One of my most memorable losses was a job opportunity. I came upon a job ad on Craigslist for HVAC insulator. The job was a great find because I was trying to get into the field. The work was dependable and exciting. It was hard, but fulfilling. And I got the chance to work all over the Washington area.
I had the chance to become affiliated with the union, which was promising. Then one day, about six months ago, my supervisor dropped a bombshell on me. I was laid off. Crushed.
I had had high hopes, this was an opportunity for a career I was very interested in. The cause of my layoff was ambiguous at best. I was never told the reason. I was very productive and always met the supervisor’s quota. This was one of the times in my adult life I was truly depressed. I’m still trying to recover from this loss.
I think I was the victim of nepotism. My supervisor’s brother-in-law was kept on, as well as other family members. This would be the perfect example of “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”
But the loss led me to Street Sense. I became a vendor, and in the short time I have been here, I have come into contact with many people. I met a gentleman recently who has a position with the Department of Transportation and offered to become my mentor. I greatly appreciated his offer and I will definitely follow-up with him.
