My Two Cents in a shout out to the former Dechert Doc Reviewers

Hello everyone!

Sorry I haven’t posted in awhile. I have been busy with holiday shopping, and earning enough hours to pay for it.

I haven’t forgotten our friends who have been let go from the Dechert project, and on that note today’s post is for them.

First, if you are a contractor and are out of work, be calm. If you have not already done so, you should claim unemployment. It will help to bridge the gap. Be conservative with your money. Have patience.

If you are looking for a permanent position it will take awhile. If you are looking for contract work, it could also take some time. Right now, it is both the worst time to be unemployed, and the best time.

It is the worst because you want to spend money on Holiday gifts and cannot. It is a bad time because people who might hire you do not have time for you. They are all wrapped up in their own work preparing end of the year numbers for others, wrapping up projects, listing their accomplishments, fighting for raises. They are also wrapped up in their own Holiday events. Further, there might not be any money budgeted for new projects or employees to start on before the end of the year anyway.

It can be the best time to be unemployed because you will have more time to spend with friends and family. If you are looking to the job market, it is the best time because there are a lot of networking opportunities, and people who might be in a position to hire you, or give you some direction are feeling more magnanimous at this time of year. Also, while this is a down time for actual hiring, the next up time is right around the corner. In fact it is in January. Just after the New Year when expenses are determined for the upcoming year, and a decision has been made to hire new employees is the best time to get hired. If you want a contract position, then this is when they have made a decision to start new projects based on their budgets. They have usually at this point also decided what projects they can expand.

Incidentally, this is partially why the Vioxx case probably settled when it did. Even though the settlement does not go through until a certain number of plaintiffs sign off, and they have until March to do so, I am sure that there were business and budgetary reasons to push the settlement talks through when they did, at least one of which was the end of the calendar year/quarter.

Just hold in there a little longer.

The Black Sheep