

"Get fired, it’s a great learning experience" - edburgess
http://www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/the-power-of-no-1.746628

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mbenjaminsmith
I'm surprised how many fear-driven comments have popped up on this thread.
Isn't this "hacker" news? Isn't this the crowd that likes to break stuff?
Getting fired from a job does not make you persona non grata in your industry
and you certainly don't have to be wealthy to weather the storm. Give me a
break.

I've met a lot of people over the years that have played it safe in their
careers and frankly they seem to live in constant fear of losing what they
have (which usually isn't much). I was having breakfast with a friend the
other day that was sweating through his shirt because his department was
getting merged with another. I just don't understand it. No one wants to face
rejection, especially if it's going to cause financial hardship, but there are
worse things in life than being out of a job. If you're passionate about what
you do, you'll find another.

I've been on both sides of the table firing. It's unpleasant either way but
it's not much worse than getting dumped that first time. Shit happens, you
grow. I'd rather be fired and learn to deal with it than do a job I hate
and/or live in fear of losing that job.

~~~
baha_man
"...there are worse things in life than being out of a job."

Yes, but probably not many. I think being unemployed ranks pretty highly in
all the 'most stressful life event' lists.

~~~
j_baker
There's some truth to the old saying "What doesn't kill you makes you
stronger" though. In fact, I'd argue that stressful events are _required_ for
growth.

~~~
Evgeny
There certainly must be a limit at some point. Like, for example, amputation
of a couple of limbs will not kill you ...

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gregpilling
I was fired at 19 years old, while I was being groomed to be in sales for the
company I worked for. They decided that I didn't have "it" and would never
make it in sales, so they didn't bother to train me or give me a shot. I then
got a tool dealer (selling wrenches and screwdrivers) franchise and was 8th of
430 the next year for sales. I ended up making more than the partners of the
firm that fired me (I had done the payroll, so I knew).

When I was 30, I was "reduced in force" which is a fancy way to get fired, and
was fairly devastated. I had been with the company for 10 years and it was my
whole life. I had also been top sales person for 2 of the last 3 years-
unfortunately not the year before the R.I.F... Now I am 41 and the last 10
years have been the most profitable of all. Even with the recession carving a
chunk of my investments I am better off - because I started a couple of my own
companies and did it myself. I learned how to manage people, how to manage the
books and how to understand that much of the time you are flying blind and the
only choice is to make the best decisions you can at the time. It has been
great.

So go out and get fired. Just do it for the right things. I was let go at 19
(and 30) for telling the boss how it should be done, and how I would do it
better. What have you been fired for?

