Hired

The job
Well, after 3 1/2 months of searching, it finally happened: I’m going back to work. I was offered an opportunity to manage communications for a collaboration of public media providers producing news coverage, tools and resources to help people understand the changing economy. You can check out the project’s blog at EconomyStory.org. The site also has video footage and links to projects by the public media partners invested in the collaboration (including Capitol News Connection, KQED, Marketplace, The NewsHour, Nightly Business Report, NPR, PBS Education and Video, PRI, PRX, WNYC and Youth Radio).

EconomyStory.org, and the collaboration in general, inspired me with its vision. Fifty years from now when historians are analyzing the economic crisis of 2008-2010, I have no doubt they’ll be turning to many of the pieces curated by this group, in search of the first hand experience, analysis and documentation it provided.

Having been personally impacted by the economic crisis — loss of mine and my husband’s jobs; inability to refinance our home due to plummeting value; cutting back on clothing, food and other expenses; dealing with COBRA — I’m excited to be in a position to promote a valuable news source for others who have been through, or are currently experiencing, what my family has been dealing with over the past few months.

Lessons learned
Despite challenging situations, I have found this period of my life to be rewarding. We faced some of our biggest fears head on. And we discovered the love and support of our family and friends — from our caregiver who insisted on watching our daughter for free, to the mysterious “friends” who sent us $550 worth of giftcards, to the countless people who sent meals, DVDs, toys for Stella, job leads, resume advice, laughs, poetry, free offers to attend events, and who offered their support over email, calls, cards and in person.

I was also developed some new habits: exercising, blogging, cooking. We’ve become more eco-friendly: David takes public transportation to work; we cut back on meat; we take reusable bags with us shopping; we buy used clothing. We’re happier with less and we hope to keep it that way.

The future
While this post may seem like the logical end to LoveYourLayoff, it’s not entirely. Partially, because we’re not out of the woods yet. David’s contract is up in another few weeks, and while we’re hoping for the best, we have to plan for the worst. My contract, while longer, will conclude in May 2010. By then, I’m optimistic that more opportunities will exist, but if this experience has taught us anything it’s this: live on less and make sure you’ve got 6 months salary in the bank. If we hadn’t paid off our credit cards in December 2007 and saved vigilently through 2008, our double job loss would have been a far more serious financial crisis for our family.

So, I’ll continue offering updates, advice and stories on LoveYourLayoff, at least for the time being. And if you (or someone you know) is currently unemployed and interested in contributing a guest post, please contact me. It would be nice to have some new voices up here.

Thanks again for your support and for taking the time to visit LoveYourLayoff.