or the company had some inter-departmental changes and your position was eliminated!

[pax 0]

"Position was eliminated" probably works best. I was laid off three weeks before Christmas in 2004, so I know it sucks.

Fortunately I was offered a better job fairly quickly and I temped until then, so I hope something works out for you!

[Kajikit 65]

My husband got laid off twice last year and he was honest about it... it's not his fault that the compan(ies) were in financial difficulties and thought that the easiest way to fix them was to get rid of his job! I hope you can find a new job as quickly as he did - it took him less than a week each time!

[DouglasSheridan 1]

I'd plain and simply go for the laid off and if any questions are asked as to why, answer them then. Trouble with coming up with a 'more creative, better phrased' approach is that you might end up getting 'twisted for words' if you know what I mean. Like stated above, if companies downsize etc, you cant be held responsable for that!

Good luck finding a new job soon!

S.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Unless the whole entity you worked in went away, being downsized, laid off, whatever does carry a bit of a bad taste. Whenever my previous employer "downsized" (and we've been through that quite regularly), I remember how we used to go about picking the candidates that were gonna be gone. Let's just say that we weren't exactly in a habit of letting our strongest players go.

Good Luck finding something quickly.

[MaryandMian 1]

Hope you find something soon Melissa. Good luck on the job hunting.

Mary

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

RIF, reduction in force

[john_and_marlene 162]

I wouldn't say your position was eliminated. I've seen that reason used to avoid a lawsuit when getting rid of problem employees who are likely to cause problems.

I don't think "laid off" carries the same negative stigma. Layoffs indicate a number of employees were let go and is usually based more on seniority rather than productivity.

Edited March 8, 2006 by john_and_marlene

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Layoffs indicate a number of employees were let go and is usually based more on seniority rather than productivity.

In a non-union environment? Really?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Layoffs indicate a number of employees were let go and is usually based more on seniority rather than productivity.

In a non-union environment? Really?

ET, you have a point. I know that the IT outsourcers I've worked for in the past pick their candidates for layoffs based on the number of hours they've billed in the past. In other words, productivity (or the ability to pad time estimates across the board without raising the clients suspicion).