PossScript

“It’s just not working out for us,” said the HR lady one day, long time ago, as I sat in her office with my about-to-be-former boss looking on with big, sad eyes. What wasn’t working out for them was me, specifically, and so I was marched back to my desk with a cardboard box, just like they do it in the movies, and I was told to pack my toys. (I did have actual toys on my desk as the company constantly supplied us with kinetic brain puzzles, like the Rubik’s Cube and such.) At the time, I was devastated and I sat on a bench in a park with my cardboard box with the toys, thinking about how sunny it was outside, yet how dark it felt inside. What I couldn’t see at the time was how good it actually was to get fired from that place. Let’s just say it: I was hopeless at that job. And I didn’t like it. And I dreaded having to go to work at that place every day (despite all the toys!). I’m sure that showed, if not in my attitude than in my aptitude.

Once the despair and shock of getting fired wore off, I was able to see how this event was actually a good thing – I now knew what I definitely wasn’t good at and, well … I could start pursuing what I was good at. In the article 10 Great Things I Learned From Getting Fired, Sallie Krawcheck, a former president of Merrill Lynch, US Trust and Smith Barney, writes about her experience of getting the boot. She lists a couple of points to keep in mind on getting fired:

• Cut the cord with the old workplace quickly.
• Have connections outside of your company.
• If you're able to, don't make any big decisions right away.
• Nobody cares as much about it nearly as much as you do.
• If you don't get fired at least once, you're not trying hard enough.
• You can't beat someone who won't give up.

Jowita

I’m always impressed when people quit with style. I’m often reminded of that U.S. flight attendant, Steven Slater, who, fed up with one of the passengers, slid down the plane’s emergency evacuation chute after grabbing a beer from the beverage cart and drove off, making for one of the most dramatic exits anyone’s ever heard of. When the buzz about another air service worker quitting his job in dramatic style hit the news, I was worried for a moment that it was going to be desperado exit 2.0. But as it turned out, Chris Holmes, a British immigration officer, left behind the sweetest rejection letter any boss could ask for. He wrote his resignation in black icing on a cake that he baked especially for the occasion. Incidentally, he left his job to pursue his cakebaking career.

Here’s how he put it: ”I now realize how precious life is and how important it is to spend my time doing something that makes me, and other people, happy! I hereby give notice of my resignation, in order that I may devote my time and energy to my family, and to my cake business which has grown steadily over the past few years.” Holmes had an epiphany about his career choice after the birth of his son — he wanted to spend more time with his family on top of baking cakes for living. He handed in the cake on his 31st birthday. His story has gone viral since, and although we’ll never know if he was counting on this to happen, it was certainly a brilliant marketing ploy and it’ll surely make his business flourish. In conclusion (you can start rolling your eyes now): He had his cake and ate it too …

Jowita