Two Scoops and a Dollop of Karma

Flashback to late 2009: After several months of again being unemployed, my husband suddenly lands two job interviews. During the first interview he is asked how old he is (“Logan’s Rerun” anyone?) and whether he’s capable of working 12-hour days (which made us laugh since that’s the norm in hi-tech management). The second interviewer seems genuinely interested in his skill set since they are looking for someone to bring their current product (!) up to UL compliance and lead product development.

To make a short story even shorter, after starting to work for the second company he discovers fairly quickly that all the important cards are held by the person from whom the company took away responsibility for product development. Ouch. Things go from bad to worse and then, a phone call and job offer… from the Company that let him go seven years ago.

Friends tell us, “Be happy that he’s returning to the Company”. I am infinitely thankful that my hubby is again employed and in a place where many faces are familiar. But after living out of the proverbial suitcase for the past seven years, I admit to being a bit wary. In this particular circumstance there is a good chance we’re looking at yet another layover on the road to somewhere else.

In a comment I left on my earlier post, “Logan’s Rerun”, I mentioned that I’ve reinvented myself job-wise so many times that I occasionally have to check my ID card to make sure I’m me. But then again, I’ve never had a “career” (other than a broad service-oriented one). I think reinventing oneself is infinitely harder for someone who has invested their heart and soul on working in the field from which they graduated and in which they worked for most of their adult life since then.

Gaping Void, by Hugh MacLeod and released by him under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 License

(Make sure to read the comments on Gaping Void for more perspective from another over-50′er trying to get a grip on a changing world.)

There’s no doubt that in such an employment environment as this, one has to be creative not just in day-to-day problem solving, but also in one’s approach to life. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Editor’s note: The above image is from Hugh MacLeod’s website @ http://gapingvoid.com/2010/07/03/the-only-way-to-keep-your-job-nowadays-is-to-constantly-re-invent-it/ Unfortunately, due to the PicApp image on the front page of this blog, the link to Hugh’s original post has been taken over by PicApp. This behavior doesn’t appear in the single post.