324000 Minutes and Counting

I was laid off on September 1, 2008. I spent the first month sleeping and catching up on my thoughts. It felt great not having to worry about getting up a 5am, riding the train, managing an IT department, worrying about network outages, politics, staff issues, etc., etc. My wife loved having me home. She enjoyed my cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry. All the things that I enjoyed doing.

I began looking for a job in mid September. I followed the usual process that all executives follow: updated my resume, updated my contacts lists, write cover letters and elevator pitches. I contacted the recruiters that I remained in contact with that had a good reputation. I was getting a lot of inquires about my background and my prospects of finding a new position looked good.

Then things fell apart in October when the economy began unraveling. My phone stopped ringing and my inbox was empty. No one was returning my phone calls or emails. Positions that I had interviewed for and felt that I was going to get had vanished. I started to worry and wonder.

It is now April 2009. I spend 2 hours every morning, seven days a week, scouring websites, email, LinkedIn, working my connections - my network. Keeping my hopes up that the economy will improve and jobs will return. Since October I have met many executives that have been laid off.

With the encouragement of my wife, I have decided to write this blog to offer advice, guidance, and some humor to other executives who have been charged with managing information technology - for those that are still employed and for those who are unemployed like me.