Getting Fired

There are some people - the unicorns of the job market - that have never, ever been fired.

Very, very few have had only one job that turned into a career, but some have quit, given notice, or left a job on their own terms and timing... and never been fired.

I recall one job someone close to me tried to quit - she gave her two-week notice as required by the employment agreement only to have an angry small business owner say, 'You aren't quitting, I'm firing you.'

She spent the next hour sitting on the front step of the office building with a cardboard box next to her holding  photos, a coffee mug and her 'Employee of the Month' plaque. Eventually her ride pulled-up and she never looked back.

Getting fired can be life-changing, devastating, or even liberating. If unprepared for, it is difficult and fearful. But preparing for it seems disloyal or shows a lack of commitment to the culture and mission of your employer.

And some employers use this as a tool to disadvantage their employees (read, team members or partners or even 'like family' - but they're still just employees).

The suggestion that you should be constantly looking for a new job seems suspicious to employers because it takes power away from them and places more agency in the hands of those who are doing the job - you.

But if getting fired is the power-move of an employer, then looking for a new job - even and especially while already employed - is the best agency of those who are doing a job.