1) I've been laid off once. I got caught up in the massive layoffs during the MCI/Worldcom fall back in 2002. It was completely not performance related, and my entire division was let go at the same time.
2) The layoff itself was not a blemish, as far as I knew. The big issue was the simultaneous dotCom bubble burst. There was a huge glut of guys like me looking for work, and the jobs at the time just weren't there. What was worse, I was going from making a pretty high salary to applying for jobs at Blockbuster just to try and make ends meet. No one wanted to hire me because they knew it was just a temporary thing and I'll probably leave at my first opportunity.
3) No social stigmas beyond what I mentioned above. It was a long recovery though. I couldn't find anything for almost 2 years until some friends started their own company and brought me on board. I was only making about half of what I'd made previously, but I was happy to be working.
This was definitely the lowest point of my life. Couch crashing with friends and living in my mother-in-law's basement. Before this, I was turning down offers because I liked my job. This event severely humbled me, and now I'm absolutely terrified any time I see that my job might be in danger.
2) The layoff itself was not a blemish, as far as I knew. The big issue was the simultaneous dotCom bubble burst. There was a huge glut of guys like me looking for work, and the jobs at the time just weren't there. What was worse, I was going from making a pretty high salary to applying for jobs at Blockbuster just to try and make ends meet. No one wanted to hire me because they knew it was just a temporary thing and I'll probably leave at my first opportunity.
3) No social stigmas beyond what I mentioned above. It was a long recovery though. I couldn't find anything for almost 2 years until some friends started their own company and brought me on board. I was only making about half of what I'd made previously, but I was happy to be working.
This was definitely the lowest point of my life. Couch crashing with friends and living in my mother-in-law's basement. Before this, I was turning down offers because I liked my job. This event severely humbled me, and now I'm absolutely terrified any time I see that my job might be in danger.