Hot Poop! I have some LaBella Supernils I'll send you instead of the $20 for the amp fund. Let's make this happen!
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I finally got laid! Laid off!
- Thread starter Remyd
- Start date
If you mean bass performing, yeah, that would be difficult. bass playing, however? Steinberger xl-2, iPad, Auria.
Problem solved.
Problem solved.
I'm reminded of a debate we had once back in grad school; grad students with families (who had next to no income or benefits) were encouraged to sign up for a medicare-based state program that provided health insurance for children and pregnant women. One of my classmates was very conservative, and had kids, and saw this as a moral dilemma; would it be right for him to sign up for benefits from a program he would have voted against? My feeling on it was that if the authorities have established the rules by which the benefits can be taken, and you fit those rules, then you take the benefits without qualms. I see this as relevant to the OP because, as long as he is acting within the rules for receiving the unemployment benefits and severance that he's eligible for, there's no reason not to do so.
However, there is one thing about the scenario that does bother me: employability. Employers generally prefer to hire people who have been keeping active within the field. Long breaks and periods of unemployment can be a drag on one's job prospects the longer they go on. Supposing the OP is not able to establish a viable long-term career as a professional musician in the next nine months, and is then forced to go back to looking for a corporate job; will the long hiatus count against him?
However, there is one thing about the scenario that does bother me: employability. Employers generally prefer to hire people who have been keeping active within the field. Long breaks and periods of unemployment can be a drag on one's job prospects the longer they go on. Supposing the OP is not able to establish a viable long-term career as a professional musician in the next nine months, and is then forced to go back to looking for a corporate job; will the long hiatus count against him?
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
This happened to me. I held out for a year looking for the "right" job. I finally had to change career fields and start over at the bottom, before I could get a job. As has already been mentioned, jobs are hard to get these days; one's career is nothing to take for granted.
~Five years ago I made a good salary at a very demanding job and had very little time or motivation for music beyond playing in a local band now and then. "Music" had become endless internet browsing and buying stuff. I left that job, tried music full time, and over the past few years have found a much better balance - I make my mortgage payments most months from gigs, pay a few bills with teaching (which I was surprised to find very rewarding), and also have a day job in a totally different field that I like much more, granted it pays <1/2 what the old one did. I'm generally much happier even if I can't just buy whatever crap I want, and the sense of "security" I once had proved to just be BS, since as long as I stay motivated and positive things seem to be going just fine. I'd suggest just dont freak out when the going gets tough, but don't be stubbornly stupid either if something isn't working.
One thing I didn't see from the OP, maybe I missed it, but I didn't see a plan of any sort.
I mean, I saw a plan to somehow keep a roof over his head, but that's about it.
Where is the plan to establish a career as a musician?
Without that, and then a sanity check to make sure it's viable, I see trouble ahead.
I mean, I saw a plan to somehow keep a roof over his head, but that's about it.
Where is the plan to establish a career as a musician?
Without that, and then a sanity check to make sure it's viable, I see trouble ahead.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
My experience with being laid off suddenly is that it takes a little while to figure out a plan. When it happened to me, my plan, before getting laid off, was to keep working at the job I had. After I got laid off, it took at least a month to figure out what path was even open to me, let alone pursue it. As it turned out, the economic conditions at the time made finding a job in my industry a vanishingly small probability. I ended up starting my own company and operating it for about five years. But, it took time to get that figured out, let alone going. If Remyd is thinking he can make his way for the next six to nine months as a musician and build a career, that's already more of a plan than I had two or three days after being laid off. I'm not suggesting he shouldn't do a whole lot of research and plan his way, but for now, having a direction is a great start.
Fair points, I've been there too. I was laid off in March 2009. Had a decent release package, so that helped, but the whole thing knocked me for a loop. I tried to stay in the industry I had been in for 10 years, as it seemed to make sense to leverage that experience (although I wanted to make a change), only to find that it wasn't happening. After two years (that's not a typo), I had little left to loose, and changed direction to pursue something I wanted to pursue within months of first loosing my job. I won't get into why I didn't go down that road right from the start, it's complicated.
The big mistake I made was not working parallel paths. While looking for work in the same industry I had been in, I should have also been preparing for my alternate, more desired field. I didn't, and lost valuable time.
While the OP seems to be doing the opposite, I might suggest a similar parallel path. As others pointed out, a long stretch of unemployment will be hard to recover from if he tried to return to his former industry.
I don't see what's wrong with pursuing employment opportunities as a musician while collecting unemployment, as long as you have legitimate skills that qualify you to be a professional musician. I know when you go in for assistance finding a job, they tell you up front they are not obligated to find you a job that pays the same as you were making before you were laid off, or even in the same industry.
If a career change is what you are looking for after involuntarily being terminated from your current job, and you do not have legitimate skills for the job you want to pursue, there are different programs from the state government for that. At least that is the case in the state I live, Washington.
-Mike
If a career change is what you are looking for after involuntarily being terminated from your current job, and you do not have legitimate skills for the job you want to pursue, there are different programs from the state government for that. At least that is the case in the state I live, Washington.
-Mike
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Take it your little vacay is a drop in the bucket compared to what tons of people suck from the rest of us who work for life.
So go ahead and enjoy you have my permission.
So go ahead and enjoy you have my permission.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
People who have stayed at the same job and in the same career for their working lives are pretty rare anyway. People who have been able to stay at the same company for 20 or 30 years are also very rare. I think I'm more typical, and I have had to completely reinvent myself and my career several times. It's related fields, but when one part of an industry goes down the tubes, you have to do something. I don't see any reason not to go after music if that's what you want to do and you think you can pull it off. Nobody who reads posts on Talkbass will have any illusions about how much money you will make, that's for sure. Going in with open eyes is the main thing. If it doesn't work out, it's just time for another reinvention.
Looks like I'm late to this party, but a few things came to my mind quickly on this topic (which may have already been covered):
1. Do you have the skills needed to do music at a professional level? The connections? How likely is it that you can land a spot in several different bands, that are all making decent money, in a very short time frame? Be realistic here.
2. How does doing the music thing benefit your career? Will a potential future employee see this excursion from the workforce as a good thing or a bad thing? What marketable skills will you be gaining from this? How will it make you a more valuable employee to an employer?
1. Do you have the skills needed to do music at a professional level? The connections? How likely is it that you can land a spot in several different bands, that are all making decent money, in a very short time frame? Be realistic here.
2. How does doing the music thing benefit your career? Will a potential future employee see this excursion from the workforce as a good thing or a bad thing? What marketable skills will you be gaining from this? How will it make you a more valuable employee to an employer?