~~~
jlmendezbonini
Can you share what kind of businesses you run now?

~~~
gregpilling
I have some rental properties, a truck accessories company, and am 6 months
into a startup aimed at the needs of a >20 person company. As you may have
guessed, I am the business guy in the equation.

------
choice_cut
I've been fired. A "great learning experience" is not how I would put it, but
I did learn some stuff.

* if the company doesn't have a good reason to fire you, like you just don't get along with people, they often give you a sweet departure package you wouldn't get if you just quit. I guess to prevent a lawsuit.

* you can collect unemployment, which you can't do if you quit.

* few people hiring really care if you got fired. nobody even asked me what happened. I had competing job offers in days.

* this happens all the time, even moreso in the upper ranks of management. in fact, it seems the higher up you are, the better deal it is to get fired. often times when a C level exec gets fired, they get a severence package which allows them to not work for a year or so.

* the person who is probably going to be most bummed is your mom.

The main lesson I learned though, is that it's another one of the long
standing bullshit lines about things that will destroy your life that simply
aren't true. It's in the same league as smoking pot, dropping out of college,
and not paying your taxes on time. Nothing very dramatic happens, and it's
pretty easy to recover. It's disappointing, in a way. It's a better story if
you're on the brink of disaster and come back. In reality it's just a
temporary setback, and you probably end up with a better job at the next
place.

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kadavy
This article is really more about getting rejected than it is about getting
fired. Overcoming fear of rejection can really change your life.

But, I was fired once - I'm pretty sure you can call it that; and from the
moment it was happening, I was sure that it was a great thing for me. Having
come from a background where I was constantly taught that having a job and
keeping it was the only way to be a worthy human being, I never would have had
the guts to quit myself. Once I was fired, I was sure I never wanted to work
for anyone else again. The first few weeks of being unemployed, I just had to
get used the idea that I actually still existed, despite not having a job.

That was over three years ago, and the resulting freedom to explore my
curiosities and creativity has lead me to a much happier life than I had
before. So, if you fantasize about getting fired, just quit. It may be worth
it.

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yesno
One time I got fired twice in a year.

The first was because I fought for a better way to do things since the company
didn't seem to go anywhere with launching their first product (startup). I had
to make a stance: fight or sink with the company. Fired because they thought I
was unhappy working there.

I was happy to be let go. I didn't enjoy working there anymore. The company is
neither alive nor dead.

The second was because my role was considered a "luxurious" to have during the
hard time of the company (they downsized 2.5 weeks before they decided to let
me go). 1.5 weeks before I was let go, my supervisor informed me that my work
was "in the line of being successful". I didn't know that their situation was
really that bad. When I joined, I thought they were in a very good financial
position.

The second time was tough, cause I just lost my job a few months before.
Having said that, I was planning to quit 2 more months before it happened
cause the job was really boring and have no concrete goal.

Every time after I got fired, my mind was clouded by the possibility of doing
my own startup, learning different programming languages, learning new
frameworks, blogging or something else. Should I make a web-app? should I make
an iPhone app? should I sell something online? What should I do (copied from
LeBron's Nike ad hehe)?

As someone mentioned in this thread: one thing about being fired is that you
get a chance to collect unemployment.

Within that year, I took some time off to step back and think hard. Afterward,
I managed to make a few key decisions. One of them was a tough one: decided
not to pursue programming as a career. Instead, I chose Sys-Admin. Worked my
ass off to get certified.

These days, things are more stable for me. I enjoy my life better than before.

No more indecision which programming language I should learn, fear that there
will be another complicated framework to be released soon, overwhelmed by the
job requirements as a developer (ranging from XML, to agile, to various RDBMS,
to testing/algorithms/design patterns), fighting with your colleagues which
solution is better (we're not even talking about building a gold standard
code, just a simple should you use singleton or not, especially when you want
your code to be unit-testable).

The money is good. The career is quite stable. My mind is clear now. I also
joined the iPhone/iPad movement recently. But instead of coding the app, I
outsource everything. I might run my own web-startup one day cause I'm still
curious and feel unrest if I haven't done it. But, again, I will outsource
everything to someone else.

------
abalashov
I got fired personally by the CEO of a midsize company I was working for last
time I was employed (I was, despite the size of the company, a direct report
of his), for some combination of insubordination, chronically coming in late,
and generally being a political nuisance. Amidst his litany of admonishments,
he told me that I am one of those people who just needs to be running his own
business. At the time, I assumed that was sardonic and snarky; I now realise
he was genuinely prescient.

And so, after my 6th job in 3.5 years, I decided to do what I had been itching
to do for the last 2 or 3 of them, but not had the balls to do, given the
conventionality of the steady W-2 paycheck. I've been running my VoIP
consultancy for almost 36 months now and I am still here, growing steadily and
slowly - but growing. It's twice the work, half the money, but I'm a whole lot
happier for it. I don't think I would be exaggerating to say that I needed
someone to kick me in the ass and push me out of the plane, or I might not
have gone down this path for quite a while yet.

Ironically, and pleasantly, the same CEO sent me a lot of consulting work,
especially early on, and continues to be an important relationship for me.
When I occasionally come in, he shakes my hand and says it's nice to see me
and asks, "how's business?"

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jim_h
It's fine to get fired if you're great at something and fate/luck is on your
side. Or your parents are extremely rich. For most people, it's not a good
thing.

Certainly do not try to get fired from a good job.

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bradfordw
What I took away from being fired was an internal desire to be better. I
didn't feel that it made me a loser...I felt that it gave me an opportunity to
show myself and anyone in my life moving forward that I'm more than capable of
doing my job better than anyone else. It has served me quite well for the last
6 years, I still push myself and I don't plan on stopping.

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antti
Getting fired from a job is a type of rejection. Another way to "get fired"
many times in a single day is to do sales. No matter how good of a salesman
someone is, they will get rejected many times when they are doing it. Its a
great learning experience, which I recommend to everyone.

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tallanvor
No offense, but fuck that.

Getting fired generally says one of two things:

1) You weren't right for the job/company, but you had to have it pointed out
to you (whether or not it's your fault), or 2) The company wasn't doing well,
and rather than seeing that and getting out on your own, you waited until the
company couldn't afford to keep you on (which doesn't necessarily mean you
weren't pulling your weight, mind you).

When I take a job, I want to be the one who decides when it's time to leave. I
may leave because I feel I've learned or advanced as much as possible, or
because I don't believe the company and I are going in the same direction, or
because I feel the company has a strong possibility of failure. And just as
important, when I leave, I don't want people to be happy that I'm gone,
although I don't want my departure to be overly bad for the company either.

Being fired may be able to teach you something, but it's more likely to mean
you weren't paying attention.

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bubbleboy
i got fired once. i drank a lot and thought about how nice it was to be
gainfully employed. then i did some introspection and realized that the cues
were there a year before. i should have quit when i had the urge and i still
looked good, because as time went on i hated the work and finally the
management caught on. i could have used the good reference.

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julius_geezer
I don't disagree, but getting fired can be hard on the cash flow.

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wccrawford
Getting fired is only a good thing if you're on the path to being a loser. If
you aren't, then being fired means you are ruining your current career.

Maybe instead of being fired, you should do something more sensible and
ethical: Quit.

~~~
bigwally
How is quitting more sensible and ethical? Perhaps John Lasseter (of Pixar)
was on the way to being a loser? I for one am glad that Lasseter ruined his
career at Disney.

~~~
gregpilling
My kids (huge fans of Cars) are happy too. My wallet is not.

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radioactive21
To me getting fired still has a very negative feel to it.It means you reach a
breaking point, and you absolutely refuse to continue or you broke some rule,
it could be on principle or violation, but nevertheless you did something
wrong. Which case all you will learn is that you can stand your ground.

Now if it's a layoff, that's a different story. I've always been told that you
should work your way out of your job. Meaning do such a stellar job that they
really dont need you anymore. In this sense, it's a good thing, because you
actually know when it's time to move on or that what you're doing is not up to
your full potential.

But there is another set of people that constantly strife to improve and move
up in their own skill set and role. These people move as opportunity comes to
them. They are never laid off or fired, per se, but know how to actively
advance their career and goals effectively. In my mind this is where everyone
should be, as it means you are never fearful of losing your job, or ever
concern about finding another job. If you are good, the jobs will find you.

