Everyone should be let go from work...

At least once. Yup. No typo there. Sounds about as evil as wishes can get, right? Not necessarily. I am absolutely convinced that there's phenomenal value to it. And yes, I speak from practical experience.

One of my pet peeves and a quick-draw response to the query "So, you are a permanent employee of <company name here>?", was and continues to be - "You realize that term is an oxymoron, right?". I believed that then. I believe that even more, now. Maybe it was that mindset that caused my spider senses to tingle, 2 weeks prior to my project being canceled and the company that I worked at for 25 years bid me adieu.

I knew damn well it was coming, and yet I felt a gut-punch when it actually happened. A couple of days later I was back, cocky as ever. I knew for a fact that I possessed the right mix of technical and soft skills as well as excellent leadership qualities. Getting another job should be, as Maverick responds to Iceman in Top Gun - a walk in the park (minus the Kazansky part), or at least so I thought. But the pesky pandemic and problems it precipitated put a kibosh to that confidence quite soon. For the statistically inclined - it was a paltry 7% ROI (job applications vs. interview calls) on my job applications. Decent maybe for investments but most definitely not for job hunting.

But wait, you say. Where's that phenomenal value part you were talking about? I sure as hell stand by that. Here then, are some of the "revelations" from this period, for me at least. I'll start with the personal side - one that had constantly been in second place while I was working, and then move to the professional aspects - one that I will balance much better with the personal aspects, moving forward.

For starters, I had so much more time to spend with my family and loved ones [now there's no guarantees that your family/loved ones will see it the same way though ??]. I wasn't necessarily thinking about the next project risk that I need to address or how I need to handle the political move one of my co-workers made that could have a detrimental outcome, during lunch or dinner. I was at the table, both physically and mentally. Somehow I did get the feeling that the kids and my wife didn't necessarily see it the same way, but I quickly learnt that the trick is to not let that bother you...... ever ??.

More time to focus on, and actually do things you love to, but have always put off for later. In my case, it was to exercise my vocal chords with a bit of melody added to them. I tried my hand at Smule-ing. During the first couple of my attempts at that, my family was convinced they had an injured animal in the house. My eldest tyke chided me for not having given him a warning, so he could have at least taped the windows to stop them from shattering. But I didn't let that bother me (refer to this enlightenment earlier in my article). Today I'm pretty sure I can hold my own, for some of the movie songs, even if not at the operatic level. And I sure as hell ain't giving up my day job (which I can confidently say I have, even if recently) to belt out a ballad.

You get to know your true friends. Folks that will go out of their way to ensure an interview call, a personal introduction to a peer or just a kind word of encouragement, and I am absolutely fortunate to have tons of them. Then there will be those that unfriend (or is it unlink?) you on LinkedIn, no matter the reason behind it. Of those that called me regularly, there was a smaller subset that even insisted on a video call with me, braving the risk of putting up with nothing short of torture - my self-professed sense of humor.

Suddenly you find yourself with ample time on your hands. Time that can either be wasted or spent on retooling, upgrading, refreshing your skill-set and catching up on reading that you might have put off for later, in order to send that email to your team at 1:00 am. Ah to be able to read, study and practice technical stuff again!!

And then there's the Gautama (as in the Buddha) effect: corporate-world-enlightenments (or in my case, reaffirmation). Yes, that's right. Plural!!

• The term "Permanent job/employee" is non-existent and even if the slightest semblance of it exists anywhere, it is bound to go the way of T-Rex - extinct - and for a good reason
• Corporate/company loyalty is highly overrated. In fact it could actually prove detrimental, as sticking to one employer for a long time is viewed more as 'complacency' than 'loyalty'
• No matter what anyone tells you, discrimination based on age is absolutely real and exists. There I said it. Problem is, it is extremely difficult to prove from a legal perspective. And for those of you that "doctored" your birthdates to reach legal drinking age sooner than nature intended, maybe, just maybe it wasn't that good an idea as it seemed to be then [Disclaimer: just because I said it doesn't mean I did it ??]
• Who (or whom) you know is definitely as important as What you know - period

and last but not the least

• Don't make this personal. If you are ever in this situation, especially when you have been at the top of your career with outstanding or excellent reviews before it hit - don't ever take a layoff personal. I am told there is this song in a movie called 'Frozen' (which, for the record, I haven't watched ;-)??] - 'Let it go'. Never become a prisoner of your past.

P.S.: The contents and opinions in this article/post are entirely mine