I was laid off, got two options 1) exit on 0/22 and take 90 days or 2) relocate to Missouri. If take option#1, I highly doubt I'll be able to find a good job (that I'll like) in a fortune 500 company very soon so I have to make some temporary setup (consulting or full time, anything I can find) to pay my bills until I find a good one.
So my question is how the recruiters/hiring managers in fortune-500 treat (preference, salary negotiation etc) the applicant who has been laid off from a well-known company and struggling for a few months?
In other words, which situation is better to find a job in fortune-500 companies: one in which I'm laid-off from IBM and working/consulting for a small company for few months or other situation where I'm still IBM's active employee working in Missouri? or it doesn't matter?
9 replies (most recent on top)
I was shocked in 2/18 when offered the same choice, chose Missouri, it is awesome! Wish I had come here decades ago. Best kept secret.
Beg to differ. I was hired in early 2019 by IBM. I am 60. I believe in lifelong learning and never, ever let my skills atrophy. It's a Sunday and I'm just taking a break from an online course to comment here, that's how I keep current. Look - I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, and maybe you'd rather be at the country club, but that's how it works for me.
If you've been RA'd, I'm so sorry.
A 70 year old lawyer fried told me something he learned. The difference between 59 and 60 is ten years! I would add to that... the difference between 54 and 55 is five years and 49 and 50 is also ten years.
I was a manager during the earlier colocation scam. I suggest agreeing, then slow walking. With the virus you can cite all sorts of delays between housing and moving companies, a doctor saying you're at risk and need to be home for longer, blah blah. They won't want the liability of forcing you into a building if you say you don't feel safe. Then find another job during that period. Plenty of people did that a few years ago.
How close are you to 55..age unfortunately makes a difference.
It's easier to get a job when you have a job than when unemployed. So for the next month, you are still an employee; I'd start looking today.
I would worry little about IBM laying you off as the industry knows they have been doing that for a very long time. It is not viewed negatively. If you have good skills it is ignored. However, nobody knows what the job market will look like the next six months.
Keep Looking though while you are working in IBM. This company's DNA has drastically changed. you get older, you will face other challenges in finding job in IT.
You should keep working at IBM until you find a job. It's very hard to get a job in the current environment.